The City of Cedartown’s request for a new Tax Allocation District covering two commercial areas now comes with a carrot for voters: the promise of new opportunity.

During the Cedartown City Commission meeting on Monday evening, an Atlanta-based developer working with Kevin Stephenson to build new homes on Davis Road let it slip he was well aware of a project that will rely on the passage of the TAD to get done, and bring several retail opportunities.

Atlanta-area developer Michael Ledford referred to the “grocers” who have plans for property just down the road across from Home Depot for potential development.

Here’s a clip from Monday’s meeting:

A plan not yet fully announced by the City of Cedartown, a major national grocery retailer via a developer are working on the project for property at the intersection of Highway 27 North/Bypass and Davis Road.

If the TAD passes, that deal will go through according to several sources with knowledge about the deal who did not want to be named on the record.

It would bring a new grocery store, plus additional service retail and dining opportunities to the area.

The TAD is the sweetener the developer is hoping to get, those sources added, but would also benefit the entire shopping corridor already in place since it would additionally include established stores like Walmart and The Home Depot, plus newcomers in recent years like Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s, Tractor Supply and others.

The March 18 Special Election includes the Cedartown-only vote for the TAD district around the Hwy. 27 corridor (it would NOT include the new residential development that was approved on Monday evening by the City Commission) along with a second corridor focused on the Main Street area.

Benefits come in the form of tax collections being flattened for businesses for a certain period of time, with some of the collections earmarked specifically for improvement of those areas included in the tax district to improve infrastructure and maintenance on items like sidewalks.