The

Village is coming to Fayetteville.

After

16 months of negotiation, City Council Monday

approved a change in zoning to allow the

ambitious, upscale development on 110 acres just

west of downtown.

The

property, at Tiger Trail and Ga. Highway 54 next

to Fayette County High School, was purchased

recently from the McElwaney family, whicah had

owned it for more than 100 years.

"I'm

thankful we got it done," said a relieved

developer Bob Rolader following council's

unanimous vote.

Council's

approval of PCD (planned community development)

zoning for the property includes approval of a

detailed development agreement that binds the

developers and the city.

"I

think it's a good document," said Rolader.

"It locks down the property so that it will

be developed exactly as the city envisions

it."

What

the city envisions is a pedestrian-friendly

community of 203 homes on tree-lined streets,

wrapped around a series of neighborhood parks,

plus a hotel/conference center, a class A office

complex, a day care center and a neighborhood

shopping area with loft apartments, in some

cases, for owners and managers.

More

specifically, the plan calls for 117,900 square

feet of offices, 25,100 square feet of

restaurants, 135,400 square feet of neighborhood

shopping and four styles of homes ranging from

townhouses to large estate homes.

The

project was planned last spring by consultants

hired and paid by the city. Council had decided

to hire its own consultants to master plan the

two remaining large tracts of undeveloped land in

the city as a way of ensuring quality

development.

While

officials admit that the project is high density,

they say high density in the city's inner core

will help ensure the area's future vitality.

"It

is very important to Fayetteville's future that

we have people living downtown," said

Councilman Bill Talley following Monday's action.

Talley

was a member of the "vision" committee

that worked with consultants on the plan last

year, and was chairman of the city Planning

Commission while that group pored over the plan

for the last several months. Having been elected

to council in December, he followed the project

through its final approval.

"The

vision committee dealt with general

concepts," said Talley, "and this is as

close to that in reality as it can be. By and

large it is an adequate implementation of a

concept."

Don't

expect to see bulldozers on the property very

soon. As part of the PCD zoning category,

Rolader's next step is to take each portion of

the project to the Planning Commission for site

plan approval before beginning construction.

Engineering, hydrology and tree studies must be

conducted as part of that process, so it may be

two or three months before the first phase is

presented to the commission.

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