Board delays vote on Pine Rd. project
After a four-hour meeting Monday night, the planning board put off voting on a proposed 34-unit development of luxury homes off Pine Road. Town officials said the move would give the town planners and the developer time to work out unresolved issues, including tree preservation, setbacks and house sizes.
Also Monday, the Planning Board got its first formal look at an already much-debated proposal for a 100-foot, 7-story office/retail building off I-77’s Exit 30. Developer/architect Rick Mack, of RDM Architecture in Davidson, previously has presented his proposal to the Town Board, where some members have been skeptical of his request to build a glass and brick structure 25 feet taller than allowed on the site. (See Oct. 24, 2007, “Developer re-pitches Exit 30 tower plan.”)
PINE ROAD PLANS
Residents of the Pine Road neighborhood have been battling with developer Ray Killian, of Killian-Simonini LLC in Charlotte, since summer. Mr. Killian wants to build a neighborhood of $500,000 to $1 million homes on a heavily-wooded 17 acres owned by Davidson resident Lawrence Kimbrough and family.
Residents are concerned the development will require clear-cutting the forested property and result in a neighborhood that doesn’t fit into Davidson.
“A development with this much mass necessitates clearing a majority of the natural environment,” Pine Road resident Lynn Jeffords said Tuesday. “This does not reflect the historic character of Pine Road, which included a substantial tree save when it was built.”
She called Monday’s decision to delay the project “encouraging,” because “there are still a lot of unresolved issues.” “I think the planning board did the right thing,” she said.
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
The proposal for the Kimbrough property has already been through a series of public planning workshops, public hearings and town board presentations. Mr. Killian and Mr. Kimbrough are proposing no exceptions from town rules that would require Town Board approval. Even so, the town has some leeway to negotiate changes in the plans.
Craig Lewis, a principal at The Lawrence Group who is working for the developer, said neighbors “made some good suggestions” at Monday’s meeting. “I think the current concerns they have can be addressed with some minor changes in details, without making radical changes,” he said.
He said the developer has responded to concerns and would continue to work with the town and residents.
“We’ve been working with the neighbors from Day 1,” he said. “We’ve actually developed more than 21 different designs through this process. The developer has spent a lot of money making revisions on things we don’t necessarily think need to be revised.”
But, he added, his firm remains committed to developing something that fits into Davidson and satisfies town rules. “Our design is compliant with all the standards of the ordinance and while it may not be the perfect plan that everyone likes, it has been vetted through the public process,” Mr. Lewis said.
SEEKING A BETTER FIT
Town planners and residents are pressing for additional concessions they say would help make the development fit better into the existing neighborhood. They want a more detailed commitment to saving trees. And they want specifics on how large the homes will be and where they’ll be on each lot.
Homes along Pine Road are 2,000 to 3,500 square feet, Davidson planner Lauren Blackburn said Tuesday. Setback requirements that apply to the new development could permit homes of 6,000 square feet or more, she said. The town would like the developer to consider limiting maximum home sizes, though neither the Planning Board nor neighbors suggested what that might be, she said.
Mr. Lewis said the developer has not made any specific commitments about home sizes, but said, “The typical plans we’re looking at call for 2,600 and up to 4000 square feet.”
Davidson town planners are pushing the developer to consider alternative plans that could result in more open space, but fewer homes.
SAVE THE TREES
Mr. Killian has already written into the plans a requirement for a 20-foot “tree save” at the rear of lots backing up to existing homes on Pine Road. Town planners and residents want something more substantial – in writing.
“Neither the residents nor the staff have seen any firm commitments toward saving any trees. There’s not a specific statute in our ordinance that says you have to save a specific number of trees, but it says trees must be saved where feasible,” Ms. Blackburn said.
On Monday night, resident Mary Beth Kuzmanovich gave a presentation to the Planning Board about residents’ concerns.
Residents argue that the developer has proposed saving trees at other projects, but in the end cut more than expected. “Residents are saying, ‘What you intend doesn’t always turn out,’” Ms. Blackburn said.
The town and developer still must come up with language that satisfies the town’s and residents’ desires, she said.
Ms. Blackburn said the town would like to see the master plan revised to include more natural open space. “To the extent you preserve open space, you’re going to preserve trees,” she said.
Even though the developer is promising a 20-foot wide band of trees to be saved, that may not guarantee the trees will ultimately be saved, Ms. Blackburn said. That’s because state law restricts the town’s right to regulate tree cutting on new single-family lots in developments with approved master plans, she said.
“It’s really going to be difficult to regulate preservation of trees on private property,” Ms. Blackburn said. “So our preference is that it would be on common space.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Ms. Blackburn said planners will meet soon with Mr. Lewis and Mr. Killian to try and work out the remaining issues. It’s possible the Pine Road proposal could be back before the Planning Board at its next meeting, Nov. 26.
After the planning board vote, the proposal would go to the Town Board for a final OK. Ms. Blackburn said Town Board members may be asked to consider voting on the proposal at their work session on Nov. 27.
The board typically does not take votes at work sessions. But it has already agreed to consider suspending the rules at the Nov. 27 meeting to allow a vote on another development – the Meeting Place project at Exit 30 mentioned above.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
Oct. 24, 2007, “Planner: Pine Rd plan not ready”
Oct. 9, 2007, “Residents fight Pine Rd. project”
Sept. 26, 2007, “Questions remain about Pine Road project.”
May 16, 2007, “Luxury homes planned off Pine Road”
May 17, 2007, “Four scenarios offered for Pine Road parcel”
June 6, 2007, “Town gives details of exemption deal”
June 10, 2007, “Was land swap a ‘reasonable deal’”(Commentary by Rodney Graham”
LINKS
Davidson tree preservation and landscaping rules
Oct. 22, 2007, Davidson planning staff analysis of the Pine Road project. (Requires Adobe Reader software)
Filed under: Planning & Development
