An awesome

and impressive compromise was proposed by a developer

named Callaway. He proposed 20 of the 60 acres be

developed commercially, leaving 31 acres as park area or

green space and donating six acres to the Tyrone Town

Hall and Library. The plan incorporates a 60-foot

landscape buffer along Hwy. 74, an architectural

treatment that would be the envy of the county, a

first-rate supermarket, restaurants and shops. What could

be better for our town?

Homemakers

and business people alike stepped up to the voice their

approval of the project. They spoke of their desire for a

full-service supermarket, restaurants, employment

opportunities for teenagers and seniors, opportunities

with civic-minded stores (like Publix)and the advantages

of a larger tax base. Tyrone does have the highest tax

rate of any in the county. A petition was presented to

substantiate the support for just such a development. It

seems to be a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, the Tyrone

Town Council was oblivious to the grassroots support of

the project by the public. There was the typical grousing

about traffic in Tyrone, an on-going gripe but never

addressed by the town unless a developer makes a

proposal.

In fact, this developer had

a professional traffic consultant that was recommended by

the town conduct a study with improvements recommended

and the developer agreed to pay for those improvements.

It seems our council members act as self-appointed

traffic experts as well and determined that professional

reports and hard data weren't needed - they could

make the determinations themselves. So why even ask for

the traffic reports?

But traffic

is not the only area of expertise of our Town Council. It

seems they can make the determination that a supermarket

in Tyrone would not have sufficient patronization and

would become vacant and a tax write-off for the store

owners. Never mind that Publix conducted a four-month

study and is a billion-dollar supermarket chain that's

been doing business for 50 years.

Then there

is this mindless hand-wringing over the size of the

store. The Town Council also knows that a glorified

convenience store would be better suited for our area

instead of a full-service store with a deli, bakery,

pharmacy, etc. All this is based on a newspaper article

which magically appeared in their in-boxes that

actually addresses the retro-fitting of inner-city

stores, not communities such as ours - apples and

oranges.

Forget the

four-month study by Publix and their determination of

where their store would best operate. The council

believes the store would best be suited up the road on

another piece of property that attained zoning through a

nasty legal battle. In fact, one commissioner argued

passionately that the property farther up on Hwy. 74 is

the correct place for the supermarket and stated that

that property owner was entitled to his zoning and

approved site plan while simultaneously denying other

property owners in the room similar rights.

So in the

end, the packed room heard from one council member that

it was okay to drive to Peachtree City and Fayetteville

for groceries and provide those communities with our tax

dollars; he had made the drive and it wasn't so far.

Another indicated that a grocery store would be coming in

time but not on this piece of property. He didn't mention

traffic concerns, public service costs or restrictions on

the size of the store - nor the concern that the

store would be vacant in time - all concerns voiced in

opposition to Mr. Callaway's proposal.

"Even

if it's a Piggly-Wiggly," he said. One wonders

what he means. Is he talking about a town council that

will come after this one that's willing to do the heavy

lifting and make the courageous and far-sighted decisions

that this town council clearly cannot.

The

proposal was soundly defeated; not even one council

member could stand up and represent those in favor of the

development by being present and speaking out at the

meeting or by petition. Not one member was courageous

enough to say, I'll vote with the people. Is this the

process by which they were elected?

In an

unusual turn of events, the town attorney suggests the

vote be rescinded and return the plan to the planning

commission. Could it be that the Town Council suddenly

has realized how ludicrous and indefensible its arguments

would appear in a more objective setting? We can only

hope so. Maybe it occurred to the council just how

unhappy their constituents would be to see their tax

dollars spent in fighting a development which the people

wanted in the first place.

I'm tired

of hearing what Tyrone cannot be - I want to see

what it can be.

Beth

Johnson

Tyrone