Residents in and around Fayetteville

who planned to come out to tomorrow night's City Council meeting to hear

a lengthy discussion of the Southside master plan can have some family

time or do some Christmas shopping instead.

The council is expected to

table all 16 agenda items relating to the Southside master plan until

the Dec. 19 meeting. That's because the task force is not yet finished

with its task, having at least one more meeting of its own next Wednesday

at 5 p.m. at the Depot on East Lanier Avenue.

The various annexations and

rezonings, delayed three months ago when the task force was formed, must

as public hearings. But they will likely be tabled without any discussion

because there is nothing to discuss until the task force is finished,

according to City Manager Joe Morton.

Urban Collage, the consulting

firm retained to work with the task force, plans to submit "a more

polished concept plan" at next week's task force meeting, "based

on issues that we've discussed," Morton said.

The concept plan has become

more tangible with each meeting, and now such details as building footprints,

greenspace and buffer locations, landscaping, and density calculations

are coming into focus, Morton added.

The process began when a large

number of residents on the southern edge of Fayetteville expressed opposition

to the proposed multiuse development of several hundred acres along Ga.

Highway 92 east of Ga. Highway 85 and west of Jeff Davis Drive. In addition

to various retail, office and residential components, the long-term plan

called for designated open space and the eventual extension of the Hwy.

92 connector from Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard to Jeff Davis Drive, a move

the developers said would greatly reduce traffic through the Fayetteville

square by allowing Jeff Davis area residents better access to Fayetteville

Towne Center and other retail destinations.

An important portion of the

overall site is a tract of about 53 acres just off the northeast corner

of hwys. 85 and 92, behind GTO's and Walgreen's. That land is in unincorporated

Fayette County, although it is nearly an island surrounded by city property.

Developers have proposed putting a shopping center, anchored by a Publix

supermarket, and other office and residential uses on that site.

That proposal got many local

residents, specifically in the Kingswood and Chanticleer subdivisions

just outside the city limits on Hwy. 92, on full alert. Charging that

the retail components of the master plan would lead to major traffic problems

and increased crime, among other problems, many of these residents let

their opposition to the plan be known at several City Council meetings.

The council voted in October to table the annexation and rezoning request

until tomorrow.

Another tract of concern to

local residents is adjacent to Kingswood, on the south side of the Hwy.

92 connector. That land is currently zoned for townhomes, but proponents

of the Southside master plan petitioned the city for rezoning to commercial.

A tract on the east side of Jimmie Mayfield, next to the path of the proposed

road extension, is also part of a commercial rezoning request.

Many of the residents who opposed

this plan feared that it would create a "Pavilion South," a

mega-retail complex similar to the Fayette Pavilion on the city's north

side, only this one would be at their back door.

The task force is an unusually

large group, consisting of members of a number of families with interests

in the land included in the master plan. Also involved are members of

the City Council and city staff, along with representatives of the Kingswood,

Chanticleer, Highland Park, Lakemont, Woodgate and Wyngate subdivisions.

They have come together to discuss concerns such as the transition areas

from commercial to residential property, the overall amount of commercial

property, the types of residential land uses, the amount of open space,

and traffic and transportation issues.

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