PITTSBORO — Town commissioners unanimously approved a rezoning request in Chatham Park at the board’s meeting Monday at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center.
The action paves the way for multiple market-rate housing types in Chatham Park, just off Russet Run.
The 147-acre plot was rezoned from medium-density residential to multi-family residential. The approved conditional zoning request will also provide donated acreage to the town for a school — which will become North Village Elementary in Chatham County Schools — and a 19-acre park as part of the rezoning agreement.
Prior to approval by commissioners, Attorney Nick Robinson presented supplemental materials from the applicant, 15-501 East LLC. He told commissioners all standards in the town’s Unified Development Ordinance were met and they did not receive any opposition to the rezoning from adjacent property owners.
“The proposed rezoning is more compatible with the higher intensity uses associated with increased traffic resulting from construction of Chatham Park Way and Grant Drive through the subject property,” Robinson told commissioners.
It was not defined in the rezoning request how many housing units would be approved. Within the approved plot, however, there are four different sub-districts which each allow for a different number of units.
The portion of the property that runs adjacent to Chatham Park Way, which accounts for 52.5 acres on the land, allows for a maximum of 240 development units. The largest portion of the property, which runs from Grant Drive to Chatham Park Way and accounts for 64.6 acres, allows for a maximum of 646 development units. The two other sub-districts at the easternmost portion of the property will be donated to Pittsboro for the school and park.
A condition of the rezoning along allows for the construction of 10-foot multi-use paths along the roadways. Robby Oldham, also an attorney for the applicant, said the early streetscape design proposals in the request represent “complete streets.”
“You’re talking about connectivity to Chatham Park Drive through multiple modes — biking, walking, etc. — alongside a 30-foot streetscape,” Oldham said. “People talk about complete streets, this is as close as it gets.”
Robinson added he believes the project will create a variety of housing options. While the developer does not plan to build traditional affordable housing, Robinson said adding to the housing stock in Pittsboro is key to the town’s goal and “meets community needs.”
Commissioner John Bonitz and Mayor Pro Tem Pamela Baldwin said they would have liked to have seen true affordable housing in the development, instead of market rate.
Under the current UDO, developers are offered optional incentives to build affordable housing, which the developer did not select for this project.
Commissioner Kyle Shipp said that since the incentives were passed by commissioners, no developer has taken the town up on its offer. Something he said he would like to see change as more rezoning requests and developments come before the board
“We spent a lot of time putting these incentives together, but obviously that doesn’t mean anything if developers aren’t opting to use them,” Shipp said. “I feel like that’s the true test, and maybe we, as commissioners and staff, need to reexamine those incentives to make them more desirable for future projects.”
Despite the questions, all commissioners voted in favor of the rezoning.
At Monday’s meeting, commissioners also took action on the Sanford Force Main project, which would increase the town’s wastewater capacity by connecting with the town of Sanford’s water supply. The project would also lay more than 67,000 feet of force main pipes.
Commissioners approved a bid for the project from J.F. Wilkerson for $39 million. The bidder had extended its offer until March 10, but town staff said they would need more time to bring together economic projections and revenue models for the project. The final approved motion accepted the bid, but also requested another 30-day extension on the project so the final bid would send a letter of intent to J.F. Wilkerson on April 10.
“I have no interest in declining bids,” Shipp said. “It just seems like we need more time for staff to assemble materials here.”
The next scheduled meeting of the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners is at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 13, at the Chatham Agriculture & Conference Center. For more information visit pittsboronc.gov.
Reporter Ben Rappaport can be reached at brappaport@chathamnr.com or on Twitter @b_rappaport