Traffic predicted as biggest problem with only one way in, out

The Peachtree City Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to recommend approval for a shopping center to surpass the city's size guidelines.

The approval came despite an outcry from several residents at the meeting complaining that the center will significantly degrade traffic on Ga. Highway 54 West. The Line Creek shopping center will be located on 16 acres at the southwest corner of the intersection of Planterra Way and Hwy. 54.

The City Council will make the final decision on the special use permit application for the site, and that decision is slated to come at its June 5 meeting.

Capital City Development is hoping to get permission from the state for an additional traffic light at the current Line Creek Drive intersection, which is in-between Planterra Way and MacDuff Parkway.

The 175,000 square foot center will be 25,000 square feet above the limit if ultimately approved by the Peachtree City Council.

The commission's vote was unanimous, 4-0, with commissioner Patrick Staples absent. Staples has had a significant input on the matter at previous meetings, however, and is especially sensitive to the issue as he lives in the Cardiff Park subdivision that backs up to the proposed shopping center parcel.

Under the conditions approved by the commission, the developer will have to replace any dead, dying or diseased vegetation as late as three and five years after the certificate of occupancy is issued.

That condition is critical because a 50-foot landscape buffer at the rear of the property along the Cardiff Park subdivision to the south is considered crucial by those neighbors.

The city has already agreed to swap part of Line Creek Drive and Line Creek Court to Capital City Development in exchange for other land, a move that added a controversial twist to the development.

The tract is zoned for general commercial use.
As part of the conditions for the approval of the special use permit, staff is recommending that only one business be allowed with a primary business of selling alcohol, and that business can be no larger than 3,000 square feet. Restaurants will be allowed to sell alcohol also.

Other uses that will be permitted include:
Indoor commercial recreation facility;
Auto parts sales, as long as no repair of vehicles is allowed on the premises by the property owner, tenant or customers; and
Office, retail and personal service business use.

A list of uses excluded from the site include:
Hotel or motel;
Cocktail lounge, disco or dance hall;
Auto repair, washing or sales facilities;
Any business whose primary business is selling gasoline;
Animal hospitals or veterinary clinics;
Adult novelty stores, book stores, entertainment centers, theaters and amusement facilities, peep shows and massage parlors (though a day spa will be allowed);
Tattoo parlor;
Check cashing facility where check cashing is the primary function of the business;
Pawn shops, second hand stores, closeout or liquidation stores, flea markets, bankruptcy or fire sales (though a consignment store will be allowed); and
A bingo parlor, bowling alley, pool hall, billiards parlor, skating rink and roller rink.