Many developers know that getting

a development approved in Tyrone can be tough.

The Planning Commission can

be strict, as can the Town Council, and the citizens are very passionate

about how their town is developed. John Wieland Homes learned this lesson

again last week at a meeting of the Town Council.

Wieland proposed a development

south of Kirkley Road and across from their Southampton development on

Ga. Highway 74. It is on land that used to belong to Truett Cathy, founder

of Chick-fil-A. They wished to build 205 lots on 205 developable acres,

with 9.7 acres of office space, 20 acres dedicated for a school and close

to 100 acres of open space. The homes would sell for between $250,000

and $400,000. The large amount of open space is mainly environmentally

sensitive areas, such as wetlands.

While every home would have

direct access to the open space, the majority of lot sizes would be half-acre

lots. This goes against the town's ordinance which states that homes

can't be built on lots less than one acre, but it does follow the

state's conservation subdivision ordinance when homes are clustered,

but the amount of space is still the same. The town will have to adopt

a similar ordinance within the next 18 months, but since they have time,

the council continued the matter until the Jan. 15 meeting.

Among the concerns from citizens

at the meeting were inconsistent lot size, traffic increase and wastewater

treatment. A number of homes in the proposed development would be along

Mann Road, which currently has homes on lot sizes of five acres or more.

Residents wanted the lots closer to Mann Road to be more consistent with

what is already there. As for traffic, the development was showing how

the road would connect with the proposed Sandy Creek extension, also referred

to as the Northern Arc. Several citizens mentioned that this is not a

done deal and were concerned about increased traffic along the entrance

to the subdivision.

The plan also called for a

wastewater treatment plant to be built on the site and to have a pressure

drip system. This would be similar to the Millbrook subdivision. Wieland

representatives also felt that they would be able to hook on to the sewer

system. Citizens and council members were not so sure and raised concerns

over this as well.

Town Manager Barry Amos said

that 45 percent of the land in the development would be open space, the

proposed wastewater treatment plant would be in the least intrusive area

in the development and that there would be no driveways off of the bypass.

For those reasons, Amos said, he could recommend approval of the development,

despite the fact that the development would not keep with the town's

ordinance for one-acre minimum lot size.

David Nebergall represented

the Planning Commission and also recommended approval, with a number of

conditions. Among the conditions were that the area designated as a school

site be dedicated to the Fayette County Board of Education, a 60-foot

buffer along Hwy. 74 be built for the school, all lots on the western

side of Mann Road be a minimum of three acres, and the Sandy Creek extension

be a gradual turn and not a stop and turn, which would limit traffic.

Council members felt that the

citizens' concerns were valid and asked the representatives from

Wieland Homes to try to work something out that addressed those concerns.

They wanted less density, an increase in the lot size along Mann Road

and hook-ups to the existing sewer instead of creation of a drip field.

Wieland will bring the amended

plan before the council Jan. 15 at 7 p.m.

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