Fayetteville's

Planning Commission hopes to act on a new zoning

category to govern office developments in the

Fayette Community Hospital area during a special

called meeting Tuesday, July 13.

If

the commission votes to recommend approval, the

new ordinance will go to City Council for first

reading July 19, and council can act on it Aug.

2.

That

won't be a minute too soon for H.E. Holbrook, who

wants to move from his Sandy Creek Road home,

right next to the hospital, and sell it for a

dental laboratory. His annexation and rezoning

request, submitted back in March, was halted in

May to give city officials time to hammer out the

ordinance.

Hayes

Development Corp. also is waiting in the wings

for approval of its plans for a medical office

building on Ga. Highway 54, just to the east of

the hospital.

The

proposed new ordinance is designed to make sure

development around the hospital is of high

quality and includes the kinds of traffic-easing

improvements that City Council members want.

Interconnecting driveways that allow traffic to

move between developments without getting back on

Hwy. 54 are crucial, council members have said.

Originally,

officials planned to enact a set of special

design standards - a zoning overlay -

but on the advice of consultants decided to

design a zoning category that would accomplish

the same purpose. Consultants Rich Flierl and

Maurice Ungaro are writing the new zoning

ordinance with rules for buffers, landscaping,

architectural standards and other factors aimed

at making the hospital area aesthetically and

environmentally sound.

"This

[area] is a strong incubator," city manager

Mike Bryant told City Council during a recent

work session. "This is a job creator and

will determine what the character of the

community is going to be," he added.

"It's

something that supports the hospital and creates

the appropriate environment for the

hospital," he told The Citizen. "We

should not let it grow haphazardly."

third annexation and rezoning request for medical

offices came to city planners recently, but

owners withdrew the request last week after

learning that the process of approving the new

zoning category would slow down their plans.

City

officials said owners of the 4.9-acre tract next

to the Apex Medical Building, just west of the

hospital, will work with Fayette County to

develop the property.

If

the new ordinance is approved according to

schedule, Holbrook and Hayes can move forward

with their annexation and rezoning requests right

away.

Planning

commissioners have a regular work session each

second Tuesday, but don't conduct business. They

have advertised the July 13 meeting as a special

called business meeting for purposes of enacting

the new ordinance.

Also

on the agenda will be a proposed new regulation

limiting yard sales to three per year, and a

change to zoning ordinances prohibiting

businesses offering psychic readings in the city.

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