The

Ga. Highway 314 corridor should develop in the

same way as Ga. Highway 54, Fayette County's

Planning Commission has decided.

Faced

with several requests that they change the land

use plan to reflect office development along the

highway north of Fayetteville, the Planning

Commission last week voted to recommend that the

county Board of Commissioners approve the same

special set of architectural guidelines for 314

that the group approved two years ago for 54.

Residents

who attended a recent Planning Commission work

session said the current land use plan, calling

for residential development along 314, is out of

date. Recent widening of the road reduced the

front yards of several homes along the road and

made it impossible for residents, who now want to

move, to find buyers for their homes, they said.

"If

we are retained as residential, we are going to

be hurt substantially, financially," said

resident Bob Chatham.

"Everything

around us has been zoned either commercial or

O&I (office and institutional)," he

added.

But

Chatham added that he is concerned for his

neighbors who live in Black Rock Springs, Ansley

Oaks, Silver Springs and other subdivisions. If

homes that face the highway are allowed to

convert to offices, the neighborhoods just off

the highway should be protected with buffers and

strict design standards, he said.

Commission

Chairman Bob Harbison agreed, and suggested

design standards similar to those on Hwy. 54,

where offices are allowed on residential lots

that face the highway, but strict standards are

applied to give the offices a residential

appearance.

"I

don't really see that area [314] as much

different than 54," said Harbison.

The

land use plan, a planning guide for future zoning

decisions, lists the west side of 314 corridor as

residential, and commissioners at one time

favored keeping it that way, with office

development on the east side providing a buffer

between homes to the west and intense commercial

development farther east.

But

development of Fayette Pavilion's third phase,

which is on the east side of 314, has changed all

that.

Now

planners are pushing for offices on the west side

of 314 with homes starting just off the highway.

In

previous discussions, county planning staff have

suggested that Morning Creek may be the natural

dividing line between offices and the resumption

of all-residential development along 314.

Directly

across from the Pavilion, developer Bob Rolader

is seeking approval from the city of Fayetteville

to put 152 homes on 127 acres along both sides of

New Hope Road, with offices on 17 acres at the

front of the property facing 314. City Council

will consider that request during its meeting

Monday at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The

county Board of Commissioners will consider the

314 overlay standards July 22 at 7 p.m. at the

County Administrative Complex.

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