In

the end, it might be the projected traffic

increase that keeps a Wal-Mart from coming to

Peachtree City - for now, at least.

The

conceptual site plan for Wal-Mart - which

would be located off Ga. Highway 54 near the

entrance for the Planterra Ridge subdivision

- will be considered by the planning

commission at its meeting Monday night.

But

city staff will recommend that the plan from RAM

Development Group be turned down since the store

may not meet the guidelines of the traffic

ordinance, said city planner David Rast.

Doug

McMurrain of RAM said the Wal-Mart project is not

subject to the traffic ordinance since the

development application was filed before the City

Council approved the traffic ordinance.

"Technically

and legally, we do not fall under the traffic

ordinance," McMurrain said. "We have

worked diligently with the city to come up with

traffic improvements in the 54 corridor. We think

the improvements will ease the traffic problems

that are already existing there and help the

traffic for our project."

The

traffic ordinance was designed to address traffic

problems on a stretch of Ga. Highway 54 between

Ga. Highway 74 and the Coweta County line. That

section of highway is scheduled to be widened to

four lanes by the Georgia Department of

Transportation, but the project is on hold.

If

a traffic study shows a development in that area

will worsen traffic beyond its current levels,

the developer is required to do one of two

things:

Fund traffic

improvements in the area so the development will

meet the minimum traffic requirements; or

Wait for the state

or another entity to make the traffic

improvements before developing their project.

RAM

has requested that the city's attorney consult

with their attorney about whether the project is

subject to the city's traffic ordinance or not,

McMurrain said.

RAM

is proposing to build the Wal-Mart behind a Home

Depot it wants to construct on Highway 54 near

the entrance to the Planterra Ridge subdivision.

"The

improvements we'll make will also make that 54

corridor look more like Peachtree City,"

McMurrain said, referring to the site's landscape

buffer plan. "Right now, that area doesn't

look like it's a part of Peachtree City, except

for the entrance to the Planterra Ridge

subdivision, which I think is beautiful."

Not

only is that area close to the problematic 74/54

intersection, it also is near a two-lane railroad

bridge on Hwy. 54 that also snarls traffic at

certain times of the day.

Last

week, city representatives and traffic

consultants met with RAM representatives and its

traffic consulting firm. The numbers presented by

city consultants from Dames and Moore varied

substantially from those presented by RAM's

traffic consultants, Rast said.

"Our

position is that based on the recommendation from

our traffic consultants, the mitigation for

Wal-Mart would not conform to the traffic

ordinance," Rast said.