Now that

Home Depot is definitely coming to Peachtree City, the

next step is to make it look like it belongs here,

according to developers and city officials.

The City

Council last week reversed the Planning Commission's

denial of RAM Development's conceptual site plan for the

retail center on the north side of Ga. Highway 54, just

west of Ga. Highway 74 near the Coweta County line.

City

development director Jim Williams said at last week's

City Council meeting that should the plan be approved,

the city would want a structure consistent with what is

elsewhere in the city rather than Home Depot's typical

big orange storefront.

He added

that the guidelines set for Home Depot could help

determine how future commercial development in the area

will look, so it is a very important project in that

regard.

Doug

McMurrain of RAM Development told the council that his

firm has been all about cooperation during the planning

of this project and is committed to making it safe and in

tune with the rest of the city.

"I

think we've made a substantial leap," said McMurrain

of the concessions his company has made concerning road

improvements and other items. RAM Development owns a

considerable amount of property in this area and is

working with the builders of the Line Creek Parkway, so

there is a good deal of incentive for the developer to

make this work to everyone's satisfaction.

McMurrain

said this week that his group has met with

representatives of the Georgia Department of

Transportation, and they feel that the road improvements

being proposed in the area will increase safety.

"Anything

that would make the area safer is a positive step,"

he said.

As for the

design of the store itself, Williams said one of the

conditions of conceptual site plan approval was

addressing the architectural character of the site.

Both

Williams and McMurrain said that some progress was made

in that area when Home Depot was planning its previously

proposed store in Kedron Village. That project was

shelved a few weeks ago as the new site was being

considered.

"It'll

look like a Peachtree City project," McMurrain said

Wednesday, echoing his comments to the City Council last

week.

Water

runoff at the site has not been discussed very much so

far, Williams said, but it will be important in the

future months as the final site plan is completed.

While that

is being done, RAM Development is preparing its site plan

for the next phase of the project, which would be a

Wal-Mart store, McMurrain said.

He expects

to be back before the city sometime in the next few

months, perhaps in March or April, with that plan.

But the

Home Depot site still hinges on the all-important road

situation, and with local, state and federal interests

involved, nothing is certain there.

"They've

[RAM Development] got their work cut out for them with

the DOT," said Williams.