The new

headquarters for the Peachtree City Police Department

will undergo the same given every other new building in

the city, beginning with its recent scrutiny conceptual

site plan approval by the Planning Commission.

The Police

Department is moving from its current location in the

basement of City Hall to have a larger area for office,

training and storage facilities. Funding of the new

facility was recently approved by the City Council.

The new

site will allow the department to continue having all of

its resources in a single location, while also allowing

other departments at City Hall to expand.

The plan

was submitted by Cobb and Associates, the architects for

the project. The new facility will be located on Ga.

Highway 74 South next to the Peachtree City Water and

Sewerage Authority's headquarters.

The

conceptual site plan includes a 14,175-square-foot

building on 5.55 acres, along with 83 secured parking

spaces. The space designated for the new facility is

planned to house the 57 current employees and up to 75

future ones, which should be more than enough to satisfy

departmental needs through buildout, according to city

staff.

Architect

Don Cobb told the Planning Commission Monday night that

the structure would be of masonry construction. The

adjacent property is zoned for limited industrial use.

City staff

recommended approval of the conceptual site plan with the

following conditions:

� Existing vegetation throughout the

site, especially within the undisturbed buffer area, must

be preserved to the greatest extent practicable.

� The existing asphalt driveway must

be widened to a minimum of 24 feet all the way to the

entrance and rear parking area.

� All utilities must enter the site

through cleared areas rather than through natural areas.

� Wheelstops may be necessary in the

parking spaces that abut the rear fence, or the fence

should be moved a minimum of three feet away from the

back of the curb.

� All overhead power lines that

traverse the site must be relocated underground.

Planning

Commission members, after some discussion, added two

conditions relating to the screening of the emergency

generator and providing for cart access to the site,

which does not currently exist.

With those

seven conditions, the conceptual site plan was

unanimously approved.

In other

business, Jim Harris, owner of Yard Time on Huddleston

Road, requested approval for five new storage bins at his

site to store additional stock material.

Harris said

that there is a need for extra storage capacity for some

materials, and the new bins would assist in maintaining

the appearance of the existing bins. Several of the

current bins are overflowing, according to a city staff

report.

The walls

and floor of the new bins would be poured-in-place

concrete, similar to the existing structures, staff said.

In

recommending approval of the additions, city staff

suggested the following conditions:

The rear

wall of the bins must not encroach into the 10-foot

setback adjacent to the railroad tracks.

The overall

height of the bins must be similar to the existing

structures.

Landscaping

may be necessary at the rear of the walls to assist in

screening the area, and would be determined once the

walls are in place.

The

applicant should continue to coordinate with city staff

to monitor the appearance of the site from Huddleston

Road and Ga. Highway 54.

The

Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the

request with the attached conditions.

A scheduled

public hearing concerning proposed improvements to Holly

Grove Church Road and Robinson Road was delayed..

Several

residents of The Preserve, a nearby subdivision, had

attended the previous two Planning Commission meetings to

voice their concern about the proposed realignment and

paving of Holly Grove Church Road and the extension of

Holly Grove Road to Ga. Highway 74. They worried that the

projects would create traffic and speeding problems in

their neighborhood.

City staff

has met with the homeowners association as well as

representatives of the Holly Grove AME Church, but the

problem has yet to be resolved to everyone's

satisfaction, hence staff's recommendation to continue

the matter until the Jan. 10 Planning Commission meeting.