Work on The Village in Fayetteville

is moving, albeit it a bit more slowly than planned, but fast enough to

get a reaction from some local residents.

The Village is a mixed-use

planned development, approved last year by the City Council, that calls

for town homes, detached houses, office and commercial development on

approximately 110 acres on the west side of the city.

Calls received at The Citizen

as well as City Hall have reflected displeasure of some people at what

they think is excessive tree removal at the site, off LaFayette Drive

and Tiger Trail next to Fayette County High School.

But developers are doing exactly

what they got approval to do, according to city officials, and reports

of clear-cutting are misleading, they say.

City planning director Maurice

Ungaro took issue with a photo that ran on the front page of last Wednesday's

Fayette Daily News, accompanied by the caption "Where have all the

trees gone?" The majority of the land in that photo never had trees

on it, he said.

"The image that is shown

in the Fayette Daily News actually depicts a former farm field and pasture

area that had no trees in it," said Ungaro. "The only ones that

were there were along LaFayette, and that screened the view of the interior

of the property. We have aerial photos from the 1960s that show the area

had no trees."

Developers are currently working

on the two major roads that will snake through the property, and the entrances

from Ga. Highway 54 onto the development. Work on The Village got off

to a bit of a late start, Ungaro said, because the developers had to iron

out some issues regarding one of those Hwy. 54 access points with the

state's Department of Transportation and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"They're a little behind

schedule," said Ungaro. "They've had delays, but we [the city]

haven't delayed them."

After the road work, the next

task will be drainage and utilities, although the results of that work

will not be easily seen by passing motorists. When the time comes for

buildings to be erected on the site, most of the residential construction

will come first, after the infrastructure is completed.

No timetable has been set by

the developers for completion of any of these projects, Ungaro said.

The primary developer, Fayetteville

Village LLC, has laid out a master plan with a number of parks, amenity

areas and quiet one-way streets that wrap around both residential and

commercial property, giving residents the opportunity to "live, work

and play" at the same location.

The Village centers on 202

proposed residential units a combination of estate lots, town houses and

village lots on the site, which is bordered on the south by Ga. Highway

54, on the east by Tiger Trail, and on the north by Fayette County High

School.

In addition to the retail and

office space available within the project itself, the proximity of schools

is expected to be a major selling point for potential residents. At least

three town-square-style parks, similar to what is seen in the historic

section of Savannah, are planned in an attempt to bring together the various

land uses in a traditional neighborhood setting.

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