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Thursday, March 22, 2007
Too much development on Ga. 74?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The longer I live in Peachtree City, the more I realize that each neighborhood tends to operate as a community unto itself. That doesn’t mean that folks in one subdivision don’t go to school, play ball, socialize or otherwise intermingle with folks in another, but it does mean that what appears to be good for one neighborhood might be considered a catastrophe for an adjacent one.
Take for example the proposed commercial development on Ga. 74 and Holly Grove Road. A developer, Columbia Properties, wants to build a sizable retail center with a “big box” home improvement store and an associated fuel station, a large soft goods (clothing) retailer, five outparcels to include chain restaurants, a bank and a day care facility and another retail strip with smaller local shops. The development—which combined with the Publix-anchored Wilshire Pavilion across the street would surpass Kedron Village in terms of square footage—is designed to incorporate a realignment of Rockaway Road, which the state is planning in conjunction with the second phase of the widening of Ga. 74.
While more stores and restaurants on the Southside of the city might sound like a good idea to residents in some neighborhoods off Robinson, Braelinn and Redwine roads, it sounds like a pretty bad idea to many of the residents in my neighborhood, Wilshire Esates.
If the planning commission were to approve the commercial rezoning the developer is requesting, Holly Grove Road, which is the heart and soul of the entire 248-home neighborhood, would surely become a cut-through for motorists traveling east from Coweta County up Rockaway Road and those traveling west from the eastern side of Peachtree City to the new development.
Since Wilshire Estates would bear the most obvious brunt of the development in terms of traffic, child safety and crime issues, it’s the only neighborhood making any noise with city officials. Yet I would argue that the whole Southside of Peachtree City will feel these negative effect from a new commercial development. Coweta residents taking the shortcut to Fayetteville would also use Robinson Road and Peachtree Parkway, creating increased traffic and child safety concerns for them as well.
What do you think about the proposed commercial development? Would your neighborhood be affected? If so, how?
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