The

Village

-

203 homes of

various sizes.

-

Hotel/conference

center.

-

Retail square.

-

Two office

complexes.

-

Neighborhood

parks.

Fayetteville

officials are hoping that the dawn of 2000 will

bring closure to a project that is expected to

set the tone for the city's future.

City

Planning Commission members are continuing to

study a proposed new zoning category tailor-made

to encompass a development plan for the McElwaney

property, a 110-acre tract on Ga. Highway 54 just

west of downtown at Tiger Trail.

The

overall plan, dubbed "The Village" and

designed at the city's expense by urban planning

consultants, already has received approval by the

City Council. It envisions 200 homes of varying

sizes and densities, plus a hotel/conference

center, a retail square, two different styles of

office complex and space for a park, all

interlaced with small neighborhood parks and

tree-lined streets.

With

an ambience reminiscent of Savannah or

Charleston, the project is expected to bring

upscale residential growth to downtown

Fayetteville, and help create the active,

pedestrian-friendly downtown that city leaders

have been working for through the Main Street

program.

But

none of the city's zoning categories quite fit

that vision, and preparing a different rezoning

application for each segment of the property

would be unwieldy, according to chief planner

Maurice Ungaro.

Planners

have written a proposed new Planned Community

Development ordinance that would allow the mix of

uses envisioned for the McElwaney property under

one zoning umbrella, and would make the details

of the master plan a part of the zoning approval,

so that the developer would be bound by those

details.

Members

of the Planning Commission have misgivings,

though. "This is an ordinance written for a

project," commented commission member Allan

Feldman when the proposal was introduced in

October.

Feldman

said he is concerned that the proposed ordinance

doesn't directly limit the density of

developments, leaving those decisions to city

leaders. "You would wind up in a battle

royal over this thing," he said.

Approval

of the zoning has been on the commission's agenda

in November and December, tabled each time while

a committee of commissioners works with the

planning staff to tweak the proposed ordinance.

Those

involved say they hope to have a final version to

present at the commission's work session Jan. 11

and voting session Jan. 25. If the commission

recommends passage of the new ordinance, and a

rezoning for the property under that ordinance,

the City Council could act in February.

That

would leave only approval of site plans and

issuance of work permits, and construction could

begin on roads and other infrastructure in the

spring.

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