BY STACIE LETT CAIN

The Statesville City Council met before a packed gallery on Monday to discuss several rezoning requests by developers looking to rezone and possibly annex nearly 520 acres, much of which is farmland.

Several members of the public let the council know what they think about plans for these developments.

“I listen to all of this and look at what is going on in Statesville right now and I wonder if you are talking to your constituents,” Terry Gentle told the council during a public hearing for the proposed Warren Woods development along Mocksville Highway between Warren Road and Pecan Tree Lane. “They are not wanting this massive rezoning and the massive slab houses going up in our community.”

Gentle, among others, called out the council for ignoring public sentiment and for failing to care about the increased burden placed on taxpayers and the city’s current infrastructure.

“We need five schools and that isn’t counting these slab house developments,” Gentle explained. All of these homes are being thrown up and we aren’t putting any of the infrastructure in to be able to support any of this. We are shorthanded in our police department now as well. This will put additional burden on every taxpayer out there.”

Michael Moorefield, who also spoke out against the proposed development, also expressed his concerns about the impact on the land and local wildlife.

“I think we need to slow down what we are doing,” he said.

Having been a developer himself, Moorefield said he was keenly aware of the costs and benefits of development. He maintained that the cost of this development wasn’t worth the possible benefit.

“I respect the landowners’ right to sell their land and do what they want,” he said. “I look at this nice mural up above you and there is this nice lady that is trusting this body, this city council and mayor to do what is best for this city. She is holding a calf. This is a farm. But we have all of these farms that you are taking for these developments. There are no animals, no food production. Where is our heritage going? Where will the wild animals go that we are displacing? We are cutting down all of the trees and destroying the land. This is spot zoning and it’s a burden on the taxpayer as well as the county.”

Gentle warned the council would face consequences for continuing to vote against the will of the people.

“You sitting up there were elected to be there, but there was only a 3 percent voter turnout the last election,” he said. “I guarantee you I will work and I will knock on doors and I will make sure that the voters know who agreed to letting these slab houses to be built without infrastructure to support them and putting that burden on us.”

The proposed Warren Woods development calls for between 463 and 512 single-family homes on 245 acres. The development would include green space, water retention ponds, landscape buffers and upgraded building materials. 

According to Ken Holbrooks of Bayard Development, the project could bring value of $300 million to $400 million in taxable real estate to the city.

“It has taken us nine months to get to this point,” Holbrooks explained. “It has involved city offices, police and fire as well as input from the community. I am a guest here and I’m asking for permission. We have heard the concerns and the questions. We want to show people that we are good at what we do and we are very excited to move forward with this. We want to raise the bar and take care of this community.”

Councilman Steve Johnson said calling the homes “slab homes” isn’t a fair representation of what is being proposed.

“These homes have foundations; these are not slab homes,” he explained. “My question is where do we plant our flag? We have requests every day to build here and we have to decide how we are going to deal with this.”

The rezoning request passed by a 5-3 vote with councilmembers Steve Johnson, C.O. Johnson and Lisa Pearson voting against it.

Council denies rezoning request for Briarwood

A rezoning request for the Briarwood development, proposed by Prestige Homes, was denied after much discussion about infrastructure as well as affordability concerns.

“We need affordable housing, but starting at $400,000 — this isn’t affordable,” council member Lisa Pearson said.

The development plan calls for 525 homes on 200 acres along Interstate 40 between Gilbert Road and Westminster Drive.

The developer asked to rezone the area from R20 Single Family zoning to R5-cz High Density Single-Family Residential Conditional Zoning.

Despite the aesthetics and desire for residential growth, the council denied first reading of the rezoning request.

“Although I appreciate what you are developing here,” council member David Jones said, “I have voted no because I just don’t have a comfort level with the water and sewer aspects of this proposed development.”

The council voted to deny the request 7 to 1.