The clock

is ticking.

That was

the overriding message Tuesday afternoon as Peachtree

City officials and members of the traffic task force

discussed ways to get a handle on what can be done to

work out differences before the Home Depot appeal

concerning the Huddleston property is heard at the Dec.

16 City Council meeting.

"Either

we will control the situation, or it will control

us," Mayor Bob Lenox said.

With an

already traffic-choked Ga. Highway 54 West looking at six

years or more before any widening would be completed,

commuters can expect a lot of pain, both now and during

the construction process, according to task force member

Bill Lancicome.

A planner

and architect who has done a large amount of work for the

city over the years, Lancicome spoke out Tuesday about

what he called a "missed opportunity" for the

city to shape that area in a way that would have avoided

much of the current unpleasantness.

The city

shot down a 1997 plan for the Huddleston property that

would have seen a much smaller retail center than the one

now being proposed, Lancicome said.

"Peachtree

City has set itself up for a big left hook," said

Lancicome. "And you're getting it."

He said

that the earlier plan was rejected because it would have

required a change in zoning, and emotion got in the way

of good planning.

"It

was the fear of the unknown, that it would change

everything that's nice about Peachtree City,"

Lancicome said about the motives for denying the plan.

"And I don't believe that. We missed a great

opportunity. Nobody saw the benefits of good

planning."

Instead of

spending so much time making the Home Depot developers

out to be the bad guys, Lancicome suggested that the city

and the task force focus on dealing with the traffic

problems, both before and during the future highway

improvements.

"The

state DOT is going to plow through here," he said.

"We'll have six years of pain. We must have interim

solutions."

Task force

member Eileen Shaw, a Planterra Ridge resident, asked why

the group must "rush to judgment," pointing out

that there is a great deal of information to absorb and

consider before making any recommendations.

Lenox

responded that the city is "legally compelled"

to do so, adding that the city cannot dictate

development, and the Home Depot/Wal-Mart plan cannot be

stopped if road improvement restrictions in metro Atlanta

related to federal clean air guidelines are lifted in the

spring, as many believe they will be.

The

sentiments of Lenox and Lancicome were echoed by Jim

Fulton, who said the city must take advantage of the

current opportunity to work with the developers before

the courts tell the city to do whatever the developer

wants.

Both

Lancicome and Lenox pointed out repeatedly that a large

retail center is eventually going in on the Huddleston

property, no matter what.

"A big

box is going to go there," said Lancicome.

"There's too much traffic, the site's too attractive

[not to]."

He said

that the plan proposed in 1997 was similar in scope to

the Braelinn Village shopping center, which is much

smaller than what is being planned there now.

"I

said two years ago the city would regret that," said

Lenox of the denial of that plan.

According

to city development director Jim Williams, the city

received the plan in question in August 1997. At that

time, there was a moratorium in effect that would allow

no more land in the city designated for multi-family use.

The plan

called for a village shopping center closer to the

highway, Lancicome said, along with apartments behind and

near the railroad tracks. Single-family residential

housing would have been located where apartments are now

being planned at Line Creek Parkway.

Although

Lancicome said Tuesday that the Planning Commission and

City Council rejected the plan, Williams said it actually

never got to an official meeting of either body. The

council simply decided not to lift the moratorium, and

that effectively quashed the plan.

City staff

prepared a report saying that the plan would shift some

of the apartments from an adjoining property onto the

Huddleston property, resulting in what Williams called a

"more unified" concept, as the apartments would

be spread out over both tracts.

The 1997

plan called for about 180,000 square feet in the shopping

center, with some outparcels next to the highway. The

proposed Home Depot and Wal-Mart would total nearly

350,000 square feet.

Regarding

the current proposal, quite a bit of Tuesday's discussion

centered around the idea of making the main entrance to

the retail center across from Huddleston Road instead of

across from Planterra Ridge.

The current

DOT plan for Hwy. 54 has no median cut at Huddleston

Road, which is of great concern to the task force

considering its use as an access road to the industrial

park.

Lenox said

that at peak morning drive time, 17 cars per hour turn

right into Planterra Ridge after coming east from Coweta

County, while more than 240 turn right onto Huddleston

Road.

"And

they'll need to turn left going back in the

evening," said Fulton.

Lenox said

that he thinks several improvements can be done now which

would help the situation in that area no matter what is

done by developers. He suggested adding right-turn lanes

to Huddleston Road from Hwy. 54 and to Hwy. 54 from Hwy.

74, as well as restricting left turns at the Huddleston

Road intersection in the afternoon.

The

extension of TDK Boulevard into Coweta County is high on

the priority list for the city.

Lenox feels

that it should be completed before the Hwy. 54 widening

project begins, to ease traffic congestion that will

result from construction. Lenox also feels that the TDK

extension can be done even under the current road

guidelines.

City

officials are scheduled to meet next week in Thomaston

with state DOT representatives to discuss various aspects

of the road projects. Lenox said that once the

"political" portion of the process is decided

in Atlanta, then the DOT office in Thomaston will make

decisions on the "road-building" portion, such

as whether to start on the east or west end and where the

railroad bridge fits into the priority list.

Task force

member Ted Taylor brought up an intriguing possibility,

wondering if the bridge improvements could be extended

enough to allow Huddleston Road to run underneath it.

As far as

taking away the traffic light at Planterra Ridge and

deciding where to put median cuts for when the highway is

widened, Lenox said that the DOT will have the final say

on what is done, but with plenty of input from anyone and

everyone.

When the

Wynnmeade Connector is completed along with Line Creek

Parkway, direct access from Hwy. 54 to Wynnmeade

subdivision will be cut off, Lenox said, adding that this

is what the Wynnmeade residents want and everyone

involved is happy with it.

That will

make Line Creek Parkway, which will be directly across

from Days Inn, the main access road for about 900 homes

when the planned apartments and homes are completed.

Task force

member Robert Brown, also a Planterra Ridge resident,

said that his subdivision is unique in Peachtree City in

that its main entrance is directly on a state highway and

it connects with the industrial park on the other side.

No matter

what is done, as Shaw and council member Annie McMenamin

pointed out, the city will still have a residential

subdivision directly across from a regional retail

center. McMenamin added that it is "unheard of"

for such a commercial development to have only one

entrance off a two-lane road.

Brown said

that perhaps the city should consider what was done with

Lowe's in Fayetteville. That retailer originally looked

into building around Hwy. 54 and Sandy Creek Road, but a

city ordinance there requires retailers that size to have

access to two separate four-lane roads, which led Lowe's

to build its new store between Hwys. 85 and 314.