How many houses is too many for a new development off Pine Road? How big and how far apart should they be? Town officials, residents and the developer have been batting those questions back and forth over the past two weeks as the development gets closer to approval.

Those questions resurfaced Tuesday night at the monthly Town Board work session, where Planning Director Kris Krider gave board members an update on planning for the proposed neighborhood of 34 luxury homes. (Read the planning staff analysis of the master plan, requires Adobe Reader software, file 2 mb)

The development would be on about 17 acres off the end of Pine Road, owned by Davidson resident Lawrence Kimbrough and family. Homes would be 3,000 to 3,200 square feet, selling for $500,000 to $1 million, according to the developer.

The development has sparked controversy previously because of an unsual land swap the Town Board approved in 2004 that allowed Mr. Kimbrough to avoid the town’s affordable housing requirement. Because of that deal, the development – unlike most other new neighborhoods in Davidson – will not have 12 1/2 percent of units set aside for buyers meeting affordable housing income requirements.

Mr. Kimbrough is undertaking the development with Ray Killian of Killian-Simonini LLC. They first presented their plans at a public workshop in mid-May. In the past two weeks, the plans also have been reviewed and tweaked Sept. 20, at a daylong planning workshop with town officials and residents, and again following a presentation at the planning board Monday night, Sept. 24.

UNRESOLVED ISSUES

On Tuesday, Mr. Krider told the Town Board two major issues remain, despite numerous public meetings on the proposal:
first, residents’ concerns about how close new houses would be to existing ones; and second, the number of trees to be cut.

“The residents felt that they had requested a buffer along the back side, and that this development, because of the size and scale of the houses, is sort of looming in the backyard,” Mr. Krider said.

The developer has agreed to increase lot sizes and push the houses closer to the new road in the development, but some residents remain concerned.

Meanwhile, the current plan calls for trees to be saved on “islands” in the middle of the new road through the development. But Mr. Krider is concerned the trees may not survive. “What we’ve learned form past projects is the likelihood of these three or four trees, as majestic as they are, to withstand the impact of roads going all around it, we kind of question whether that’s really the right way to go. … They’re put under a great deal of stress.”

He also said it isn’t just about saving the trees, but “saving the habitat around it and some of the natural setting.”

ALTERNATE PLAN

Mr. Krider presented an alternate proposal for the site, drawn up at town request by Mr. Kimbrough’s planning firm, The Lawrence Group. It calls for 27 single-family home lots with 4.6 acres of open space, instead of the 34 homes and 2.9 acres envisioned in the current plan.

The alternate plan would include an unimproved section of trees and footpaths in the middle of the development, “with a footpath and an alternate route to the Southeast Greenway,” Mr. Krider said. It also would increase the buffer between the development and existing homes along Pine Road.

Town Board member Margo Williams also raised questions Tuesday about the height of the proposed homes, which by Davidson ordinance can be up to 37 feet – taller than existing homes in the neighborhood. Other concerns raised Tuesday included the lack of a fully developed public park within one-quarter mile, which is required by town ordinance, and the potential impact on traffic on Pine Road.

On Monday, planning board members asked again about the spacing between new homes and existing Pine Road homes. And they also wanted the developer to consider allowing public use of land along an undeveloped utility easement just north of the planned development.

MANY CHANGES

Mr. Killian noted that the current plan meets current meets the requirements in the town ordinance for Village Infill developments.

Nonetheless, he said he has already incorporated many changes sought by town staff and residents following two public planning workshops and other meetings.

“We started with 38 lots, we’ve come down to 34. We have done, through the process, many concessions to address the issues of the concerns of the Pine Road neighbors,” Mr. Killian said.

Initially, Mr. Killian said, the plan called for smaller lots, with homes closer together, backing up to existing homes on Pine Road. When Pine Road residents objected, the developer increased the lot sizes. Lot depths were increased from 140 feet to 160 feet, and houses were moved 15 feet closer to the new street, which increased the distance between existing and new homes to 60 feet. That’s equal to the distance between existing homes on Pine Road, he said.

Mr. Krider suggested that Mr. Killian might develop a hybrid plan that incorporates the current plan as well as the town’s suggested changes. He estimated that could produce a plan with 31 lots, instead of the alternate plan’s 27.

Mr. Killian was reluctant to agree to that. “We’ve done 10 schematic plans, and a total of 23 different plans, to address a lot of the concerns and issues that have come up,” he said.

Lynn Jeffords, of Pine Road, said she and some neighbors feel “our expectations were not met” despite the two planning workshops and other public meetings so far. “At this oint, we are not well organized and we are not as well funded as these peple are. We would like an opportunity to have equal access to make a presentation to the board.”

Mayor Randy Kincaid told Ms. Jeffords, “We’ll have to put our heads together an see what the precedent for that is.”

Mr. Krider said the Kimbrough development likely would come before the Planning Board for approval on Oct. 29. It would then likely come to the Town Board on Nov. 13.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

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 planning department analysis of the project master plan. (Requires Adobe Reader software)(Size: 2 mb)