LAFAYETTE, Ga. — A dozen people came to an 8 a.m. town hall meeting to learn about a historic business district proposed for downtown LaFayette.
Michael Lovelady, the owner of One-Eleven, a new restaurant in a historic building on LaFayette’s town square, touted the benefits of such a district.
In response to concerns raised in September by business owners who feared the design guidelines would be too restrictive, LaFayette’s Historic Preservation Commission has recommended that City Council establish a historic district — but make the design guidelines optional.
Commission members hope that businesses will choose to follow the guidelines because of federal grants and tax benefits available to those who do so.
City Council is expected to consider establishing the historic district at a May council meeting.
“I think it’s something that’s going to move forward,” Lovelady said, following his 8 a.m. talk at the Bank of LaFayette Community Room.
Tim Omarzu covers Catoosa and Walker counties for the Times Free Press. Omarzu is a longtime journalist who has worked as a reporter and editor at daily and weekly newspapers in Michigan, Nevada and California. Stories he's covered include crime in blighted parts of metro Detroit and Reno, Nev.; environmental activists tree-sitting in California's Sierra Nevada foothills; attempts by the Michigan Militia to take over a township¹s government in northern Michigan. A native of Michigan, ...
