Fayette County's Planning Commission

Thursday will start thinking about whether a recent controversial shopping

center rezoning on Ga. Highway 74 should bring changes in the land use

plan for the area.

County commissioners in December

approved Starr's Mill LLC's Plantation Centre, which includes 21.8 acres

of retail development and 5.8 acres of offices. The company is donating

an additional 52 acres to the county for green space.

Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox

has called the action the worst rezoning decision in Fayette history,

saying the change will force the county to accept more commercial development

in the area, while its land use plan calls for low-density residential

development.

At least one commercial rezoning

already has been submitted, across Hwy. 74 from Plantation Centre on the

southeast corner of Redwine Road. Developers are calling for 36,000 square

feet of retail space on the five-acre site, with entrances on both 74

and Redwine.

That request will go to the

Planning Commission March 1 and the County Commission March 23.

Meanwhile, the Plantation Centre

rezoning did cause the planning staff to take another look at the land

use plan, county planning director Chris Venice said this week.

But because the Plantation

Centre project is "contained" by the green space buffer on the

west and south and the offices on the east, changes to the land use plan

may not have to be too drastic, she said.

"We'll start [by discussing]

some O&I (office and institutional) and probably a change in some

residential densities," Venice said. After the Planning Commission

gives its input, "We'll determine exactly what we need to be looking

at," she added.

The group's work session will

be at 7 p.m. in the Zoning Department at the County Administrative Complex.

All Planning Commission meetings are open to the public, but the group

does not normally receive public comment at work sessions.

In addition to discussion of

the Starr's Mill area, the group will consider more changes to Fayette

County's tree protection ordinance.

Among new restrictions being

considered are tougher restrictions on timbering operations.

Buffers around the perimeter

of property being timbered, and rules stating that a certain number of

trees must be left standing, even in the center of a clear-cut parcel,

are among the provisions.

If the changes are approved,

timbering companies also will be required to gravel the entrance to any

timbering site, to prevent trucks from tracking mud onto roads. And if

they do track mud, they'll have to clean it up.

County engineers presented

the proposed changes to the county Planning Commission last month, and

commission members suggested some modifications, which will be worked

into the document for further consideration at Thursday's meeting.

If the Planning Commission

approves changes to either the tree ordinance or the land use plan, its

recommendation will go to the county Board of Commissioners for final

action.