Porterdale residents will soon get a new place to shop for bargain-priced items after the city council approved the preliminary plans for a Family Dollar on Crowell Road.

The council voted to approve the plans presented by Eric Leineweber, development partner for the Charleston, S.C. based firm Twin Rivers Capital, at Monday's monthly meeting.

Leineweber originally brought the plans to last month's meeting and the council worked through two work sessions before voting to allow the construction. The plans hit a snag when the council balked at the absence of a fire suppression system in the drawings.

After meeting for 20 minutes in a closed-door executive session, the council reconvened and voted unanimously to allow for the construction. The council voted to allow the building to be constructed without a sprinkler system.

Currently, Georgia building code says any building over 12,000 square feet must have a sprinkler system. The plans for the new Family Dollar call for the building to come in under 10,000 square feet.

"I have to go to several small cities and present these plans, so I've learned to be patient," Leineweber said during the executive session break.

Once completed, the Family Dollar will be Porterdale's first major retail chain addition. Before approving the plans, council members ironed out several other formalities including addressing the aesthetics as well as the city light ordinance for retail space.

According to the submitted plans, the two sides of the building visible from Crowell Road will be covered with brick. In addition, the rear easement will go unabated in order to keep the buffer of trees behind the site.

No groundbreaking date has been planned, as TRC has to approve the amended plans the council gave to Leineweber, which included a few changes to the road along the entrance.

"I can't promise anything, so we have to make sure the agreement is something that will work for the partners," he said.

According to Leineweber, he and the council drew up a workable amendment that should have no problems meeting approval by his group.

The council approved the Porterdale Bar & Grill's application to serve distilled spirits after a public hearing that saw no participation from any residents.

In a 4-1 vote, only Kay Piper voted against the application. The business will now apply to the state and if granted, will be able to serve alcohol by the drink in accordance to the recently passed distilled spirits ordinance.