The Davidson Town Board will hold its next “Commissioner Chat” on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Community School of Davidson High School, 404 Armour St. Meanwhile, the proposed rezoning of Davidson East is scheduled to come up again in a public forum, at Monday night’s Davidson Planning Board meeting.
COMMISSIONER CHAT
Davidson commissioners and town staff will be at Tuesday’s Chat, which will take place in the Commons area of the charter high school.
Town officials have been holding Commissioner Chats since spring 2010, giving residents a chance to meet commissioners in an informal setting to discuss a town-wide issues. “Open communications is a core value in the town’s mission statement and town officials and staff hope these chats will foster that communication in a give-and-take venue,” the town said in announcing the chat.
PLANNING BOARD
The Davidson Planning Board meets Monday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m. at Davidson Town Hall for a meeting that is expected to include discussion and a recommendation vote on the proposed rezoning of Davidson East. The public is invited to attend.
Latest version of the town's proposed rezoning map for Davidson East. Click to download a PDF.
The 180-acre site off N.C. 73 east of town formerly was to be developed as a mixed-use project called Davidson East. The development failed, and the property is now largely owned by Community One Bank, after a 2009 foreclosure.
The town has proposed rezoning the site to allow more commercial development on the site. The bank and the town have been negotiating for months, and were continuing to meet this week in hopes of reaching an agreement on proposed language and maps.
At the Davidson Town Board last Tuesday, planning manager Lauren Blackburn said the two sides were very close to agreement on a plan that calls for a mix of retail, offices and residential.
Ms. Blackburn told the board the final zoning may depend in part on a financial analysis of the proposal by Community One and its consultants.
On Friday, town officials released a map that shows dense retail and small offices along NC 73 (about 20 acres), an 80-acre zone of “flex campus” that could include corporate offices and light industrial, and about 20 acres of “neighborhood general” zoning, for residential.
Also Monday, the planning board will consider and make a recommendation on proposed changes to planning ordinance that would adjust the requirements for developers to obtain bonds guaranteeing some site improvements. The Town Board held a public hearing Aug. 9, with only a single public comment.
The planning ordinance currently requires developers to obtain “performance or maintenance bonds” to ensure that roads or other infrastructure are installed properly before the town agrees to take over maintenance. The town is proposing two planning text amendments to eliminate the conversion from performance to maintenance bonds, and to allow the town staff “to review and evaluate the condition of active development infrastructure on an annual basis.”
The town wants to make sure that bonds are sufficient to cover the cost of completing improvements if a developer defaults, or to cover potential street repairs once the town takes over a street.
RELATED DOCUMENTS & LINKS
Agenda for Monday’s Planning Board meeting, on the town website.
Revised draft map of the proposed planning zones for Davidson East (PDF).
Proposed revisions to Section 4, Section 7, and Section 9 of the planning ordinance. (PDFs)
