BY DEBBIE PAGE

After Troutman Planning and Zoning Board members chose Randy Farmer to remain as board chair and Barry General as vice chair during their first meeting of 2025, members voted on Monday to recommend the creation of a new commercial zoning district and finalized a list of conditions for residential developers seeking conditional zoning designations.

Town Planner Andrew Ventresca brought a staff recommendation to the board to amend the Unified Development Ordinance to add a local commercial zoning district.

The town currently has three commercially-oriented zoning districts: Highway Business (HB), Neighborhood Center (HC), and Central Business (CB).

Ventresca explained that the HB District is aimed at commercial and service uses serving a large area and permits uses such as shopping centers and larger commercial entities. The NC District is for mini-town center areas where mixed-use developments are encouraged on properties between three and 50 acres.

The CB District regulates development in the traditional downtown area acting as the overall town center with minimal setbacks, shared parking, and “the active and social heartbeat of the town.”

Ventresca said the staff saw a gap in the current districts that does not address properties less than three acres on thoroughfares not suitable for high-intensity commercial uses in HB or with typical CB standards.

Staff asked the board to recommend this new zoning district aimed toward lower-intensity commercial and service uses with the intent of serving the local area in which it is located.

The board voted 4-0 to approve the new district.

The proposal will go before the Town Council for consideration on February 13.

RESIDENTIAL CONDITIONS

After noting that the planning board meetings often involve developers asking for the same conditions for each conditional residential project coming before the board, Ventresca compiled a list of the conditions the board normally requests and then asked for its input on the list at the December meeting.

Ventresca presented the amended version to the board for its approval. After a brief discussion, the board signed off on the document, which Ventresca will present to developers as board expectations for all residential projects presented to the planning board.

Ventresca will ask developers to address and explain the rationale for only those conditions to which they do not agree during future planning meetings to streamline the process and more efficiently use meeting time.

The conditions are meant to protect residents already adjacent to these new developments and to ensure a better quality residential product for the Troutman community.

The conditions are as follows:

♦ All homes shall have driveways providing off-street parking for two vehicles.
♦ All single-family homes and townhomes shall have two-car garages.
♦ Exterior materials shall be durable and residential in character. Exterior wall materials shall be wood siding, wood shingles, brick, stone, stucco, fiber- cement/cementitious siding, or similar materials. Vinyl shall only be used on trim and soffit.
♦ Crawl space or raised slab required; if on slab, shall have a minimum four course exposed brick masonry veneer skirt (of standard brick size), stone, parging, or other similar materials extending up the face of the slab on all sides.
♦ Front building elevations shall be dispersed throughout the neighborhood. The same front building elevation is not allowed on adjacent property. Right-and left-hand versions shall be considered the same exterior building elevation.
♦ Accessory structures shall be similar in appearance and color to the principal structure.
♦ All power and utility lines shall be buried underground.
♦ Multiple materials must be used on the same façade.
♦ Shutters shall be required on all windows.
♦ Require pool, clubhouse, cabana, or any other amenity building to be constructed prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for a minimum of one-third of the total units
♦ Require a maximum two-story primary building height with a non-finished attic and finished attic living area allowable above two stories within the roof structure; walk-out basement also allowed.
♦ Perimeter lots and highly visible lots, with respect to a lot where either (A) the rear yards are highly visible from public streets/highways (within the neighborhood or surrounding the neighborhood), or (B) the lot abuts a common area, the rear facing façade shall be adorned decorative materials and architectural elements shown on the front facade.
♦ Buffers: Preferably a 50 foot-wide buffer (minimum 25’) around entirety of property (to be shown on concept map). Excludes areas required to be disturbed for utilities, stub outs, and roadway connections.
♦ All improvements listed in the traffic impact analysis (TIA) shall be completed per the timeframe listed in TIA (subject to NCDOT Approval). Draft TIA mitigations shall be complete by the time of Planning and Zoning Board meeting.
♦ On-street parking shall be provided at a ratio of one space for every four units.
♦ Consider an interior satellite parking lot for the purpose of residence parking personal watercraft, RVs, and work vehicles.
♦ Dedicate right-of-way along roadways for future widening as listed in 2009 Comprehensive Transportation Plan.
♦ Limit fireplaces to natural gas or propane logs.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for February 24.