Fayette County commissioners

last week approved a new land use plan for the area around Ga. Highway

74 at Redwine Road with little discussion.

"I think the staff has

done an excellent job," said Commissioner Linda Wells.

Wells voted against the planned

shopping center that sparked the land use plan changes.

That was in December, when

commissioners 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 and to

act as a buffer between the shopping center and neighborhoods nearby.

Approval of the plan sparked

angry reactions from Peachtree City officials and residents of the area,

because the land use plan at that time called for residential development

in the entire area.

Following the rezoning, the

Planning Commission and Planning Department staff began working on changes

to the land use plan that call for office development immediately surrounding

the shopping center, stepping down to residential development immediately

after that.

"I hate to see the fact

that this corridor is changing at all," said Wells. But under the

circumstances, she said, the staff came up with an excellent way to ensure

that the commercial growth doesn't spread.

Commissioner A.G. VanLandingham,

who was not on the commission when the shopping center was approved, agreed.

"I regret very much that these pieces of property have had to be

done this way," he said, "but things do change."

The new land use plan will

be tested March 22, when commissioners consider a request for commercial

zoning on a five-acre tract next to the school complex. The plan calls

for office/institutional development on that parcel.

Owner Charles Pailer is calling

for 36,000 square feet of retail space on the five-acre site, with entrances

on both 74 and Redwine.