The Town Board on Tuesday deferred until later this month or next month a vote that would clear the way for Mecklenburg County’s planned purchase of 90 acres in the Summer’s Walk development off N.C. 73 east of town. The decision will give the town, the county and developer Forest City Partners time to haggle over several issues. The board also approved a new traffic calming policy, changes in police department incentive policies and a resolution in favor of a roundabout at Davidson-Concord and East Rocky River roads.

At the monthly meeting, the board:

• Delayed for a month a public hearing and vote on a change in the formula used for calculating how much developers can pay into the towns affordable housing fund as an alternative to building affordable units.
• Adopted a new traffic calming policy that spells out a more specific procedure for determining need and installing new stop signs, speed humps and traffic calming devices. Citizens may file requests with the public works department, which will study them and determine if stop signs or devices are warranted. (Download the new policy here, in PDF form.)
• Held a closed session to discuss a small property purchase. The address of the property was not made public.
• Approved an amended agreement with Huntersville governing joint operation of the new Bradford Park, off N.C. 73 east of the two towns.
• Approved a resolution formally requesting state Department of Transportation funding for a roundabout at the intersection of East Rocky River and Davidson-Concord roads. The DOT needed a resolution from the town as it tries to obtain an additional $200,000 in funding for the project.
• Approved police department incentive changes, including one to the take-home car policy that encourages officers to live in town and another that adjusts the way educational assistance incentives are structured. The change divides a 5 percent pay increase in two, spreading it out over two levels of police certification.

SUMMER’S WALK PLANNING

Much of the 90-minute meeting was devoted to a presentation by Planning Director Kris Krider about the Summer’s Walk master plan. Because the Mecklenburg County Commission last week voted to buy 90 acres on and around an endangered wetland, the board must approve an amendment to the master plan that incorporates the changed use. (See our Sept. 4 story on the planned purchase and the background of efforts to preserve the wetland.)

The county plans to preserve the wetland, on the West Branch of the Rocky River. It will pay for the $4.27 million acquisition with money from its last open-space bond.

Mecklenburg Parks & Recreation also is considering building a regional nature center on the property, though that project has yet to be funded.

The revised master plan would reduce the open-space requirement for the development to about 32 percent. Mr. Krider said the planning staff thinks that’s acceptable, since the county’s purchase would actually wind up preserving more open space in the area than would have been saved otherwise. He said the purchase would reduce the size of the development by about 220 homes.

Town Board members had been slated to vote on the amended master plan Tuesday night, but several sticking points remain to be negotiated, either with the developer or the county.

Among them are an east-west road connection through the property, questions about when a greenway might be completed and who is responsible for building it, and Forest City’s obligations under the affordable housing and adequate public facilities ordinances.

Forest City has told the town that it believes responsibility for the greenway should shift to the county, as the new property owner. The town, according to Mr. Krider, wants some assurance with the sale that the greenway will be built.

Also, the county has no immediate plans to build an east-west road connecting the existing Summer’s Walk development with River Run Phase 5, another development just to the west. But town planners and some town board members said it is critical that the town know that connection will be completed.

Davidson Commissioner Margo Williams, who was on the board when it approved the original development, said, “I just want to reiterate how important that east-west connection was to us in our discussions. It was just pivotal to us in our initial approval. … it’s grown more important.”

Steve Law of Mecklenburg County’s real estate department, has been involved in the county purchase. “We would prefer the road not be in the master plan, simply because it conveys the image that that’s where it’s going to be,” Mr. Law said. But he also said the county knows a road will be needed on the property, and the county is willing to negotiate the issue later.

Also at issue are the town’s affordable housing and adequate public facilities (APFO) ordinances. Mr. Krider said the town would like to resolve amendments in those requirements as part of the approval of the master plan. But developer Forest City has taken issue with the previous ruling on APFO payments, which would help the town pay for additional police, fire and other public services in the development.

The town, the developer and the county will meet again in the next two weeks to try and work out agreements on the issues.

The county hopes to close on the purchase by Oct. 31, Mr. Law said Tuesday. To do that, it would need town approval of a revised master plan by Oct. 24.

Board member Brian Jenest recused himself from the discussions about the Summer’s Walk changes because his firm – Cole Jenest & Stone – is involved in the project.

LINKS

Sept. 4, 2008, “County to buy endangered Summer’s Walk wetland.”

New town traffic calming policy, outlining procedures for how citizens can requests stop signs and traffic calming devices and instituting criteria for their use. (PDF) CLICK HERE>