A proposed

ordinance to limit the location of large retail stores in Peachtree City

will get a few more revisions at the request of City Council.

Council declined

not to adopt the ordinance at its meeting Thursday night, instead opting

to tweak some language in the ordinance to beefen up its legality.

Mayor Bob Lenox

indicated that he had problems with "regulating free enterprise."

The ordinance

would limit the size of retail stores in a general commercial zoning district,

but there is a loophole, noted Jim Williams, the city's director of developmental

services. Businesses could petition the city for a larger building under

a limited use zoning proposal, he said.

The ordinance

specifically states that its regulations wouldn't apply to the Home Depot/Wal-Mart

location and the phase two development at the Kedron Village retail center.

City Attorney Rick Lindsey said he didn't think the city could legally

apply the ordinance to those properties based on how much money the property

owners and developers have spent on the projects.

"It's

a question of when their rights are vested," Lindsey said.

Home Depot's

concept plat has already been approved by the city and the proposed plat

for Wal-Mart has been submitted to the city, Williams said. City staff

have commented on several drawings for phase two of the Kedron Village

center, he added.

Local resident

Steve Brown countered, however, that the "big box" ordinance

should apply to those projects also. He added that the current version

of the ordinance is the best draft the city has developed.

Doug Dillard,

representing Pathway Communities, the owner of the Kedron Village center,

said the center also should be exempt from the big box regulations because

the company submitted concept plans to the city for its phase two buildings

back in 1994. He estimated that the phase two structures would be over

200,000 square feet, noting that a company already has a contract on the

development.

"We feel

we were vested in 1994-95 when the phase one of Kedron Village was approved,"

Dillard said.

Planning commissioner

Rich Schumacher spoke during the public hearing to urge council to approve

the big box ordinance.

"We feel

it will safeguard the city's ambiance and the life-style that we want

to have in the future," Schumacher said.

Lenox questioned

the wording of the first paragraph of the ordinance that states the city

was designed and planned "on the concept that there would not be

one large central business area with a concentration of retail, other

commercial and office uses."

Lenox said

the city's master plan from 1972 outlines plans for a regional shopping

center at the junction of Ga. highways 54 and 74. The wording of the ordinance

is in direct contrast to that, Lenox noted after plopping down a stack

of documents containing the 1972 master plan.

Councilwoman

Annie McMenamin said a regional shopping center could be considered to

cover all of Peachtree City and not extend farther.

The mayor also

said he didn't see why one large retail store would create more problems

for the city than a handful of smaller stores equalling roughly the same

square footage.

Several council

members, including Lenox, said they supported the ordinance before they

voted to table it so the necessary changes could be made.