BY DONNA SWICEGOOD
In a split vote, the Statesville City Council approved the first reading of a rezoning request that will enable a developer to build 385 homes on Hill Haven Road near Shelton Avenue.
Council members approved the first reading by a 5-3 decision with Kim Wasson, David Jones, Doris Allison, Joe Hudson and Steve Johnson voting to approve the request. C.O. Johnson, Amy Lawton and Lisa Pearson voted against the project.
The request was to rezone the 147 acres from Iredell County R-20 to Statesville’s R-8.
The rezoning was approved contingent on several factors, including completion of a traffic impact study and following the recommendations of that study. Traffic issues were one of the main concerns neighbors brought up at a community meeting.
A second reading to rezone the property will be necessary to give the proposed development the green light. That will likely come at one of the council’s two meetings in November.
Another issue addressed as a result of the community meeting was the changing of an access point into the development from Wallace Springs Road to a cul-de-sac, said Assistant Planning Director Herman Caulder. That was in response to a concern of neighbors due to the potential for headlights shining into their homes and also the traffic hazard because of the configuration of Wallace Springs Road at that point.
Nolan Grose of Hill Haven LLC told council members that the development will include 167 50-foot-wide lots, 116 56-foot-wide lots and 102 60-foot-wide lots.
Five residents of the area near the proposed development voiced opposition to the rezoning during a public hearing.
Anita Eudy, who lives off Wallace Springs Road, said she was one of those who is concerned about the headlights and traffic.
“The traffic on Wallace Springs Road is horrendous,” she said.
Dump trucks and tractor-trailers travel the road regularly. She told council she was also concerned about the removal of trees in that area.
“Those woods have been there our whole entire live. We’re living in the home our father built in 1965,” Eudy said.
Angela Matthews, who lives off Southview Drive, expressed concerns that the new development, along with several others that have been completed or are in the process in that area, would put an additional strain on the city’s sewer system and the local school system.
She said the sewer plants that would serve the development are at or near capacity. Troutman Elementary, Troutman Middle and South Iredell High will be further strained by this development, she said. Even with the additions of Weathers Creek High School and Parkertown Elementary, that will still be a factor, she said.
She presented a petition to the council signed by more than 1,000 people opposing the development.
Meanwhile, Jim Tarman told council that this development will negatively affect the quality of life in the area. Becky Edelbrock and her husband Mike also expressed those same concerns.
Becky Edelbrock said she and her family moved to this area for a more rural lifestyle and the development would affect that. Mike Edelbrock asked the council not to approve the development plan as presented.
William Vaughn, public utilities director for Statesville, addressed the concerns about the sewer capacity. He said the development would be served by the Third Creek facility, which is capable of handling 6 million gallons of sewage per day and can easily be expanded to handle 8 million gallons per day. It is currently operating at 34 percent capacity.
“There is a lot of capacity still in that plant,” he said.
Council members asked Grose to consider amending the plan to keep as many of the trees and other vegetation as possible and Grose said that will be done.
“That is our objective,” he said.
The traffic impact study, Caulder said, will be completed as part of the process which will come before the city’s Technical Review Committee for approval.
Council, as part of the consent agenda, approved the resolution to investigate the petition for annexation of those properties. The consent agenda consists of items approved in one motion unless a council member asked for an item to be moved to the regular agenda. A public hearing on the annexation request is scheduled for November 3.
OTHER BUSINESS
♦ Council also conducted public hearings on the first readings of annexations for the Compass Data Center, which is planned for Stamey Farm Road and Hickory Highway, and for two parcels on Central Drive and for property on Gaither Road that will be the site of Statesville Fire Department Station 5. No one spoke at any of those hearings and the readings were approved unanimously.
Also as part of the consent agenda, council approved the following:
♦ A request to join Mooresville, Troutman and Iredell County in pursuing a grant for a feasibility study to bring countywide micro-transit through the Charlotte Regional Transportation Organization.
♦ A request to postpone the second readings of a rezoning request for the Dairi-O Restaurant, which is to be located on four parcels between Harbor Freight and Fairview Baptist Church on Turnersburg Highway, and an annexation request for those properties. That will be scheduled for the December 15 meeting.