Fayetteville has plenty of

apartments, according to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

A rezoning request for a new

phase of Cobblestone Apartments, off Ga. Highway 54 east, was recommended

for denial by the commission at Tuesday night's regular meeting, to the

satisfaction of several dozen nearby residents who came out to oppose

the request.

The 4.62-acre tract, on the

east side of Cobblestone Boulevard behind the Amoco station, is currently

zoned C-3 highway commercial but has no frontage on Hwy. 54.

A representative of the developer

told the commission that the proposed development, consisting of 32 two-bedroom

units and eight one-bedroom units, would have much less impact on the

area than the type of retail establishment that could possibly locate

there.

A traffic study showed that

the apartment development would generate about one-third as many trips

per day, on average, as a 40,000-sq. ft. retail store, he said. Also,

the 45,000 square feet affected by the apartment buildings and parking

space was far less than the 110,000 square feet possibly affected by retail

use, he added, necessitating the removal of fewer trees.

Previous arguments against

the apartment development mentioned the possible impact on the county

school system by additional units, but the developer representative said

that these units typically generate school-age children only about 10

percent of the time.

"This land has been for

sale ever since it was annexed into the city 10 years," he said.

"There's no chance of highway commercial development there without

highway frontage."

Although a large number of

nearby residents attended, only two people spoke in opposition to the

request. Both cited the present number of apartments in the city as being

sufficient and expressed fear that their property values could decrease.

Commissioners cited the city's

land use plan, which calls for office-institutional development on the

site, and the number of apartments already in Fayetteville, which Chairman

Myron Coxe said is above the national average. Coxe specifically cited

those two points when making the motion to recommend denial, which passed

5-0.

The application will go before

the City Council next month.

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