LINCOLNTON – Despite a unanimous recommendation from the planning board, the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners denied a request from Pace Development Group to rezone 113.27 acres on the west side of North Little Egypt Road to permit a subdivision with up to 199 single-family homes.
In his initial motion, Commissioner Bud Cesena argued the request was unreasonable in that “the proposed development will generate additional homes and vehicular trips that will overburden the North Little Egypt Road corridor.”
Board chairman Carrol Mitchem questioned whether Cesena’s point of contention constituted a valid means for denial, asking aloud why commissioners hadn’t been rejecting rezoning proposals based upon their projected burden on the surrounding roadways in past cases.
“The statutes broadly prescribe the authority for the board of commissioners to take into account the capacity of roads, schools and utilities in the broad scope of power of zoning in North Carolina,” Lincoln County Development Services Director Andrew Bryant said. “Our local ordinances have certain requirements for traffic impact studies and analyses that set up a process and procedure to analyze the impacts of traffic specifically.”
Bryant noted that Pace did submit a traffic impact analysis with its application, which recommended a single improvement that has since been completed by the developer of a previously approved subdivision nearby.
Commissioner Cathy Davis interjected, saying approval of the request would not only put a burden on the roadways, but also the schools serviced by North Little Egypt, which include Catawba Springs Elementary and St. James Elementary, as well as East Lincoln High School, all within a three-mile stretch. She reminded the board of a report from last March that identified Catawba Springs and St. James as the two schools in the county system closest to capacity, with each already in excess of 90 percent at that time last year.
Store My Boat
The board voted unanimously in favor of a request submitted by Store My Boat owners Scott and Carmen O’Neill to rezone 0.71 acres for the expansion of their existing self-storage facility on N.C. 16 Business, across from Mundy Road. The approval allows the O’Neills an additional 24 storage units at Store My Boat.
Airport hangar project
A joint venture between the county and the Lincoln County Airport Authority to build additional hangars at the airport took another step forward, with commissioners awarding a contract to Eaglewood, Inc. in the amount of $2,109,021 for site preparation. That contract covers the county’s portion of the project, with the airport authority set to award a similar contract to cover the remainder in the next month or two, according to Lincoln County Purchasing Agent John Henry.
Bravo to the commissioners for denying a massive new development. Taking reports from the developer that minimize impact on traffic and schools is ridiculous. I wish Huntersville had the same cojones.
I wish more places would start denying turning whats left of our beautiful green world into nothing but concrete and more housing! We are not the only ones that need a place to live. There are animals and some of us that love nature and think all the houses going up are enough? I mean come on!!! Everywhere I turn there are forests being bulldozed and nature being trampled on.