BY DEBBIE PAGE
The Troutman Planning and Zoning Board has recommended approval of a rezoning request for a 256-lot single-family home residential development, sending the recommendation to the Troutman Town Council for final consideration on November 12.
The three parcels, totaling nearly 104 acres, are currently zoned Iredell County residential-agricultural. Prestige Corporate Development is requesting annexation and rezoning to conditional mixed residential.
The development would be accessible from Apple Hill Road (via Flower House Loop) and through Streamwood Road through the Falls Cove development.
Prestige representative Alex Bonda said the development would have an amenity structure and pool. All homes, ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet, would be front-loaded, with shutters and hardy plank, stone, wood, or brick exterior materials and vinyl used only as trim materials.
The homes will be two-story, with the possibility of a rear walk-out basement level added on some sloped lots. All will have a two-car garage and space for two cars in the driveway.
The development density is planned at 2.46 units per acre, well below the 12 units possible under the RM zoning. The developers plan a 50-foot buffer around most of the project, with 10 percent open space.
The Future Land Use Map shows the area as medium density (2 to 3 units per acre).
Prices will be in the mid-$400,000 range, with complete build-out expected by 2030. A builder has not been selected.
Town Planner Andrew Ventresca recommended approval since the project met the town’s future land use plan and UDO requirements.
In public comment, neighbor George Harris asked that the Streamwood Road connection not be opened until the neighborhood construction was complete to avoid large trucks and equipment going through Falls Cove.
Ventresca said that he would have to check with the fire marshal regarding possible safety concerns with that request.
Another speaker requested that the development go to a true two units per acre as allowed in current zoning rather than concentrating the homes in a smaller area on the property. She also expressed concern about traffic and already overcrowded schools.
The traffic impact study is in progress, but several road improvements are already on tap for the area. The realignment of Flower House Loop and Houston Road and the addition of a traffic light is slated for 2025, and left turn lanes are being added on South Main at Oswalt Amity and Barkdale Roads along with future construction of the Norman Creek development.
Board member Darryl Hall also asked that the development’s HOA limit the number of rental units allowed.
The board voted to recommend the rezoning request 6-1, with Greg Wise dissenting.
OTHER BUSINESS
♦ The board unanimously recommended rezoning of just over 18 acres at 325 Murdock Road (next to the CATS facilities) from suburban residential to light industrial. The area is designated as heavy industrial in the Future Land Use Map.
♦ In other action, the board unanimously recommended that “data center” be added as a permitted use in heavy industrial zoning areas after a UDO amendment request by CI 77 Troutman LLC. Data centers provides infrastructure for hosting data processing services, such as web hosting, streaming services, application hosting, or general time-share mainframe facilities.
♦ The board also approved a staff recommendation for a text amendment to add periodic review of surety performance bonds for approved developments.
“As the cost of all aspects of construction continues to rise, the UDO does not provide any safeguards for review of bonds to ensure they rise with the cost of development,” said Ventresca.
Performance bonds, payable to the town, are sometimes approved by the town to allow completion of required improvements after final plat approval for a development.
The new language will allow review of such guarantees every two years to ensure the value of the guarantee is accurate and will still cover the current market value for the approved development infrastructure.
If a guarantee is renewed, the amount of the guarantee and the current infrastructure will be also reviewed by the town engineer to ensure the value of the guarantee is accurate and will cover the current market value for the approved development infrastructure.