BY STACIE LETT CAIN
A controversial development plan was pulled from the Statesville City Council’s agenda just before Monday’s council meeting.
City staff released a statement and posted signs outside City Hall stating that the Holland Farms rezoning public hearing had been postponed until a later date.
According to the Holland Farm Project on Scotts Creek Facebook page, the developer provided the following explanation for delaying the public hearing in an email:
“We were just informed that there is an issue with the fire response time based on a recent decision with the County’s Monticello fire station. We want to work with the City to resolve this issue prior to the public hearing so we have decided to defer our public hearing. We will send an update once we have more information, including the resolution and future public hearing date,” the email read.
The City of Statesville Planning Board recommended approval of a request to rezone the 364-acre tract for the development in June. Nearby residents have opposed the project, arguing that it would destroy the rural character of their community, compromise their safety and overwhelm area roads.
The original plan called for 650 single-family homes, 160 townhomes, 310 multi-family apartment units and approximately 12,800-square-feet of retail space. The developer, JJM Realty Partners of New Jersey, agreed to remove the apartment units from the plan during the Planning Board meeting. (Related article HERE.)
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business:
♦ Council members voted to stagger the elections for at-large council members.
According to City Clerk Emily Kurfees, during its October 2023 retreat, the council proposed moving the at-large council election from October to November 2025. Among the candidates for the two at-large seats in 2025, the one who receives the most votes will be elected to a four year term, and the one receiving the second highest number of votes will be elected for a two-year term.
“As we discussed, this will allow one at-large council seat to be elected every election cycle,” Council member David Jones explained. “We are hoping to stimulate more people to participate in our local elections.”
♦ The council also voted unanimously to approve a rezoning request for three properties located off Amity Hill Road. The three properties, owned by Scott Stewart, are currently located in a Heavy Industrial zoning area and are not eligible for bank loans as a result. Comprising a little under five acres, the city staff recommended rezoning the tracts to R20 Suburban Residential, citing nearby property with residential zoning and adherence to the 2045 Development Plan.
♦ The council approved construction of a tri-plex on property located at the corner of South Elm Street and Dockery Street in the city. The property’s current zoning, R-5MF, would have allowed the building of a duplex without council approval, but the developer, Kyle Fisher with Hackanax Construction, wanted to maximize use of the property and build instead a three-unit building. Each unit will have two bedrooms and two full baths. The land, which is currently vacant, is surrounded by single-family homes.
“A duplex would have gone in there without our input but to further maximize the site by putting a tri-plex on there seems to me to be beneficial to the area,” Mayor Costi Kutteh said.
The property will be used as rental housing.
♦ Council postponed a decision on request for a text amendment to the Unified Development Code pertaining to Adult Entertainment Establishments.
The current UDC requires that any adult establishment, defined as adult arcades, adult bookstores, adult cabarets/clubs such as topless dancing, adult live dancing, adult motels or hotels, adult motion picture theaters, adult mini-motion picture theaters, adult theaters, adult video stores, escort agencies, adult massage businesses, nude model studios or sexual encounter centers, be located 1,500 feet from any property used for residential purposes, which would include residences, churches, daycares, nursing homes, parks or schools. A request was filed by Kalyan K. Sunkara to amend the Code to decrease the distance to 1,400 feet.
During the public hearing, Sunkara explained that Statesville’s requirement is more restrictive than many area cities and did not allow properties to be used to purposes that the building location or design would seem to fit.
“I believe that the 1,500-foot requirement is restrictive when other cities have 700- or 800-foot restrictions,” he said. “Buildings that could be used for these purposes can’t be because of these restrictions and that prevents property owners from being able to find people to rent their buildings.”
Even though city staff recommended denying the request, council member David Jones asked that the public hearing be held open for two months and give the city staff enough time to gather more information on the impact of changing the UDC would have.
“I just want to make sure that when we make this decision it is with the information we need to make it,” Jones explained.
Doris Allison, although voting to postpone, voiced support of city staff’s recommendation, stating that she would be content denying the request.
“We have had city staff do their research and they are telling us that they would deny this recommendation,” she said. “That is sufficient for me to vote to deny it.”
♦ Council voted to approve the second reading of the annexation request for the Briarwood Development, formerly the Stamey Ridge development, between Gilbert Road and Westminster Drive. The 200-acre property near Interstate 40 is a voluntary annexation to connect the proposed development to city sewer and electrical services. The motion was approved 5 to 3, with council members Steve Johnson, C.O. Johnson and Amy Lawton opposing.