BY DEBBIE PAGE
The Troutman Planning and Zoning Board on Monday unanimously recommended a conditional rezoning request for nearly 35 acres for the Sunbeam Estates residential development but recommended against approval of a traditional light industrial rezoning request for an additional 43 acres for the Northfork Business Park on Murdock Road after objections from neighbors.
SUNBEAM ESTATES
Alex Bonda of Prestige Development requested the rezoning of several parcels on Royal Oaks Drive adjacent to the previous Rocky Creek I and II subdivisions (now called Norman Creek) and the recently approved Tractor Supply store site.
Bonda asked that the property, which is currently zoned Iredell County Residential agricultural property, be rezoned to Troutman’s conditional mixed residential.
If approved, the site, now occupied by a storage building sales lot and two auto repair businesses, would be developed with 118 single-family homes at a density of 3.2 homes per acre, slightly above the 2022 Future Land Use Map medium density of two to three homes per acre proposed for the area.
The site plan proposes 10 percent open space, a two-acre commercial frontage area, pocket parks, and two retention ponds since it falls in a watershed area. The development is not part of Prestige’s Norman Creek and will not share its amenities or HOA.
Bonda said the minimum 44-foot wide, 100-feet deep lots will provide another housing option for the area, which includes townhomes as well as single-family residences on 40- to 50-foot-wide lots in the adjacent Norman Creek.
The board questioned the density calculation, however, since it was based on the entire 36.8 acres, including the additional two acres of commercial development. The density without the commercial acreage rose to about 3.4 homes per acre, according to board members’ calculations.
The board was also upset that the traffic impact analysis (TIA) was not complete and that the density exceeded the 2022 Future Land Use Map for medium density residential.
Bonda said he would consider lowering the number of homes but could make no promises on the spot without recalculating the financial impact on the project.
After an hour-long discussion, the board voted to approve the rezoning with several recommendations to the Town Council as it considers the rezoning request on December 14.
Karen Van Vliet made the motion to approve with the following qualifications: the completed TIA is presented to the council in advance for careful study; the number of homes is reduced to 104; the homes must have multiple architectural materials (vinyl only on trim); 90 percent of homes have two-car garages with the garage set back three feet from house; that shutters be on front windows; that front entries will be covered; and that the water table must be covered with some sort of material, not left as bare concrete.
NORTH FORK BUSINESS PARK
Sam Barnette made the request for Butch Bouwens to rezone 43 suburban residential acres adjacent to the already approved nearly 90-acre Northfork Business Park. The traditional rezoning request for the suburban residential parcel to light industrial requires no site plan.
Barnette said the developers chose the LI rezoning as a compromise to be respectful of nearby residents.
Town Planner Lynne Hair said staff recommends approval of the rezoning since it fits the 2022 Future Land Use Map designation for the area as employment center-light industrial uses.
During the public hearing, neighbor Jessica Williams, referencing the two previously approved Northfork Industrial Park rezoning requests, asked, “When is this going to end?”
Her home will now be surrounded on three sides by the park.
Williams cited noise, lighting and pollution issues, increased traffic on the narrow, two-lane Murdock Road, and infrastructure capacity concerns with the project as reasons to reject the rezoning request.
Gene Reese also opposed the rezoning, saying the town needed an orderly expansion plan and requested a revisiting of the 2022 Future Land Use designation of light industrial for Murdock Road.
Joyce Murdock Feilke, whose home would face the industrial park entrance, presented a petition from neighbors asking the board to decline the LI rezoning request, citing a decline in nearby residential property values.
Feilke also asked each board member individually if they would like this industrial park in front of their home, to which each replied no.
Neighbor Charlie King said he believes the town has lost its way. He asked that the board to reject the request and requested that residents and developers meet to discuss the Northfork project, advocating for “baby steps” to develop one area first as a test run rather than developing all 90 acres at once.
In its discussion, the board objected to the rezoning request not being for a conditional rezoning, which allows the town more control and would have required a site plan. Traditional rezoning also does not require a community meeting for nearby neighbors affected by the project.
Board member Mark Taylor advocated for industrial projects to be developed instead at the Exit 42 area rather than on Murdock Road, which has 10 homes nearby that will be affected.
Van Vliet made the motion to deny the request, which passed unanimously.
In the statement of consistency vote, Van Vliet cited the rezoning request as inconsistent “as presented” with the 2022 Future Land Use Map, though the map designates the area for LI uses, as noted by Town Planner Hair in her recommendation to approve the request.
TIA CONSULTANT
Hair told the board that the town is in talks with Kimley-Horn, one of the nation’s premier engineering, planning, and design consultants, about providing “on-call” services to conduct traffic impact studies for the town, paid for by developers requesting projects, to give the planning staff and elected officials more control over the TIA process.
Hair said the firm would also help coordinate the multiple TIA improvements required by various approved projects in Troutman, some in the same areas.
The Town Council will hear a presentation on the effort at its December 11 agenda briefing, with the plan hopefully moving forward in the new year.