The Fayetteville City Council

approved a settement agreement with developer Stan Thomas Wednesday night,

marking what appears to be the end of a couple of years of litigation

and possibly leading to a restaurant development in the city that was

planned several years ago.

Thomas filed a lawsuit against

the city after the council reverted a rezoning on a piece of property

on the west side of Ga. Highway 85 near Thomas' Fayette Pavilion retail

complex.

The developer had planned to

put a restaurant, and possibly two, on a tract directly across from Ellis

Road, next to Rent-All. When the council gave Thomas a C-3 zoning for

the three-acre site, it was with a number of conditions, including the

construction of a road connecting the property with the rest of the Pavilion,

running behind Rent-All.

A one-year deadline was given

for Thomas to get the road done, and that was renewed for a year by the

council at Thomas' request. But when it didn't happen within two years,

the council reverted the zoning to R-40 residential.

The major snag in the road,

which would have formed a direct intersection with Ellis Road on the east

side of the highway, was believed to be the collapse of Thomas' easement

agreement with Rent-All, according to City Manager Joe Morton.

The settlement agreement, signed

will stay any litigation for 30 days while Thomas prepares another development

plan for submission to the city. If that plan meets with all city guidelines,

the lawsuit will be dismissed, according to Laurel Henderson, an Atlanta

attorney representing the city in this action.

"It's unfortunate this

misunderstanding took place," Mayor Ken Steele said Wednesday after

Henderson briefed the council on the settlement. "But it looks like

the property will get developed the way the city wanted it developed,

and Mr. Thomas will get the development he wants."

The city never had a problem

with the original development plan, Morton said Thursday. "We just

wanted the access road."

Thomas will go directly to

the City Council and bypass the Planning and Zoning Commission because

of the litigious history of this project, Morton said. It's likely the

plan will be considered at a council meeting within 60 days.

Morton, who has seen a preliminary

plan but not the final plan, said that the city will be getting essentially

the project proposed several years ago.

"It looks like it meets

what the city is looking for," he said. "I don't think there

will be any real changes."

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