The Town Board is preparing to launch a study of how to manage growth along Davidson-Concord Road that will involve consultation with nearby towns and a possible year-long moratorium on new development.

At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the town board also discussed the philosophy of affordable housing and modified its policies for creating more of it in Davidson.

MORATORIUM

Tuesday’s meeting featured the first public hearing on the proposed moratorium on new development along Davidson-Concord Road and parts of Hwy. 73. Town planner Lauren Blackburn passed out a map for the proposed moratorium boundaries that included significant acreage along either side of the road from East Rocky River Road to Ramah Church Road on the west side of town.

“There is no plan for this area,” Ms. Blackburn told the audience. “We want to check and make sure that we’re growing sustainably.”

Davidson and the bordering towns of Huntersville and Cornelius have all dedicated staff time and financial support to the study, which will look at traffic volumes, the safety of several intersections, housing demand and opportunities for zoning parts of the area for office or light industrial uses.

“We face rapid change in this area,” noted Commissioner John Woods. “It’s located in an important part of the future for where these three communities come together.”

Properties that have a master plan for development already fully approved by the town board will be exempt from the moratorium, as will land near the East Rocky River Road that has leased development rights to the Town of Davidson for the next two years.

Several affected property owners in the proposed moratorium attended the public hearing. Members of the Hayes family, which has development plans ready for land near the stoplight at Davidson-Concord Road and Hwy. 73, described themselves as “blown away” when informed last month of the possible halt on development.

“We really don’t want to be part of the moratorium,” said Terry Mayes of Huntersville. He explained to the board that he has already experienced a moratorium for studying Hwy. 73 development and also that he has a strong sense of the needs of the community as his family has owned land here since the 1700s and intends to remain in the area.

“We have a strategic piece of property,” Mr. Mayes pointed out. “A moratorium will stop us so much that it will be difficult to restart that engine.”

Ms. Blackburn said the town board will vote on adopting the moratorium next month and then seek to hire a consultant and begin data collection. She anticipates a final draft of land use and transportation design alternatives will be ready for a vote next spring, which would mean the moratorium could be lifted by July 2008. A map of the study area is available on the town website and past coverage of this issue is available by clicking here.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Tuesday’s meeting also featured a lengthy debate about proposed improvements to the town’s Affordable Housing Ordinance.

Assistant Town Manager Dawn Blobaum presented five proposed changes to the ordinance, including: upping the period of affordability for a unit from 30 to 99 years; changing the percentage of a buyer’s income that must be used for a low-income unit from 30 to 23 percent; adding a new special category for people with salaries that are too high to qualify for affordable housing but too low to afford a home in Davidson; allowing payments in lieu of building units for very low income units in any zoning area rather than just in the rural planning area; and adding basic standards for construction.

Ms. Blobaum said the changes followed a study of similar ordinances around the country. “We’re learning from our mistakes,” she told the audience.

The proposed changes launched a lengthy debate on the philosophy behind affordable housing. Commissioner Evan Webster expressed concerns that the ordinance looks at whether a unit is at the right price rather than whether there is a qualified buyer. He described a scenario in which a developer builds a $148,000 unit that meets all ordinance requirements but banks will only approve a mortgage of $115,000 for a low income buyer.

“It seems backward to have the price pegged and then try to find somebody to fill it,” he said. “The emphasis should be on making it affordable to a renter or buyer.”

Ms. Blobaum responded that developers need to know a selling price. “We can’t say to them, ‘you’ll just have to wait until a buyer comes along,’” she warned.

Commissioner Bruce McMillen said the ordinance change to allow 23 percent of a buyers’ income “is an attempt to bridge that gap.” Commissioner Margo Williams concurred, saying that the previous allowance of 30 percent was “yielding too much of a person’s income.”

Mr. McMillen then suggested that the board would be able to revisit the ordinance “if we find through experience that we’re being too easy on developers.” Mr. Webster agreed and the board voted unanimously to approve the ordinance changes.

“This is one thing I feel fairly strongly about,” Mr. Webster noted.

The expansion of the “payment in lieu of construction” option to the whole town follows recent discussion about an exemption granted to property owner Lawrence Kimbrough for a 17-acre parcel off Pine Road. Some residents and developers have raised questions about that deal, in which the town board agreed to trade land in exchange for exempting the property from the affordable housing requirement. (See  “Town gives details of exemption deal,” June 6)

OTHER BUSINESS

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board:

• Approved without comment the budget for fiscal 2007/08. The new budget keeps spending levels close to last year’s and does not require a property tax increase. The budget shows projected revenues of $7.01 million, down slightly from $7.04 million in the 2006-2007 budget year.
• Approved the master plan for the sixth phase of Davidson East, a mixed-use development north of Hwy. 73 and east of Ramah Church Road. Developer Frank Jacobus and the William Brewster Co. have proposed a commercial and residential development for 172 acres in the area. The town has already approved a master plan for the larger property, which is slated for just under 500 new homes. The 8.6 acre parcel that will become the sixth phase now fills in a gap in the bigger development. Plans for the additional parcel include housing, office and retail space, and a 1.25-acre lake. A portion of the full Davidson East site remains under consideration for a new elementary school by Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Mr. Jacobus told the board Tuesday that he has not yet heard from CMS about their plans for the site.
• Annexed 33.27 acres along Robert Walker Road, a parcel located between Bailey Road and Davidson-Concord Road. The Provident Development Group plans to turn the land into the Bailey Springs residential subdivision.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding to lend $250,000 to the Community Housing Partners Corporation, an affordable housing group, for purchase of the Oak Hill Apartments.