Town Board - Regular Meeting

Okay.

Good evening everyone. Welcome to our March 3 meeting. Um, we are going to get started. We always start our meeting with a moment of silence. And in that moment of silence before it happens, I always ask everyone to silence their phones. So please do that now. Make sure that your your phone is not going to make any unnecessary noises during the course of our business. I very much appreciate it. And now, if you'll join me in a moment of silence. Thank you. And now, if you're able, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Miss Escobar announcements.

Good evening. Street resurfacing continues. If you see signage in your area, work will start the following week and lasts about one week. The signage states no parking is allowed on the street during that time. Updates can be found online on our website at this specific address, but you can always search our website in the search bar for street resurfacing and it'll pull up the projects. We wanted to highlight the intersection of McCoy Road and Hambrite Road. The contractor has shared that resurfacing work will begin this Thursday and Friday and there will be one lane open at at a time. This will cause traffic delays during operations. So, please plan for extra travel time and follow flaggers or signage that is out there. And thank you for your patience as this important work gets underway. The spring car and truck show. Start your engines and help us rev up for a great spring season by showing us as we host our annual Ready Set Show car spring car and truck show. Cars, trucks, and bikes will be parked along Main Street at Veterans Park and be ready for public viewing and voting on Saturday, March 14th, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. There is a deadline to apply, which is March 9th. Registration is required for all vehicles participating and the application is available also on our website at this address which is huntersville.org1282car- and-t truck-shows. It's important for people at home who are listening. Um, Donuts with Duck and Bunny. Hop on over to Veterans Park in downtown Huntersville for Donuts with Duck and Bunny on Saturday, March 21st. Enjoy delicious donuts, buy your mom's donuts, and end a craft while you wait for your duck and bunny photo. Pre-registration with a fee of $10 per family is required. There are three reservation times to choose from, 9:00, 10:00, or 11 o'clock. Space is limited, so we encourage you to reserve your space

soon. Um, and reservations are open at this address on our website. And then Huntersville Police Department, we just wanted to share some of the public events that uh they have coming up this month. On Monday, uh March 16th, there will be coffee with a cop at Target at 10:30 to 12:00. On Friday, March 20th, they will have an American Red Cross blood drive at uh Huntersville Police Department training room from 9:00 am to 3 pm. And then on Saturday, March 28th, there is the annual Touch a Truck event at Lake Forest Church from 3:30 to 5:00. We have a couple proclamations this month. The first is for Women's History Month. Whereas Women's History Month is a dedicated month to reflect on the often overlooked contributions of women to United States history. From Abigail Adams to Susan B. Anthony, so Jenner truth to Rosa Parks, the timeline of women's history milestones stretches back to the founding of the United States. And whereas American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways. And whereas American women have played and continue to play critical economic, cultural, and social roles in every sphere in the life of the nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home. And whereas American women have played a unique role throughout the history of the nation by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force to the nation. And whereas American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in our nation, whereas American women have served our country courageously in the military. And

whereas American women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other movements which create a fair and just society for all. Now therefore, I Christy Clark, mayor of Huntersville, do hereby proclaim March as women's history month in Huntersville, North Carolina. And the second is a proclamation for endometrius awareness month. Whereas indometriosis is a complex hormonal and immune chronic disease causing multiple symptoms including pain which disrupt the lives of an estimated 89 million women and girls worldwide. And whereas there is no cure for endometriosis and treatments are often pro problematic. And whereas lack of knowledge of the disease combined with a stigma causes an average delay of 10 years from onset of symptoms to diagnosis. And whereas women, girls with endometriosis and their families have been shown to be at a greater risk for 12 cancers, seven autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases, and heart disease. And whereas the endometriosis association is a nonprofit charity founded in 1980 providing support for families affected by endometriosis education about the disease and research on the disease. And whereas endometriosis association began March endometriosis awareness month in 1993 and has seemed to develop into a worldwide observance. Now therefore, I, Christy Clark, mayor of Huntersville, do hereby proclaim the that March as indometriosis Awareness Month in Huntersville, North Carolina. We have a couple public comments this evening. We'll start with Deanna Glenn. You have three minutes.

Just state your name for the record.

My name is Deanna Glenn and I am Miss Huntersville All-American. I'm going to be representing Huntersville in a national pageant this summer. So, I'm really excited to be able to share that with you and um just be in the same space with you. Um for support I am selling butter braids and um so with the butter braids that is a frozen pastry um with delicious filling on the inside. There's sweet and also savory. Um so there's like apple filling and then there's like a garlic herb and cheese filling as well. Um and also dog treats. Um yeah, I know it sounds a little silly. [laughter] Um, but I am really excited to just be representing Huntersville, this beautiful town, on a national stage. Um, and if anyone is interested in supporting me, my email is Deanna Music for Life. Um, I am a musician. I work as an elementary school music teacher and I also work at School of Rock in Cornelius. And so um it's deanna da na music the number4 lifegmail.com and I would love to be able to connect with everyone and speaking of connection my platform is connect uh disconnect to connect and um it's encouraging people to get off social media connect um in real life make eye contact and most importantly be able to to write letters and create a memorable experience. So, thank you for your time.

Yes. Oh, my email is danna dan na music just regular music for the number four lifegmail.com and I would love to if you reached out. Yes. So, thank you so much and congratulations. Thank you so much. Bye everybody. [applause]

Amy Halman, you have six minutes. I see Lee is here. Amy Hullman. I live in Huntersville. Can you hear me? Sorry. [clears throat] First, I did not receive any written communication about the hearing later today. We can all agree that um Jay and Brian do good projects. They take some steps to go above and beyond, but we aren't here about a project. The application for a general resoning is more than giving our planning board chair and developer what he's requesting. This is about your control of what properly goes in our downtown. a piece of paper with a few paragraphs that go with this application are to remind you that the applicant has spent a lot of money on that property and even had it declared historic. Actually, they had parts of the house declared historic. Um, please find out what the other parts are and it's not the same as having an entire property declared historic. Another thing to understand about historic declaration is that an owner perhaps years from now can have the designation removed and then in a year do whatever they want. Please don't give up that control. A year ago, after months of work, I gave you a 9-minute solid argument about why a downtown general resoning is not a good idea. At one point or another, all but one of you agreed with me that giving up that control was not a great idea in downtown. Um, I've been publicly and invariably grateful to Commissioner Corals, Commissioner Rivers, and former Commissioner Dumas for seeing that through. Um, but because we love Jay and respect his and Brian's work, we may feel this is different. I get that, but it is not different. Granting the general resoning puts no conditions on what can go there. It doesn't allow for

the buffers, fencing, business hours, light, and noise trespass that residents deserve. And while Jay may continue to run an engineering business for now, he has said that he hopes that there will be a restaurant there one day. And then what? This is beyond the restaurant. Then what? Your decision-making is not to be shortsighted. It must be long-term. And and you know that this decision has lifetime consequences. 106 115 117. Last year, some board members said they didn't want to hold up one of the small businesses for an entire year by saying no. Here we are a year later. If you had to do it all over again, would you do it exactly the same way? The downtown puzzle can't be looked at as individual pieces and the only current property and only current property owners. If you sincerely plan to put a fire station one across the street from that property, it's time to be vocal about that. Granting a general resoning automatically gives the applicant more perceived property rights, property value, sorry, of its current condition simply because of the general resoning. It becomes more marketable. I cautioned you about this with 106, 115, and 117. We must have conditions. Staff's original argument that site plans are too expensive is moot. This applicant's entire business is creating those site plans. And again, site plans for conditional resoning is Huntersville, not a county, not a state requirement. You can remove that, too. I would really be interested in knowing why the applicant is applicants are doing this now, but with the general resoning, I don't get to know. And if you do know, you can't hold them to it. You have the ability to say no. You have developers clamoring with plans for Huntersville, and that's really exciting, but this one has no plans. make the next project and the next owner

go for a conditional resoning, please. I can't support it because I don't even know what it is. And if I did, I have no guarantee of its permanent conditions. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have Michael Buck or Bulk, not sure. You have three minutes. Uh hello everyone. Uh Michael Buck. Um I'll make this really quick. 23 years old. I live in Burkedale Commons across the street from the village. Um I just came here today because I want to talk really quickly about the public safety issue around Burkedale. I want to first off give you guys a lot of praise because you have I mean I've been going to village back and forth. Um you guys have put a lot of police in that area which is admirable admirable because uh one of the biggest issues I think um was when you know the Christmas party was happening and then that that shooting happened I believe it was in Davidson um then the Christmas party with our town happened. There was police there and now there's a lot more police happening now especially after the incident I believe in January. Um, but I I came here to ask that you guys be a little bit more proactive, not just for the village, but also for Burkeell Commons, which is where I live. Um, there's still a lot of issues that go on around the surrounding suburban areas. Um, and I just wanted to make sure my voice was heard and make sure that the people that live in my residential area, my neighbors, um, that there are still more safety measures that still need to be in place, not just for the village. which I know it's popular and stuff, but also for the suburban areas. So, thank you guys for a lot of the work that you've done. I just wanted to come out here and ask that uh there be more to be done. So, thank you.

Thank you, sir. That is the end of our public comments. Um I did want to let um Rob code who signed up for item 9B that we had a request for a deferral for that one. Um, so if you want to head home now, you can or you can stay for the rest of the meeting, but 9B will not be on our agenda later. Just want to make sure you knew that before we got to that. Um, now, um, may I have a request for the adoption or may I have an adoption of the agenda motion, please? I would like to make a motion that we approve the adoption of the agenda and agenda item changes. And is there a second?

Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? And the motion carries unanimously. And now, may I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda? Motion to adopt the consent agenda. Is there a second? Second.

Any discussion? All those in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously. We're on to item 9A. Conduct a public hearing on petition R25-17. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. Oops. There we go. I'd like to put my staff report in the record for R25-17 Glendale Drive. uh subdivision. This is a conditional reszoning request from general residential to neighborhood residential conditional district. It is roughly a 1 acre parcel um to the west and south of Vermillion Village and the Vermillion subdivision with some more residential to the east roughly about half a mile from downtown Huntersville where we are right now. Some of the highlights, it is a four lot minor subdivision and it is a conditional resoning, but no modifications are requested. That is not something typical that you would find with a conditional um resoning. Part of that is that this is currently zoned general residential, which um has a larger minimum lot size requirement and is not intended for development. is typical that a lot of the older Meckllinberg County um approved subdivisions or lots will be zoned general residential. Part of our zoning ordinance uh encourages reszoning to different uh zoning districts as a part of that. While it is no modifications are being requested, um it is still conditional. So essentially what you see is what you get. What the site plan will

be presented as is what they will be allowed to construct. Um this is a minor subdivision, so it has some less requirements than what be a major subdivision. So um no infrastructure is being put in. It's using existing public rightway. Um there's [clears throat] no storm water being put in, there's no open space being put in. That's largely due to it being under one acre. Um there's a lot of triggers that they are exempt from as long as they're staying under one acre of disturbance, but they do still have tree save, heritage tree save, specimen tree save, and canopy tree save. So they have no heritage trees on site. They do have seven specimen trees on site, which they're saving one. Um they have the intention to save an additional four um but they're only saving one which is the minimum requirement. They are exceeding the canopy tree save requirement. Canopy tree save is 10% as the minimum. The latest iteration that staff has been able to see they're saving roughly 18% of that tree canopy. Um some of the issues or concerns that staff still has um big is one of the first ones is the driveway location for the single family homes in particular lot three and lot four. Um this was a concern expressed during the neighborhood meeting that then planning and engineering staff was able to discuss come up with a best practice solution. Um, we're looking to push that driveway as far away from that Glendale Drive, Huntersville Concord intersection as possible. Um, staff's recommendation at this point is to combine that driveway. So, lot three and lot four are sharing that driveway. Um, we're still in discussions with the applicant about

how that would work. So, that hasn't been quite resolved yet. Um, we also are requesting elevations for the proposed homes. Um, in the state of North Carolina, municipalities are not allowed to regulate architecture for single family homes. Um, like I had previously mentioned though, this is a conditional reszoning. So, we are allowed to make recommendations above and beyond the minimum standards. This is one of those recommendations. We've got certain architectural principles in our zoning ordinance and then a design guide book that we would lean on heavily for these recommendations. Things like giving better frontage. So things like front porches, um extending that front out, recessing the garage, all of it to put the pedestrian first, make it more friendly to the pedestrian, put the automobile second. Third issue that we're working through is the ride-of-way dedication along Huntersville Concord. Um, there is a planned project, but then also potential projects along Huntersville Concord that is still being addressed or still being worked on uh by staff. So, we're still working with the applicant to figure out what that dedication or reservation would look like. The 2040 plan has several land use policies and one environmental policy that this can support. Um we're using the future land use map with this. Um we're looking at more intensification within that town core area. Uh the town core encourages a mix of housing types. So apartments, town homes, single family homes, um different lot sizes. This would fit within that. This is the area of town that we would encourage uh densific intensification, excuse me. Um closer to I77, closer to 115. And we're also developing where there's already infrastructure in place. So no new

public roads would have to be put in which the town would then have to accept. Um they're also saving more tree canopy than minimum so that we're you know helping keep some tree canopy within more urban environments while still um having the density there. One of the opportunities that we're still looking for is those elevations. Um, you know, at this stage in the project, uh, the applicant's probably not going to fully engage a builder at this point. You know, frankly, it's not financially what you would do at this point. You're trying to figure out what's going on. So, we're going to continue working with the applicant to figure out um how we can get those elevations to be um up to our recommendations. At this point, uh, planning staff is recommending of approval of this as it is within the character area recommendations of the 2040 plan. So, the land use works. Um, we do have several conditions though that we would like to be uh met. Those are the shared driveway, um, the elevated designs with the elevations of the single family homes, and then that rideway along Huntersville Concord. Um, as these are being worked through, if we're unable to find some sort of agreement with the applicant for this, you know, that could shift a recommendation down the line to one of denial at this point. Um, but at this point, we are recommending approval with these conditions. That concludes staff's presentation. Um, I know the applicant has a presentation, so um, we can stop if there's any questions or we can just move on to the applicants. Any questions for staff?

I can't remember if you touched on it or not, but what was the town staff's recommended um elevations for the property? Did you

Yeah. So, we don't have an exact elevation. Part of it is in North Carolina in a byite situation. So, if we're not up here right now, if they just came in, got a permit from us, we wouldn't be able to say anything about their architectural material um or any of their elevations. We're allowed to regulate height, bulk, orientation, stuff like that. Um, in our we have a design guide book that we worked with a consulting firm to make. These have recommendations such as like getting a front porch, having some type of facade articulation on the front on the front recessing the garage if it's front loaded. um maybe doing a side loaded option, detached garage, something that's going to really emphasize the architecture on the front rather than just a front-loaded garage on the front. So, that's the main thing that we're looking for. But, you know, architecture is a little bit subjective, but we do have some design recommendations in there. Um, and I see, um, I guess if we could go forward, I guess with the shared, um, utilize a shared driveway for lots three and four.

Why was Why is that recommended? Is that due to spacing or It's due the distance from the Huntersville, Concord, Glendale intersection. If you're driving along there, typically you're going to want to have your driveways as far back from intersections as possible when people are coming around. if someone's backing out for safety. Yeah. Any other questions for staff? Okay. Applicant would like to present.

I'm Drew Bowman. Nate Bowman. 205 South Church Street. You're 207, right? Yep.

Yeah. We're next door. Um, we've already looked at this site plan. Let's let's go to the next slide so we can just show you the existing house. Uh, this is a side view. Keep going. It's the other side. The backyard. Another one of the backyard. Um, one of our supporters is Bobby Presley. I don't think he could be Oh, he is here tonight. He he put this letter in in case he couldn't get here. He lives across the street and stares at this property for the last nine years. Uh it's been vacant for quite a few years and is

a year. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Uh but anyway, uh you can see he supports what we're doing here. That's Bobby's house. Um we did a little traffic impact analysis for four houses that shows the number of trips uh in and out during peak hours. So that's just for you to look at and study. And we wanted to make sure everybody's aware of these future road projects. Um over there on 2026 is we're going through Walden. The U that one called uh Feraltown Parkway.

Fereraltown Parkway connection up there at 2028. Uh that's the Stumptown Road connection that is planned to be done. Then um down further in 2026 uh that's where uh uh 20 Veran Village, we're uh redirecting Church Street through Veran Village. And in 2029, the plan is, I believe the town's already acquired the gap property, maybe not, but in 2029, it's to extend Walter Street directly into Verain Village, providing a lot quite a few new connections for East West travel. And we just found out tonight about the potential project at Glendale uh that is just in the discussion stages. So, we're going to work with Steven Trot to make sure we reserve whatever rideway is needed, whether it might be a roundabout or a traffic light. Uh, that shouldn't be an issue. Our houses will be set back far enough that we should be able to provide whatever rideway the town needs and do that at this time. And I think that's uh Brookline Homes has been building in Vermillion uh for quite a few years. Uh, they put some elevations up here. They're still working. They plan to build two-story houses, but you can see their houses uh made a distinct improvement to Mill Village on the seven on the hill that look down on the front of Vermillion, which kind of spearheaded the beginning of the change in in the Mill Village. Uh they're also building town homes for us and they have numerous houses throughout Vermillion, which has passed our architectural guidelines. So, uh we feel as I said, they plan to build two-story homes. typical features, James Hardy siding, front porches, stone accents, and they use modern craftsman inspired architecture. So, we feel very

comfortable that we'll be able to meet the the town standards. That's just a couple examples, but these are not the exact houses. These are four different looks we've been working on, the driveways. This one doesn't show shared driveway. Um, go ahead to the next one. Here's one that shows the shared driveway. And here's a kind of a third version. So, we really need to work with the builder on figuring out where their houses are going to sit and how they want uh these driveways to enter the garages. That may be a side load. It may be all front load, but that's what we're working on right now. And that's all I have.

Any questions for the applicant? Um, if we could go back to the previous slide, you said that there will be different um, I guess structures of your homes or do you know specifically like what your what your homes will look like? Um, and I guess I'm just asking in regards to four homes on this one lot seems to be a bit much. Why? Well, if you look across the street, the lots in Vermian, this will be part of Vermillion, and the lots are much smaller across the street, and they all have front porches. So, this is going to be part of Vermillion, and it fits into the scheme of what Vermillion has been for the last 25 years.

But you also spoke on, you stated that um I guess they have different architectural designs. Do you know specifically what those designs are? Not yet. Not yet. No, they're designing specific houses for this property. Okay. And they can't that just doesn't happen in a few weeks. It usually takes them a couple months. Okay. But we'll have them before we're done. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Walsh. Yeah, it's probably less of a question than a comment. I'm I'm glad you addressed the three things in the staff report. Just encourage you to continue to work with them um to to resolve them. Okay. No, ma'am. This is

No, ma'am. People in the gallery do not address the board or the applicant. You can email us separately. Thank you. Probably a silly question, but um I'm assuming there's no alleyway behind these. No. Okay. Yeah, I'm sorry. I did have one more question. Um, and looking at the staff report, um, when there was the, um, neighborhood meeting, did the property owner ever get, um, his issue addressed with the property lines? Because I know it was stated that I met Mr. Newer out on the property. We found the iron in the front underneath one of his evergreens.

Okay. and he showed us how the trunks are on his property, but the vegetation is growing onto our property, but we don't expect to we're going to try to leave as much buffer of the natural vegetation around and we obviously we're not going to touch his. Okay. He's concerned about the setback and again we we need the house plan and then we'll show them exactly where the house would be cited. Thank you. [snorts] I heard you say four houses. Is there any way you would do three

at this point? No. I mean, the property owner, it's a situation. She's 86 and she asked a lot for the money for the property and it's just a continuing part of our company's revitalization of parts of the east side of town, which we've been doing for 25 years. So, this isn't a giant money maker. It's a a kind of a cleanup project and continue to make this side of town look much better than it did 25 years ago with trailers and and landfill and sewer plant. Everybody's seen my whole slideshow, I believe.

Understood. Okay. Uh and then [clears throat] Commissioner Rivers already touched on this, but you know, I live over in that area. There's roughly four different housing types like right there. And so I'm super curious. [clears throat] Excuse me. Which which type of house you're going to put there? Is it going to be more like that first picture where it's just like that very kind of modest looking one-story, but you wrote two stories on there, but the example you showed us? We don't have the plans yet, but they've been building this craftsman style look, whether it's a rear load or front load. These of course will be front load, but you know, the porch is what we're trying to show. the materials, the hardy plank,

you know, we estimate the homes to be somewhere between five to 600,000. Okay. And like square footage, can you estimate that or I would say probably 2500 under Okay. Is that plus or minus? Okay. Up to 3,000. Maybe up to 3,000. Again, they're they're working on them.

Okay. Okay. Any other questions for the applicant? Okay, we have a handful of public comments that we need to get to. We will start with Patricia Fogerty. You have three minutes. While our public comments are going on, if the U residents in attendance could just keep their side conversations to a minimum, that'd be great so that we can hear the comments. Thank you. I want to thank Commissioner uh Rivers for making the comment about four buildings, four houses being a bit much. I am a new person in town. I've been here since 2023 and I live on Cumberland Crest Drive and um on the other side of my backyard is the property in question. I'm 78 years old and I see trees that are older than I am and the canopy is wonderful. The property is beautiful and if you put four houses on there, you can't convince me that a lot of trees won't bit bite the [clears throat] dust. And um I think we all know that trees help keep things cool. I had um a home on Lookout Mountain in Georgia up until 2023 and I had a yard full of hickories and and it was wonderful to be able to have the shade that kept things cooler. Now if if I if a lot of those trees come down, yes, it will affect me. it'll make my my um energy bills go higher because of the shade will disappear. But um the

thing I think that uh worries me the most is the the future uh of the people that are going to live there. When I first came to this area, one of the things that really bothered me was how close all of the buildings are put built to each other. Now, on Cumberland Crest Drive, that is not the case. Those houses were built back in the 1990s, and they put a little more space in between the houses. And I just don't get it. Um, I was talking about this to my son-in-law. He says, "Well, that's business." Well, I think the term business is glossing over what it really is, greed. I think that if you want to take that property, that beautiful piece of property, and leave some of the trees and maybe put up two houses, then the property value will go up. You put on four houses and I just can't see it. I'm sorry. I guess I'm a country girl and I'm pr proud of it and I've had a good life and uh I just don't see how anybody would be happy living in those close quarters. And one of the things I noticed when I was reading this is that they were talking about how nature is good for us. People that get out in nature have less depression. Children have less attention deficit hyperactive disorder. And you know, of course, we can get out and walk the greenways, but why do we have to go that far? Why can't we just have it in our own yard? Now, I don't know what you're all t intending to do with that property, whether you're going to rent it, whether you're going to sell it, but my point is, um, I hate to see those trees go. They've been here longer than any of us.

Ma'am, your time is up. Thank you. Thank you. Do the right thing.

Next, we have Lou Solet. You have three minutes. Good evening. My name is Luke Solot and I live at 2011 Quail Crossing in Hunters Ridge which is adjacent to this property unlike Vermillion which is across the road. I want to begin by saying that my family and I are not opposed to growth. Huntersville is growing and overall that growth has made this a stronger, more vibrant community. We understand that development is part of progress. However, what's being pro proposed here is not simply growth. It's a change in density that is inconsistent with the established character and long-standing restrictions of our immediate area. Hunters Ridge is a small non-HOA neighborhood of about a dozen homes that has remained intentionally low density for many years. When our homes were developed, subdivision beyond a certain density was not permitted. In fact, my own property includes nearly an acre of wooded land that I am legally prohibited from subdividing due to restrictive covenants tied to density restrictions. We've respected those restrictions. We've maintained that character and we've relied on those limitations as part of what defines this neighborhood. I understand that this parcel falls within the town core character area of the 2040 community plan. But even within broader character areas, there are established residential pockets with long-standing development patterns. Hunters Ridge is one of those pockets. The question before you tonight is not whether density is appropriate somewhere within the town core, but whether whether it is appropriate at this specific location given the existing development pattern and the density restrictions that continue to govern the surrounding properties. Allowing four homes on this parcel introduces a level of density that is currently not allowed for adjacent

properties, including my own. That creates inconsistency and raises legitimate concerns about fairness and planning integrity. If this resoning is approved, the developer will complete the project and move on. The board will continue making future decisions, but the residents of this neighborhood will live with the effects of this increased density permanently. That permanence makes this decision especially important to get right. This is not just about one parcel. It establishes precedent for future decisions affecting similar neighborhoods throughout Huntersville. I respectfully ask that you vote to deny this resoning request and preserve the established development pattern of our neighborhood. Thank you for your time and service to our community.

Thank you, sir. [applause]

Peter Newer, you have three minutes. Uh good evening uh ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for coming. Um my name is Peter Newer. I live adjacent to the property that is proposed to be developed. Mine my property abuts it. Um I've never been to a meeting like this before. I never had the occasion to do something like this. So in order to speak properly, I have done a little bit of homework. I'm not a lawyer, but I've went and got some information that comes from a law firm that does business here in North Carolina. And I came upon something called spot zoning. I'd never heard of this before, and probably nobody else in this room has uh heard of it either, but I'm going to read to you what it says about spot zoning, and you folks can determine whether or not it applies to this property. I think it does. Spot zoning occurs when the ordinance or zoning variance singles out and reclassifies a relatively small tract of land. This property is one point just just a hair over one acre. So it's very small. All the properties, all the houses that are within this development currently uh are sitting on a half acre to 3/4 of an acre. One of the properties is about

an acre. Mine is uh 7/10 of an acre. Um okay. [clears throat] So that that the second thing is the interference with neighbors neighboring land owners expectations with respect to land use aesthetics and the like. The third thing that it says about um spot zoning is the appearance of favoritism towards the landowner awarded the special spot zoning designation. The fourth item is the precedence set for others whom might want to seek favorable spot zoning designation. In other words, if this is allowed, there's nothing to prevent other pieces of property within our development to be reszoned and put up whatever they whatever the uh zoning requirements they meet and decide they're allowed to have. So, we could have apartment buildings, we could have town houses, uh it's whatever they decide they would be appropriate. I don't think this is right. Uh when I built my house nine years ago, uh I built it in this community because I like the way it looked. I like the large pieces of land. I like the separation between the houses. Um I do want to address one other thing that's been brought up before. The corner that they show on the property on the property to be developed comes off of Huntersville Concord Road.

You your your time is up. come around that corner at high speed. I think it'll be dangerous. Thank you very much. [applause]

Ingred Hooks, you have three minutes. Hello, my name is Ingred Hooks and I live in Hunter Ridge with my family for the past 18 years. I'm here to respectfully ask you to deny this resoning request. Zoning laws exist to treat property owners fairly and to guide development in a way that protects the integrity of established neighborhoods. They are meant to provide consistency, safety, and thoughtful planning. This resoning request does not fully align with the spirit or intent of the 2040 plan, especially when it comes to respecting the character of the existing communities. Those of us who chose Hunter Ridge did so for a very specific reason. We wanted treeline streets, space, and a neighborhood that felt safe and welcoming. Every home here sits roughly on an acre of land. That was intentional. It was thoughtfully designed community that is increasingly rare today. This is what we bought into when we chose our homes. Please don't take that away from us. When we first moved in, Hunter Ridge was a quiet dead-end road that few people even knew existed. A real hidden gem. Over time, it has become a cutthrough for traffic, speeding, litter, and a host of bad behavior that concerns residents. I once asked a driver to please slow down. There were kids playing in the neighborhood. She got out of her truck and threatened to shoot me. Yeah, that actually happened. Change has certainly come to our doorstep. Reszoning the front of our neighborhood to add four additional homes may seem minor on paper, but in reality it alters the look and feel of Hunter Ridge in a significant way. It changes the entrance, the aesthetics, and the overall character that we have worked hard to preserve. We appreciate the 2040 plan and the vision of a walkable

community, a much needed highlight. Sadly, we were told there'll be no sidewalks added on the proposed subdivision, which is desperately needed if we want our families to be able to walk to downtown. There are no plans for beautifification support and no plans to reduce the burden on the current residents who already pick up the litter, trim the trees, and maintain the entrance to our neighborhood at our own expense. Without those commitments, this vision feels incomplete. We've also heard the term feathering out, but we have to ask, is that truly what this town wants, or is it simply a phrase used to justify this particular project? Finally, there is the issue of traffic. Glendale Road is already overwhelmed during peak hours. With the large complex nearing completion next door, we still do not know the full traffic impact. Adding more homes at the entrance of Hunter Ridge only increases that strain with no clear solution in place. It's already dangerous to turn into the existing residents on Glendale. Adding more driveways on the other side of the street is practically begging for accidents. Council members, Hunter Ridge is not just a parcel on a map. It is our home. It represents years of investment, care, and community. I respectfully ask you help us preserve this character, safety, and peace of our neighborhood by denying this resoning request. Thank you.

Thank you. [applause] All right, that concludes our public comments for that public hearing. Um, we're on to item 9B, which is conduct a public hearing on petition R25-14. Do we have a motion? Actually, I'll let you say it. Yeah. Good evening. The applicant and staff both recommend this be u deferred to the April 21st meeting. So, may I have a motion to defer item 9B um to April 21st?

I would like to make the motion that we defer item 9B R25-14-in food stores to reszone 2.67 67 acres to April 21st at 6 o'clock p.m. at our town hall. And is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously. Thank you.

Thank you. Item number 9 C, conduct a public hearing on petition R26-02, a request by HFH Partners LLC to reszone. Enjoy the quick slideshow. There we go. Alrighty. Good evening. Brian Richards for the staff. At this time, I'd like to enter my staff report to the record. Um, as mentioned earlier by some of the uh attendees, this is for a general resoning. This is R2602 for 121 Gilead Road. See if the applicants are here. Um, oh, there he is. Sorry. Be brief background. um back in um 2024 this parcel was originally part of another general resoning at through that process they withdrew themselves from that. Of course they're here back here tonight to ask for that same uh request. You can see the site here along Gilead Road at the corner of Hill excuse me Gilead and Hillrest. Again here's the uh makeup of the the corridor currently uh from the west moving to the east. You can see a lot of uh mixeduse and office uh spaces, renovated homes, those types of things. Highlighted there in red is the office uh in question tonight. Uh next door is a residential home um that's being renovated. Uh excuse me, the next parcel to the east is a zone town center that's commercial. We're working with the app the property owner on an application shortly uh to uh get that done as well as I've got a meeting coming up with um the adjacent property to the west of that as well. Caddy corner to the northeast is the um north state project that was recently approved. Across the street we've got the school. Uh this is properties are located in the town core and our mixeduse center. We're very familiar with the descriptions as to the intended uses in there. Some of

those include office and retail as well as uh mixing of uh residential. When you dive [clears throat] down a little bit more into the town uh 2040 community plan, we've gone with the deterior approach having most of the intensification around the Hunterville Concord Roads Gilead Road as well as the Old Statesville Road intersection. And as you further away, uh, you drop that down in intensity. We're located in the tier 2, which is predominantly residential with some small scale, commercial, and office. Currently, the structure is being used as an office. [snorts] Again, uh, other things we look at is the downtown plan. Uh, we look at gathering areas and different types of things that were highlighted in that report. Uh, this is consistent, the request is consistent with the requirements of the 2040 community plan. These are the six things that are highlighted here. We'll go through them all. Uh last time some folks asked about the criteria. These are the criteria that we look at when we do a general resoning. Um very similar to the same things we do with the conditional resoning. Staff is in recommend in a position to recommend approval of this general resoning as it is consistent with the envisioning statements of the 2040 community plan as well as the downtown plan. And I am here if you guys have any questions and the applicant is here to answer questions as well.

Any questions? Yep. Can you tell us about the historical designation and how that impacts the property? Sure. Um Mr. Hines can speak to the spec specifications, but that was this is that was deemed historic uh in 2022. You want to go into some of the details as to which parts of the structure are deemed historic?

Uh thank you. Great to see you all here in this nice great ballroom of uh y'all don't sit quite as close as I used to in the old town hall. So, thank you again for doing what you do. Um yeah, so the designation so we got the exterior of the house designated as well as the interior staircase of the home. So, as you as some of you know, you've been to our office, I mean, we have eight large rooms and a kitchen in the back. So the the designation by Meckenberg County as well as town of Huntersville approved uh recognizing that as a historic house because it was Legette Bliss old home place. That was his childhood home. Um whatever we do to that house, we have to first of all go to the landmarks commission for any modifications to that house. So we can't do anything to the exterior without their approval. They won't allow us to do anything in the front, probably the sides, maybe in the back if we were to add like a commercial kitchen one day or expand the commercial expand our small kitchen now into a commercial kitchen. So, we're very limited in what we can do because we designated it because we one of the reasons we designated because we knew it was a historical piece of of history in our town and we just love the location of it. So the historic designation is was a big part for us to give back to the town in kind of a way. So

yeah. Okay. So just to make sure I understand, if you were to put in a commercial kitchen, you'd have to get approval from the historic That's correct. To do it. Okay. That's correct. Okay. Understood. Um if we want to add anything to the house, so if we want to add another square footage, things like that. Yes.

Okay. Got it. Okay. Um this question came up before. Just wondering why are you doing this now? Um, I think what we we've tried to do as an ownership group is be proactive and, you know, kind of have we have the same vision that the town has with the 2040 plan as well as the downtown plan. And the last time we were attached to the resoning, we didn't want to get involved in some of the division that was going on with those resonings. I completely agree with Miss Halman. If it was a this was a vacant piece of property and we were just going for a general resoning that came before us one time when I served. I don't like that because it takes away all options right for the town. This is a little bit different. We have a house that's designated historic. We did voluntarily. Um there's a lot of hoops we have to jump through on that. We can do a lot of the things we want to do under the current zoning that we can do under TC. There's small nuances to that. Here's an example. We can put a restaurant in there now under neighborhood residential which we're currently zoned. We can have a restaurant in there because it's a commercial use within a quarter mile of town center. So we fall within that zoning or that that district. If we want to do a let's say somebody comes into us and this is the proactive part. So if a restaurant comes in and says we want to have some outdoor seating area in the grass area. Well, technically under the NR zoning, we're not allowed to do that. Now, we can do it on our front porch, but if somebody walks out onto the sidewalk or further out, we're not technically allowed to do that. Under the TC, we are allowed to do that. So, one of the things that again the ownership group looks at is we would much rather be proactive because if we had to come back to the board, let's say we had a hot prospect, it would take us six months to be able to allow them to do that because we have to come in for resoning. So, we're just being

proactive. That's all we're doing. Okay. Thank you. Uh, and then a question for Brian, although you could probably answer this too, but um, we have obviously ordinances downtown for lighting and noise, etc. Can you just refresh? Sure. Uh, all properties, irregardless of of the zoning designation, are subject to the town's lighting ordinance, which means we've allowed down lighting only. Um, and there's limited light trespasses allowed across properties. Of course, all sub all properties in town are subject to the town's noise ordinance, which is enforced by the police department. Thanks. Sure.

So, I'm looking at your property on Google Maps right now. So, I believe behind the house there that that parking is yours. So, if you did have you would have adequate parking to put in, you know, a restaurant. I don't know if I call 17 spots adequate parking depending on the use, right? Yes. But we do we we do own that parking lot. Yes. Okay. Any other questions?

This um location of this house and historic designation um does it limit what could go there? So if you with the if we reszone this and the other choices came available. Is this are there any things that we prohibited just due to the sheer size of the lot and the location and the road?

Sure. I I think as as Mr. Hines point out, you would have restrictions due to the limited parking that that was there. Um Town Center does allow a little bit more commercial uses than than the neighborhood residential. Um you could you like I said restaurant's probably the most likely least that's going to go in there. Um, but in my professional opinion, it's not a great change. As Mr. Hines pointed out, the largest is the ability to utilize the front front area areas off the porch that is restricted with the neighborhood residential use to have some seating or dining out front. Thank you. Any other questions?

Yeah. So, I I know Hullman's are right next door. What what impact would this have any negative impact to their property? I mean, is there buffer impacts? are with? No, there are no buffer impacts there. They we'd still have the same buffers. As a matter of fact, there's actually a little bit more restrictive buffer in town center than you would have in neighborhood residential. Okay. Are there any other negative impacts that could impact them by doing this? Um, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It it falls in line with the plan. I mean, that's why when they came back, you know, a few years ago and asked for that, staff was in support of it. We're in support of it today. If the homeman's were to come in and ask for a general reason zoning for their property, we would be in support of that as well.

Any other questions? We don't have any public comments. So, um if we have no more questions, we're we've concluded. Great. Thank you. Thank you. [snorts] We're now on to item 10A under the on other business. Um, consider amending the town's public com policy comment. Goodness gracious. Public comment and public hearing policy. Miss Loop.

Yes. Good evening. You can move it to the next slide. Um so yes, the town board had directed several months ago legal staff to um put together an amendment to a specific portion of the public comment and public hearing policy. However, in the interim before the board voted on that amendment, there was a North Carolina Court of Appeals case that came out and so at the time the board decided that we would steer legal staff into looking at whether or not other additional changes needed to be made to the policy. And at that time, I took it upon myself to not only look at that case and determine whether or not additional changes needed to be made, but we also looked at policies across the state of North Carolina and wanted to really hone in on what are best practices for these types of policies. So, the changes that you see, and I will preface by saying that there is a lot of red line, however, some of that red line, they are not substantive in nature. It's merely moving items to different sections of the policy and adding basically headers so that the policy is easier for the reader to follow and more cohesive. The on this slide you'll see what some of the most I guess substantive changes to the policy are. The first would be to reflect that the allocated time for our public comments and public hearings will be one hour and that can be changed at the mayor's discretion or the mayor prom when acting in the mayor's absence. And essentially that is to prohibit something that had occurred recently in another jurisdiction where 71 speakers had signed up to speak and the meeting extended through almost 4:00 a.m. in the morning because there was no time limit. So this change is due to a best practice policy that we found in pretty much every other jurisdiction that we looked at. Secondly, we updated the policy related to spokespersons. Um, currently our policy allows for nine minutes to be

yielded. However, when we add a cap of one hour, that would really limit the number of speakers that could speak. If someone were to speak for nine minutes at a time or more than one person spoke for nine minutes that would really eat into the one hour. So the board has opted to essentially cap the spokesperson to six minutes now and that will be for representation of persons of three or more in a group. Thirdly, we also wanted to clarify the process for declaring a speaker out of or out of um basically someone who is not following our policy. We wanted to clarify uh that process for when we declare them out of order whether they be speaking or also if they are in the audience and that change is very specific to the need to meet the standards in that court of appeals case that I was referencing. Um we made we need to make sure that they are found to be causing a disruption to the meeting before we ask them to come in line with the policy and before we ask them to leave the meeting. So that change is specific to that case that came out. Um we also added a reference to the criminal penalty for disruption of an official meeting. Um many people don't know it, but if you do disturb an official meeting or disrupt it, you can be charged with a misdemeanor. So that language is added to the policy so that people are aware of it and also it serves as a deterrent for persons to disrupt the meeting. uh we also specified and reiterated the rules of decorum that are used to prevent these types of disruptions to meetings. We did rearrange sections and wording to achieve a better flow as I mentioned at the beginning of this presentation and also we clarified our statutory authority for the policy which is in chapter 160A of the North Carolina General Statutes. I'm happy to answer any questions if the board has any

board. Does anyone have any questions? I just have one. Um I know like uh we had a special instance where like Josh Dumas came in and spoke for Amanda for her far farewell speech. It was kind of a very unique instance. Uh the mayor still has the ability to allow them to, you know, speak a little longer than six minutes. It was a very special type thing.

So that would be more along the lines of a an person that was invited to speak because he was speaking on behalf of a commissioner that was not able to give her f farewell remarks. So, in our policy, we do have exceptions for when someone is specifically invited by the board to give a presentation. So, they can have longer in the mayor's discretion. Any other questions? There have been times when we've had a speaker here who had three or six minutes and maybe they went to six and a half minutes and I let them finish their thought. Um and and that's you know something common especially if the person is impassioned or mid thought or um maybe they're here for a unique situation that is um an exception to what we normally experience. I do let them have you know a little bit of discretion in that regard um if needed. Um, attorney Slooh, is [clears throat] there anything specific um regarding um our town board responding in to public comments? Was there something in updated or document?

Sure. So, no, actually that's been in the policy um for a while now um that the public should not expect board members to respond directly to them. And the reason for that is that if they responded to every single person, we would never finish the public comment period and our meeting would not stay on track and follow the agenda and serve as an efficient effective meeting. Um, another reason that we basically don't want to back and forth is because if it escalates into, you know, a hostile situation, someone may feel obligated to defend themselves and that too can create a disruption to the meeting. So, it's really more for anformational, you know, an information sharing, not really a discourse.

Any other questions? All right. Do we have a motion for item 10A? I make a motion to amend the town's public comment and public hearings hearing policy. A second.

Any discussion? I just want to thank um our attorney for all the work on this. This was a lot of um work to sus out the details of the court case that came down right in the middle of when we were planning on changing this. Okay. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? And the motion carries unanimously. We're on to an item number 11, closing comments. Commissioner Coronet, do you have any closing comments? Uh, I know there was, uh, Heather and I, Heather Smallwood also asked me to say this as well. Um, I know there was a lot of back and forth with the the board on the stacking the minutes and how we're going to do everything. So, I just want to appreciate everybody, you know, kind of negotiating, coming together and working together on it. So, appreciate you guys.

Commissioner Walsh, not for me. Commissioner Rivers, Mayor Prom Hunt, I just want to give a little early shout out to our mayor prom Hunt. Her birthday is coming up on March 5th. Want to give her a happy birthday in advance of that happening. Um and uh hope everyone had an opportunity to vote today. Um and if not, make a plan for November. Um may I have a motion to adjurnn? Make a motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, please raise your hand. Any opposed? And the motion carries unanimously. We are adjourned. Thank you.