Principles

of Southern Community Bank hope to have a place

to hang their hats by March, but there are

hurdles to leap at City Hall first.

group headed by longtime Fayette banker Gary

McGaha announced plans for the new locally owned

bank last April, using a building site across the

street and slightly north from McGaha's former

Heritage Bank. McGaha, who will be president and

CEO of Southern, left Heritage in February to

pursue the new challenge.

The

firm's plans for a two-story, 14,000-sq. ft.

building on north Jeff Davis Drive at Jefferson

Avenue are on the city Planning Commission's

agenda for approval Tuesday, but the plans came

under intense scrutiny from commission members

during a work session last week.

The

fate of six large trees, three oak and three

pecan, on the 2.08-acre site was of particular

concern. "What I'm tired of is [applicants]

coming in here and saying, `We're putting the

building here... we're taking down a 26-inch tree

and we're putting in a two-inch tree,'" said

commission member Allan Feldman.

He

suggested that architects Cobb and Associates

find a way to move the building to accommodate

the trees, rather than the other way around.

But

Wayne Leslie, a member of the bank's board of

directors, said saving the large trees is not as

simple as it may seem. "A lot of time has

been spent trying to get the building on the site

and save those trees," he said, "and we

haven't been able to accomplish that."

In

addition to topographical problems on the land

itself, designers tried to place the building so

it would have minimal impact on three residential

neighborhoods next door to the east, off

Jefferson Avenue, said Leslie.

Commission

members expressed a willingness to reduce

required buffers and be lenient on parking

requirements in order to save as many trees as

possible, and Leslie said this week that bank

officials are trying to do their part.

"We

started out saving one [of the trees], and now

we're up to three," said Leslie. "We

hope we can save another one."

He

said the bank's landscaping plan provides for

more than replacing the trees that would be lost,

but he also understands the Planning Commission's

desire to preserve the older trees. "We

would certainly like to do that," he added.

Parking

presents another problem in the minds of some

commissioners. Fayetteville's corridor ordinance

requires that most of the parking be behind

buildings, and commission members said they would

like to see the bank's drive-through in the back

as well.

But

again, more traffic to the rear of the building,

especially at night for the drive-through, might

be more intrusive on neighbors, bank spokesmen

said.

Commissioners

told the architects to do their best to address

the planning group's concerns. They will vote on

development plans for the bank Tuesday at 7:30

p.m. at City Hall.

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