Planning Board - Regular Meeting

The agenda that doesn't seem like it.

[laughter]

All right. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the February uh planning board meeting. Call to order to start the meeting determination of quorum. I think we have the quorum. [snorts] So we are good to get started. Our first item on the agenda is uh is approval of the agenda. Motion to approve the agenda as presented. As shared. I move to approve the agenda. As shared. I'll second them. All in favor? I.

All right. The next uh action item is um to check if there are any conflicts of interest. I assume I understand. No. Thank you. The next item on agenda is approval of minutes of previous meeting. Anyone [snorts] motion to approve the planning board regular meeting from January 20th? I'll move to approve the minutes from the meeting on January 20th. Thank you, Rick. Everyone in favor? I.

Thank you. Moving along, we have um our old business from last meeting which is uh resoning petition CD 0009 2025 8003 Pineuk Road and as I understand Blair is going to present represent. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening everyone. So, there's a good bit of information to look at, but I know we've uh last month had a chance to review most of what you'll see tonight. There will be some new information, but I'll try to go by at a at a good quick reasonable pace. If there's anything you have question about, let me know. Uh, so yes, we're looking at 83 Pine Oak Road. And this is a little bit Oh, sure.

Can you hear me now? Okay. Yeah. Sorry about that. Okay. So, petition petition CD9 2025 request by Derek Richardson, the applicant who's here tonight of Richardson Roots uh is for a conditional reszoning map amendment for the parcel in question uh from its existing R3 single family residential zoning to what we would call an NCCZ, in other words, a neighborhood center conditional zoning. And I do want to stress that this is a conditional zoning. So certain specific conditions are placed on the resoning. It's not a straight resoning. Um so this property, as I think everyone here knows, is u on the corner lot. Uh it's of Pine Oak Road at the bend. It's over two acres, 2.11 acres. And um you can see the uh aerial view of it right there of what's existing. Um, and it's across from on the left there, Artisan Prescott, or actually that's to the north. So, let's look a little bit more at the map to get uh see where we are. Um, this map shows in green Pine Oak Road. So, that's I'm calling that an East West connector because it connects NC16 um South Providence to Waxaw Marvin Road. So, it forms an important juncture, important connection through the town. Um there have been a number of intersection improvements. Uh some that are still underway, some that are complete. You can see uh the new signalized connection. Um and then that's that's just a block up from Pineoke Road. Uh and that Pineoke Road um intersection at 16 has turned into a ride in right out. And then at the south end of Pineoke where it hits Waxaw Marvin Road, that comes as everyone

knows at a very acute angle. it's not a very safe um orientation. And so that is a project that's currently underway. We're going to see that turn into a signalized intersection. And uh per perhaps most importantly or at least the closest to this project is the traffic circle at um Prescott. So Pine Oak Road, even though it's depicted in green there, we know that it's no longer quite that alignment. It goes through a a roundabout there. We'll see more about that. So the current zoning um of the property of course is R3 and you can see in the map form and also on the right how I've described it what zones are there. The yellow is the R3. The NC or neighborhood center is in brown. There's some commercial along U 16 and you can see one employment center that's actually where we are right now town hall uh to the west. So, the property has R3 all around it, but there is some adjacent NC to the north. Just a little something about the current zoning. Um, being that it's R3, what that means is that it's allowed three dwelling units per acre. Um, that's what that zoning permits. We're This is over two acres. So that means that, you know, it could be as many as six dwelling units and then out on the potential for an additional dwelling unit or ADU. But with this property, it's got a good bit of slope. It's in flood plane. I would think there could be no more than perhaps three homes built there, possibly four, and then the dwelling units. So that's if things remained as they are, but the property was redeveloped under R3. So what does our future land use call

for? The this the Waxaw 240 plan looks a lot like the zoning where you can see the yellow is going to be that R3 basic type of zoning and then the brown above it, it's like neighborhood center. So it the the future land use plan did not anticipate commercial growth on this side of Pine Oak but just to the north of it. So as far as this resoning goes uh Richardson's roots development it um it supports the long-term vision of the Waxaw 2040 comp plan. Even though it's, you know, still in yellow on the map, it does, this resoning does fit in with the Waxaw 20 240 in the sense of bringing balanced, compatible, and sustainable growth. It will help expand the commercial tax base. Each of these bullet points here are things that are promoted in Waxaw 2040 comp plan. Supports local employment, locallyowned, low inensity small business, preserving neighborhood character. That's something that I think we'll be looking at tonight. and then minimizing environmental traffic and infrastructure impacts. So, let's dive into that a little bit more. First, looking at the proposed zoning, um you can see on the right, that's the sheet that you would pull from the um land development code. It gives a summary of what neighborhood center is like, just general neighborhood center. But over on the left, again, this is a conditional resoning. So the requirements for conditional resoning are things that we've been going through with this project. It started with a neighborhood meeting. You can see that it's a top bullet point. Uh a site plan with specific site conditions, planning board review, which we're doing tonight um second time. Uh and then after that would be the board of commissioners, BOC, and they would need to approve the

the site plan with the written agreement of conditions. That's what makes it a conditional zoning that they have agreed not just to a resoning but to specific conditions that are presented. Um sometimes a traffic impact analysis is done in these kinds of projects. This had such a low um using the formula that that is that is employed by NC DOT and by Waxaw. It doesn't trip the the requirement for that. Uh it depends on the proposed uses and square footage. This is a very small uh square footage. Um I want to point out this last bullet point particularly any major design changes to this or future developments requires a new submittal and review proceeding. In other words, if this was if this was um if this conditional zoning was approved and then the applicant uh you know changed his mind or he sold the property or he wanted to do something more intense or whatever, the process would start all over again. And if someone new bought it, they would have to build according to the conditional zoning if it gets approved. if they wanted to do it if they wanted to do it any differently, they would have to take it through the process again. Um, and just a note about the the buffer requirements uh between NC and the existing R3 around it, there is requirement for some buffer and such. So, it's fairly minimal. It's the A buffer, but it's still there. So, that's something that would have to be met. So, a little something about the neighborhood meeting. We've already gone through this. I just want to point out that there was public notice, there were meeting results, there was feedback recorded, all things according to the requirements that the sound that the town sets for those meetings, including the sign. And it was not just the one sign, which was a large sign. Um, and

that's what was that's what's in the code now, but also some additional signage was put out at the at at um Providence Road and also at Waxaw Marvin. So there were actually three signs to to point it out and then there was there was feedback and I think we'll hear some some of that feedback again tonight. Uh we'll be going through it. So some new information I wanted to bring in this presentation was a summary of traffic counts and this is something that NC do uh generates and they do what's called an accident analysis. Now this analysis is for Pineoke Road. The numbers that you see in the in the table there are for Pine Road from the two bordering intersections for this project. So Stone Crest Drive and Buckeye Court. So it it would record that segment. And you can see the numbers from um I think it's 20 20 uh I'm sorry 2020 to 2025. Yes. And so total crashes um have been there have been 25 in that time and then it breaks them down. zero fatal, zero what it calls class A crashes, which involve hospitalization. The B and C are both minor injury crashes and so those totaled up to six property damage where it was only property damage were the other 19. So the um [clears throat] the rating that gets assigned to this number of crashes is two points. That's considered a low risk. And to give you some sense of how that fits with the rest of Waxaw, we have the map and it's called SS4A for high injury network. And this is the analysis that NC dot would do. And Waxaw of Waxaw is involved for finding those those areas in Waxaw where there are a lot of crashes and that

definitely need attention. And so in the map I hope you can make out that you know the red is actually you know the most intense and then orange secondary yellow tertiary. So yellow if it's three or up and this is a two. So this doesn't make the map. Um and that's for conditions again up to 2025. Now, we know that those conditions have changed. Uh, with the development above, I to the north, there are now two roundabouts. Um, one being very close to the project. So, Pine Oak, the situation is no longer where you're going to go where you can go just on a long straight section and then take the curve. Now you go along the the straight section from the east going from 16 and you go into the roundabout and then you can continue along Pine Oak um the north south segment of it. So that affects that would affect the numbers. Uh as I've just described, you can see here the the the roundabout. Uh these are the transportation improvements overall. Um, you can see how Pine Oak Road has been has been realigned with the Prescott Glenn Parkway. Again, if you take the Parkway to the north, that leads to the light. Um, and then the south, it's just a ride-in ride out for Pine Oak. But the critical thing here is that roundabout because it has the effect of, you know, slowing everybody down, which is a good thing. Um, drivers can continue on Pine Oak to I'll continue. Um the um planned pedestrian amenities. There's the Pine Oak Roads. There's the Pine Oak sidewalk which is path 11 that's going to go along Pine Oak Road. That's what's planned. And then there's also a a

greenway that is on the books. I wouldn't say it's imminent at all, but it is it is in the pedestrian plan for the floodway that's um along the creek. Uh okay. So anyway, another new thing that we have tonight is the building and site plan. So this is a a image that you would be asked to evaluate this project by because this in map form in site plan form are the conditions for the plan. So the intent is to construct a modest building addition. Um so you can see that there's an existing building and then there is an addition um attached to the existing structure. The addition is the the conditions for that are that it's to match the scale, height and style of the home and maintain a residential appearance. It's used for inventory storage, uh, order preparation, small workspace, and there's to be no manufacturing or industrial activity within that. Um, plants and inventory. There's a small curated selection of plants only, and those would be shrubs and trees, seasonal plants and such. Um, it's a limited inventory. It's not intended to be a full nursery. uh the plants are stored and displayed in a contained manner. And so you can see, you know, again, the addition to the building. Um and then you can see on the other side of the building there's a parking lot and then you see sort of a long orange area. That would be the open plant display area. So that is the site plan. We'll take a closer look at that later if you like. Um other conditions to be added, uh customer access. Again, these are part of the agreement of the conditional zoning uh by appointment only. There's no walk-in or re retail hours for this

project um or for this business. Um those appointments would be spaced to avoid congestion, to limit number of visitors, traffic, parking impact. Um the visits are limited to browsing, small selection of pre-arranged order pickup, and there's parking accommodated. Um and you saw that in the previous slide, the parking lot. We'll we'll get a closer look at that, too. As for signage, uh, one small non-illuminated business sign, uh, it's for identification only. It's not really an advertising sign. The exterior lighting, we understand that can be an issue in a residential area. Um, so the applicant has stated that it'll be the minimum that's necessary for safety and operations. It's placed on timers or motion sensors and directed away from the the adjacent residents to prevent light spillover. There will be screening of the of the project, of course. Plantings along the fence line. I think I think all of those have gone in already, but there may be more. I'll let the the applicant can talk more about that. Um, so that's going to be along the fence. Uh this of course helps reduce the visibility from neighboring properties and from the street and um the applicant says that they're open to additional plannings where feasible. He wants to get that kind of input. He can work you know with that certainly. So that's part of the purpose I think for tonight is to is to nail down these these conditions. Uh these are not set in stone. These are what's being offered as an understanding of what's needed and what's been requested. But if more is requested, you know, that's that's part of the process right now. Uh let's see. Um the driveway has been widened uh already in um attempts to improve the sight lines for the curve. You can see here on the right, this does not exist. This is in the world of AI, but the existing

house is shown on the left and then the planned addition to the right. And so you can see, you know, the attempt is to to match the the style and size of the house. So staff puts together a reasonable and consistency statement. This is not set in stone either. This is something that you can adopt, you can change. Um, but the reason for this is that according to North Carolina state law, the anything any map change, any text change uh that requires action from the board, it needs to relate to the future land use plan, the Waxaw 240 comprehensive plan. And so this is in relation to that. So you can see what's been stated here that the request is inconsistent with the Waxaw20 future land use map specifically in terms of designated land use in specific part of the specific parcel. What that relates to is that map earlier that showed in the future land use plan that was it was not predicted that that would need to be commercial. So it's inconsistent in that respect. But there's also a reasonleness statement. So this you'll see how this uh will serve uh when the situation is like that. The request is considered reasonable and in the public interest in the following ways. The parcels located adjacent to existing neighborhood center property along a primary road corridor that connects the two main north south roads above Highway 75. Uh that being highway 16 and Wax Marvin Road. And because the conditional site plan allows a low impact commercial use in accordance with the goals, the stated goals of the Waxaw 2040 comp plan and the neighborhood center zoning district and also being that it's a business, it contributes to a more balanced tax base.

So that whole list of things, those are things that are just pulled out of the 2040 comp plan to say, yeah, the comp plan says that's those are goals in the comp plan. So even if it doesn't uh if that particular parcel isn't reflected in the map the future land use pl map map it does have this reasonableness. Um but again that's staff generated. It's up to you. So what's requested tonight is a motion to either recommend the conditional reasoning for this property or recommend it with modifications or to deny recommendation. Those are the requested actions tonight. So open for questions.

Thank you Blair. Sure. I think before we get into question answers and conversations open forum we would like to have the public hearing. I have list of uh attendees. So we can go ahead and please note that each uh person who will be here here to discuss will get three minutes. Paul Yeah, [clears throat] sorry I didn't could not get the last name. Thank you. Next is Kevin Flynn just in case.

Okay. Um I might have to hold the mic. Okay. I'm Paul Fitzgerald, longtime president Waxaw. I came here in 1999. That's last century, right? and we we had our home here. I live on the corner of Buckeye Court and Pine Oak, so I am right in the heart of it. And I would like first of all to thank you for letting me speak tonight. And I would like to thank you for approving the circle and bring our community back to us because it was a four-lane highway going through our neighborhood. Uh our neighborhood, I want to talk about our neighborhood. Old Hickory subdivision was the very first subdivision plan community for the town of Waxaw. It had to be brought in from the county. Okay. And it was in the late 70s early 80s. Okay. Therefore, all our houses are smaller houses, but we have huge lots. Okay. Mine's the smallest lot probably in the community, which is twothirds of an acre. You probably could put three houses on my lot. Okay. But it's already developed. We like our community. That's why I came to Waxaw because I didn't want to live to brush my neighbors teeth in the morning. Okay. There is a number of things our neighbors don't like. I kind of disagree with Blair with the comprehensive plan. It always been R3 since 1980. Okay. Why do we have to change it now and it's going to destroy it? Because if you It's going to be a domino effect. You approve this one, then my neighbor

George, his property backs up to this property. So he could change his lot and reszone it. I can change my lot because it's across the street pretty much from Lowe's Foods. And then you also because our houses aren't that expensive because they're not big square footages, they're going to go like cherry. You're going to have you're going to end up having commercial all the way down Pine Oak. Okay? And and mark my words, then they're going to start on Prescott. They're going to take out the back end of Prescott. We don't want that. We You did the right thing. The town houses were were okay with the town houses, which we always figured there was going to be multifamily portion in this shopping center development. Back in what was it, Tracy? When did they come to us for Prescott? 90

90 Okay, we went through a lot already. There was in 200 seven I had to pressure wash my house three times because of moving dirt so much on this property because it's all in the flood plane. They had to move it get it out of the flood plane. Now we really have a nice community. They're bigger bigger lots, smaller houses. That's what we want. I I think the comprehensive plan was never intended to change or modify the housing development that is already there. I just just think it's abortion. Okay. And I I plead you to turn this down. Thank you.

Thank you both. If I can get this back on there. [laughter] Hello. Hello.

Uh Kevin Flynn. I've lived in Prescott, the Prescott neighborhood for 15 years now. Uh thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. I truly appreciate it. Um so like I mentioned, we live in Prescott. So I'm actually my backyard uh faces the property. Uh I live on that um that bend basically is my backyard. Uh my biggest concern is the traffic and the safety concerns. I've lived there, like I said, for 15 years. Uh countless accidents. I know there was a a study or data provided. I would uh contest some of that a little bit based on my experiences. I live and breathe it every day. Not only the accidents, but also the near misses, the tire screeches as people go flying around that corner. I've had bloodied individuals on my front step. I've had a FedEx yard or FedEx truck in my backyard as well as a car on fire in my backyard. I've also had uh to replace my fence twice and I've had to actually change where my fence goes because I don't want to incur any additional property damage because of that. Um so that is my biggest issue. Um whenever we have to call 911 because we're usually the first ones to do it. They know that intersection. They That's not even an intersection. They know that turn. They know how dangerous that is. They're like, "Yep, we know right where it is. We'll we'll be right out there." I mean, that alone, um, the fact that EMT probably knows that, our police probably know that that's one of the most dangerous spots in in Wackaw. Um, to bring more traffic there, more possible congestion with trucks going in and out, I I just think is a big risk. Uh, I know there haven't been any casualties there yet, but literally, I'm waiting for that day. I am waiting for that day because it's been close. Um, the last thing I'll say is those roundabouts. Love them. Looks great. Uh, I'd argue that they act as like a slingshot for some cars to go around them to see how fast they can go and

then scoot around that corner. So, um, that's really it. I don't that's my big I have a lot of other things I could say regarding why I'm kind of against it but my biggest issue is the safety that for others for me my family I have a pool in the backyard. Um the last thing I wanted to see is like from a movie scene where there's a car come flying through into my pool cuz honestly there have been times where we've wondered if that was going to happen and I'm not even joking like it's been it's been rough. So anyway, thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity.

Thank you Kevin. Next is Mike. Yes, I'm Mike Bane. I live in Sunrest. Been there since 2013. And the only things I would like to point out to you and I appreciate the opportunity to do such is the fact that I went to that neighborhood meeting. So I have a general idea of what was what the plans are here. But going back to to original thoughts, uh this is a residential area and this is a commercial venture and the occupants are not going to live there. So to me it doesn't seem like it's a very difficult decision. You've [snorts] got a commercial operation in a zone of a federal or a residential area. And the other thing I would go along with the very first speaker to me this presents a slippery slope. If you approve this one, how hard is it going to be to not approve the next one? So thank you for your time.

Thank you. Tracy Tracy Wes.

Good evening. My name is Tracy Weslick. I actually served as a commissioner during the approval of our 2040 comprehensive plan and I'm here because this request is a direct departure from that vision. When we drafted the plan, this area was intentionally designated as residential. This property is not an extension of the commercial section of Prescott Village. It is a residential lot surrounded by homes. This is a textbook case of spot zoning granting a special zoning privilege to a single parcel that is drastically inconsistent with the surrounding neighborhood. Under North Carolina law, the burden is on the board to show a reasonable basis for such a move. Respectfully, there is no reasonable basis to disrupt an entire neighborhood for the benefit of one individual. Let's look at the actual impact. Neighborhood Center allows for a nonresidential building up to 10,000 square ft. That is roughly the size of four average homes combined. To fit a structure of that scale, the applicant will have to clear cut the mature trees that define Old Hickory. neighborhood center requires the least amount of buffer of any zoning class in our code. Replacing a mature forest of trees with a bare minimum 10- foot buffer while introducing commercial deliveries to a curve with 25 documented crashes. It's a liability the town should not invite. This just isn't about traffic volume. It is about traffic geometry. Now the applicant may tell you this business will be appointment only but we must remember resoning stays with the land not the person. Once this is reszoned the appointment only promise is legally uninforcable. He or any future owner can change the business model tomorrow to hightra retail and the town will have no legal grounds to stop it. I spoke with the applicant last July while I was still

commissioner. I suggested a home occupancy permit so he could run his business without changing the zoning, but he doesn't want to live in his house. He wants to stay in Milbridge. There are plenty of commercial locations available in Waxaw. The applicant chose a residential lot because it's cheaper to buy, but far more valuable once resoned. He is asking this board to hand him a massive increase in property value while the families of Old Hickory bear the burden of lost character and increased danger. At our neighborhood meeting, 32 residents attended and not one person supported this. We must remember reszoning stays with the land. This is inconsistent spot zoning. It creates a traffic hazard and it ignores the unanimous opposition of the neighborhood. I urge the planning board to protect the integrity of our 2040 comprehensive plan and deny this request. Thank you. Thank you, Tracy. Thank you, Karen. Karen McDouble. Next up should be Shelly. Should be ready. Good evening, planning board. I appreciate the opportunity to um give my perspective to tonight's discussion. My name is Karen McDougall. My husband and I live in Prescott, but directly opposite the driveway for AD 03 Pine Oak. We bought our house in the quiet end of Prescott in 2006 and we've enjoyed living there. But the thought of having extra traffic, beeping trucks, commercial side signs out our living room and bedroom windows is

horrifying. We used to look out across the street at the lovely trees of our neighbors Neil and Brenda Tolbert. Now, the trees have been cut down and there are plans for the parking lot and uh the warehouse next to it. Granted, they want it to look nice. Um I have a question. If there's a parking lot, is it really um appointment only? Why is there a parking lot now? It wasn't there before. Just a question. We attended the Richardson's uh their required neighborhood meeting in in November. And as you know, there were 32 people there. About half of the attendees spoke and nobody spoke for this. Um there was definite disagreement with it. And quite tellingly, the former owners had their do their son-in-law come to offer profuse apologies about what was happening to this property that obviously they sold thinking it was going to be residential. The last thing the Pine Oak needs is on this dangerous curve is a warehouse and delivery business. My husband and I have seen multiple accidents on this curve. We've seen cars hung up in trees, cars flipped over on their backs. I can't tell you how many times we have heard the crashes at all times of day and night and gone out to see how we can help because we do have a gate. You know, do we need to call the police or an ambulance? But you know who was often the first one there was Neil Tolbert, the fellow who owned that property. And of course, no family will be living there at all now. And by the way, there is, as Blair stated, there has been no decrease in

speed. People come around the roundabout, that's true, and they come across the bridge as they always have done, and they speed up just as much as they've done before. It hasn't changed. There's just more traffic. If this one isolated property on Pine Oak Road is allowed to become commercial, that's a foot in the door for all the street to become commercial. And that with that comes even more traffic. But more importantly, what comes is the destruction of a planned established neighborhood, Old Hickory. This is not what we we would like you to facilitate. We appreciate your service with the board, but please keep in mind Waxaw's established neighborhoods are precious. Please don't do anything that would destroy this neighborhood. Thank you. [applause] Thank you.

All right. All right. Good evening. Um, thank you for serving our great community. My name is Shelley Hardy and I'm a resident of Waxaw and Old Hickory neighborhood for 30 plus years. My husband and I chose to purchase the home in Old Hickory neighborhood based on its lot sizes, mature trees, and privacy between homes. Our neighborhood is quaint and we support each other. The residents of Old Hickory cherish our unique neighborhood. Over the years, we have had very little turnover. I have raised a family there and felt blessed that I've had a friendly and safe neighborhood to raise them in. I am a huge advocate of small business, especially in Waxaw. My mom and daughter live in Waxaw and are both small business owners. With that being said, I am not um concerned about a person wanting to be or have a successful small business. I'm concerned about a person buying a piece of property in an established neighborhood with no intention of living in the home, but with the intent to have the property reszoned so he doesn't have to live in the home, with no regard to the longtime neighbors surrounding the property. What if you owned a home next to his right now? How would you feel about the future of your property and your investment? I'm very concerned of what could transpire from a change in resoning. I want this committee to make it make sense for the neighbors of Old Hickory and help protect our intimate neighborhood with the current residential zoning in place. The property owner has some limitations as he should and there's a protection for our neighborhood. My neighbors who sold him the property were under the impression that he was going to move into the house and raise his family. They are distraught that he is requesting to reszone the property to commercial to benefit his personal financial status. The Old Hickory

neighbors feel burdened and frustrated over one person's push for resoning. Um, a commercial resoning does not protect the longtime residents of Old Hickory. I feel strongly that if the property owner does not want to live in the home and run his current business, then he has the freedom to look for commercial property elsewhere. Reszoning the property to commercial is not going to support and protect the current residents that chose their property and made an investment based on Old Hickory's current landscape. In my opinion, if this board recommends reszoning, the board is not supporting Old Hickory. and as a board um and a and you as a board are potentially handing over power to one individual, a new resident to make changes to Old Hickor's landscape forever and negatively impacting our intimate neighborhood. A resoning could allow current um a resoning could allow the current resident to sell the property to a commercial developer and things could spiral. The current property owner needs accountability. Please make it make sense. Please protect the residents of Old Hickory and our sweet neighborhood. Thank you

Charles.

Good evening and thank you for hearing all of our comments. My name is Charles McDougall and I have lived at 8103 Pine Oak Road in Old Hickory for 22 years. I only have time to focus on a few central points. These are taken from the information that I delivered to each of you last week as well as the crash analysis that I have provided tonight. that's in front of you. I am open to any follow-up questions. I request that both of these documents be included in the minutes of this meeting. To begin, planning personnel have given three main justifications for approval for this resoning. Number one, adjacency to existing neighborhood center zoning. This parcel only touches at a small corner of wetland and has no functional adjacency to the neighborhood center zoning. Regardless of zoning, the entire area from the creek to the new low foods will all be residential town homes. A reszone here would create a single island of commercial use surrounded by residential use. Number two was tax base enhancement. This business has one employee. This business is almost exclusively online order and delivery. North Carolina requires that sales tax for remote sales be collected for the destination jurisdiction, not the location of the seller. This business serves clientele throughout the Charlotte metro area. So very little tax would come to Waxaw. This pres This proposed reszone would provide no material benefit to the Waxaw tax base parcel is along an east west connector road. Residential zoning is preserved along connectors throughout Waxaw, particularly in subdivisions. Old Hickory is a planned neighborhood like any other. Grey Byum, Kensington, Cuthbertson all preserve residential use along these corridors. The proposed reszone would begin a domino effect of adjacency permanently impacting the future of Old Hickory and Pineoke. It would also set a precedent for all subdivisions in Waxaw. Residents of Old Hickory do not want this and the 2040 comp plan specifies commercial zoning only at nodes. Wand uh Waxaw land development code states that neighborhood center is intended to encourage the creation of compact and walkable mixeduse neighborhoods in the downtown core and

provide an alternative to autooriented corridor commercial. This parcel is distant from the downtown core and has no sidewalks. This business has no connection to the neighborhood. This business is entirely autoor oriented being shipping, receiving, and delivery. Neighborhood center zoning is not designed to retrofit planned intact neighborhoods of single family homes. The planning preset goes, the planning presentation relies on incomplete DOT data. I've analyzed and put in front of you all crash reports for the Pine Oak Road to provide corrections to that slide shown in packet that I provided tonight. From 2020 to 2025, 22 crashes occurred on the curve, an average of four to five per year. 32% almost one in three involved injuries. 23% almost one in four resulted in transport to hospitals. 14% were severe enough to require transport to Atrium Maine and Charlotte, a major trauma facility. One fatality was observed by multiple witnesses, including myself, and there are people in this room who will vouch for that. The other passenger in that particular wreck was taken with life-threatening injuries, and to the best of my knowledge, died later of her injuries. Any increase in trucks turning, pausing, or retail parking, etc., increases the risk to neighbors, pedestrians, and motorists. And by the way, in the past two weeks, another wreck occurred at the curve since our last meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. Don. Next is Don.

Hi, my name is Don Openor. I'm on the Cess Trail. This is the Old Hickory neighborhood. And my biggest concern is the fact that this is going to be just the first stone that's going to happen. It's going to be one property after another in this whole area. If you're going to allow this one to become uh commercial of some sort, who's going to stop the next one? because now they got a foothold in a residential neighborhood and it's going to be the next one to that comes up on the market. Somebody's going to buy it. They're going to do the same thing over again. My concern is I'm back up to a commercial property off of 16. And in the gentleman's logic, that means turning those other properties into commercial eventually down the road is perfectly logical. So, and this one is solidly in residential areas. I don't think it should be changed at all. So, appreciate the time. Thank you, Debbie. Debbie Persing. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. I have been a resident of Old Hickory for 33 years and nine months. This is not a transient neighborhood. Of the first five houses, starting with the property in question, three of the homes, including mine, have had the same occupants since May of 1992 and before. The property in question was occupied by the same family, the Talberts, since before May 1992, and it was recently sold within the last six months, as you know. Thus, that's why we're here this evening. Uh my issues are that traffic already as you have heard many times is too heavy for this road. It is dangerous just to check your mailbox due to the amount of traffic, the width of the road and the

speed of the traffic. And let me point out that speed issues remain the same on Pine Oak Road when you go from Waxaw Marvin to the circle. that circle has not reduced the speed issue in that part of the road. And uh it was pointed out that Pine Oak Road is a connector to two main roads. Well, I question the uh issue that Pine Oak was developed to be a connector between the uh two main roads because in reality it was not constructed to be such a connector. There have been no improvements such as two other than two pavings since I have been living there since 1992. Storage of fertilizers and pesticides po pose potential fire danger. There are woods behind the houses on Pine Oak Road near the property in question and behind that property. Should there be a fire, it could spread quickly and endanger homes on both sides of the creek. And I wonder if it may be difficult for firefighting equipment to reach a fire behind these homes. I also wonder why should the value of our homes be at risk when there is commercial property so very close to 83 Pine Oak Road and that is the neighborhood center where Lowe's and uh the car wash is etc. Old Hickory is a neighborhood and is an old neighborhood and adds to the character of Waxaw. Why ruin that character when there is a neighborhood

center across the street? We take pride in our homes and in our neighborhood and we want to continue to build our memories there.

Thank you, Martin Turner.

Good evening and uh thanks for the opportunity to speak tonight. Uh, my name is Martin Turner. Uh, I live just a few houses down from the property in question. Um, I want to begin by saying that I respect small businesses. I'm a a former small business owner myself. Um, and I appreciate entrepreneurship. Uh, and this has nothing to do with the the current owner of the property. I've met them. They're nice people. Uh, I'm not uh I'm not angry about this at all. The time for anger will be after it's approved. Um so uh my concern is about the the precedent this sets for zoning um and protecting the residential character of the neighborhood. Um the property was purchased uh as a residential home in a residential neighborhood. Uh the request that you have is not simply to allow uh business activity, but to reszone the property for neighborhood center, which allows um other business types in the future. Um which we don't really want in our neighborhood. Um especially, you know, if the owner were to sell the property, then it would be open to who knows what. You can't really see the future. Um it's a significant shift for our area. Um once the property is reszoned, it becomes much easier for adjacent properties to request the same designation over time. That can fundamentally change the character of the entire street. I purchased my home in a residential area, not in an emerging in in an emerging business district. Um there are also legitimate safety concerns. The property sits on a dangerous curve where multiple accidents have occurred. Uh the road is narrow and heavily traveled due to rapid population growth in recent years. I'll just go ahead and on the record and say I think

Waxaw has been ruined. Um I've been here since 1994. Um and I would if it were up to me, Waxaw would still be a little town of 4,500 people where if there were a traffic jam, it's because there's a tractor in the road. Um, so, um, let's see. I got myself off track. Um, so I think the the the the traffic and and, uh, safety concerns are are less important than the fact that this is uh this is next to homes that we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying and we don't want to live in a business district. If we did, we would have bought a house in a business district. Um when we moved or when I moved there with my family, um Pine Oak Road was narrower than it is now by just a squinch. There was a one-lane bridge and you had to have the courtesy to stop and wait for people coming the other way. Now it's a racetrack and it's worse since the roundabouts went in. Waxaw is ruined. So don't make it any worse, please.

Thank you, Anna. Thank you, board, for the opportunity to speak. I'm Charles's wife. Um, I'm going to tell a little story. If you've ever purchased a great pair of shoes, attractive, well-made, serviceable, longwearing shoes, and you got the brush and the polish and the wooden forms to keep them nice, you can imagine the disappointment and the frustration if those shoes turn out to not fit you, which my heart goes out. I feel like that's what's happened with um Derek and his family. But Old Hickory is a residential community. The one enduring defining characteristic of Old Hickory is that it's a residential community of neighbors that live in their houses. A lot of people plan to grow old and die in these houses. A lot of us have raised our babies in these houses. We've watched our neighbors kids grow up. We know our neighbors pets. We notice if there's an unusual car parked in our neighbors driveways. We're neighbors with each other. [clears throat] Our heart breaks for our neighbors when they have to drop a 200-y old tree because it's no longer sound. We have relationships with each other. We have relationships with our houses. We have relationships with the land our houses are on and with the wildlife that inhabits that land. We know what time of year to look for tiny green newly hatched lizards or butterflies in the top of the yellow popppler trees or when the robins and the northern flickers are going to come raid all the berries off the dogwood trees or what time of year the stream is just going to turn green and slimy because the neighbors upstream are fertilizing their lawns or when to look for a pair of hawks teaching their young to fly. We have seen the seasons

of the years and of lifetimes in our homes in our neighborhoods. And we have seen over decades what will and won't grow in our gardens. And we commiserate with each other when it's a bad year for vos. And this is this is our community. We have become a community of people that know each other are established in our homes. It's like a pair of shoes that's well broken in and comfortable. I hope everybody in this room experiences the the comfort of having a house that's turned into a home within a community where, you know, help is not far if you ever need it. I hope that that happens for Derek and his family as their businesses grow and as their family grows. But I beg this board to consider that the decisions of a moment have farreaching consequences. And I beg you not to disrupt the very nature and fiber of our community, Old Hickory, our residential community. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, Anna. Sam De Antonio, are you here? You want to say anything to him? He's got new shoes.

I guess I'm the oldest guy here and the oldest uh the oldest neighbor. The his property that he's buy Derek's buying borders my property there. This young man here said, did you say he had two and 11 2.1 acres? 2.11. And where is he going to build? Where is he going to build? Yeah. Where's he? There's no room there. I mean that that's that's cornered lot. There's nowhere to go but behind. He comes this way. He's on my property almost. He's this far from my property. I got two and a third acres. Okay. It impacts me more than anybody else here. Now

Okay. The planning board. I want to talk to you first. Are you from Charlotte or where do you live? Huh? You live in Charlotte. This isn't about me. Yeah. You live in Charlotte, don't you?

So, you don't He doesn't have any idea what Waxaw is all about. I mean, and you're talking about cars coming down through there. You can get run over pulling out of your driveway. They come down through there doing about 50 60 miles an hour. And I'm not exaggerating. You can hear the tires squealing. I hear them at nighttime. Now, when they put the roundabout in there, okay, that did help coming from Providence Road. That did stop him from coming down that direction, but it didn't it doesn't stop him coming the other direction. Okay. The traffic problem is not really my concern. My concern is what these other people have voiced, you know, about uh the one man is being privileged, I guess you want to call it. And I have a feeling, my personal feeling is I don't know if it's him or who the who planned who the planning commissioners are, whoever, somebody knows something. They knew that before the house was bought under false pretense. The neighbors did not know that he was going to do that. If they had known that, they would have not have sold the property to him. Neil and Tolbert, Neil and uh Tolberts and them. So, I think it's a done deal. I I got a feeling that, you know, all this talking might not do any good, but I got a feeling it was already in the works before we even heard about it. So that's it.

Thank you, Mary Laauo. Mary. Oh,

sorry. [clears throat] Okay. Uh, good evening. Thank you so much for this opportunity to share my concerns with you um on this very important issue. As a resident of Old Hickory, for the past 28 years, my family and I have enjoyed our quiet, cozy, and close-knit neighborhood. We consciously chose this neighborhood for its small town feel, its beautiful wooded lots, and the peacefulness we experienced from the first time we entered it. We're very thankful to have experienced that for the past 28 years. One of our main concerns, as has been mentioned, is the potential for increased traffic and accidents with location being where it is. I drive Pine Oak daily to work, and I know how fast people drive around that sharp curve. We've all seen it. With this area being prone to accidents, adding a business could only make it more dangerous. Please do not put our lives in danger. Not to mention the kids on their motorbikes who ride on this road as well. just witnessed this again today on my way home from school and most have heard of us this on what's up wax on Facebook. Additionally, we would like to keep our neighborhood a neighborhood, a simple, quiet, safe and beautiful neighborhood. Our neighborhood is one of the few, if not the only mature treewood neighborhoods in Waxaw. All of this makes our neighborhood valuable financially, emotionally, and tangibly. What impact will this resoning have on our property values? Why should all of us suffer for the benefit of one individual? Reszoning would allow for this greenhouse at this time, but what happens with that property down the road if the owner decides to sell this property? And I know other neighbors have mentioned these concerns. I don't know that these concerns are fully addressed. Um, we really are concerned. Um, I know that they mentioned conditions will apply. I would love to know how are those conditions going to be implemented and monitored. There's a lot of unknowns here and uncertainties

that we would really need more reassurance for. Um, continuing on, um, we are just very concerned, um, that the future of this property, if other businesses go in, if this one does not continue, what will we be opening ourselves up to? What other businesses could come in and disrupt um, the harmony of our neighborhood? What else would we be allowing into our peaceful neighborhood? If the resoning happens, as I've been made aware, the business owner could be allowed to add a prop uh building of 10,000 square feet. That is no small impact to our beautiful neighborhood. We are not privy to this business plan. The owner has only shared plans for the near future. The sole purpose of a business is to grow. And I wish him well. We do not know what his 5year or 10-year business plan is and how that could affect us as neighbors. Some of us bought our homes 30 years ago, 10, five years ago. And as the rightful and proper stewards of this neighborhood, we feel that it is right and reasonable to request that the tone and aesthetic of our neighborhood remains as it is, mainly business-free. We beg you to put oursel yourselves in our shoes and consider how you would feel about a house in your neighborhood being reszoned for business. I do support small business. It's just a location within a small neighborhood on a narrow curvy road that's a problem. I do hope his business thrives in a location that is best for all involved. Thank you for your time and all that you do. I'm asking you to follow the golden rule. As a teacher, I cannot help but saying and I feel it's a value many of us share. Do unto others as you would have done unto you and do the right thing by denying this request for reasonzoning. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh Breie Rubin,

good evening. Um yes, my name is Rebecca Rubin. When my family moved to the old Hickory neighborhood 21 years ago, it was at the edge of town. Sometimes I still feel like a little bit of a newcomer when compared to my neighbors who have been here over 30 years. Uh we are a cohesive community with a history of community gatherings over the years. We are not merely a collection of houses south of Pine Oak. We love our neighborhood. So what do we love about it? Well, to start with, it's neighborly. Um, it has its own beauty and charm. It's well-kept with old trees and nice lots for the size of the houses. The streets and Pine Oak were quiet enough that many of us felt safe raising families here. Old Hickory provides affordable starter homes in a neighborhood safe for young families and the elderly. Uh neighborhoods like this are few and far between in Waxaw. To borrow the expression of a neighbor, it is quiet dignity. We are losing that quiet haven. As we all know, the area across from Old Hickory, north of Pineoke, has just become a large commercial center. The construction is transforming the character of the neighborhood. Pine Oak has become heavily traveled. um not just on Pine Oak, but also down the side streets. People cars just come whizzing down the little culde-sacs off of Pine Oak now turn around and come back. Um just to let you know, walking along Pine Oak Road to different parts of the neighborhood feels less safe as cars frequently come zipping by as people have already mentioned. Furthermore, it's important to remember that we do not yet know what the full impact of Prescott Village will be since

the businesses are just starting up. Permitting a highly visible business with a warehouse on the south side of Pine Oak Road would create a domino effect with other businesses. I don't think we could ignore that. A new commercial business across the street from a shopping center opens wide the door that would transform this community from residential to commercial. This would completely and irrevocably alter one of Waxaw's old subdivisions. We cannot change the current traffic on Pine Oak, nor can we change Prescott Village just north of us. [clears throat] But you, the planning board, have the opportunity to keep Old Hickory intact. Most other subdivisions have an obvious geographical boundary to keep a clear border between the residential area and any surrounding businesses. Since our neighborhood has four separate entrances off of Pine Oak, this is not easy. Not allowing reszoning south of Pine Oak Road would maintain a clear separation between residential Old Hickory and the businesses across the road. The result would be that we could keep the cohesive residential nature of our subdivision. I believe that maintaining the current zoning is a very reasonable request on our part. Thank you for your time, for listening, and for serving on the planning board. Thank you,

Melissa. Melissa Patterson. Next up, Rachel Williams. Thank you all for being here tonight. And I know I know it's a lot and we appreciate you very much and the opportunity to talk. Um I went back um this evening and watched the last meeting that we were here and I'm I have some questions. So rather than going through um the way I did last time, I'm just going to pose them. Um this home that we're talking about at the 803 Pine Oak Road was purchased in the name of Pine Oak Properties rather than Richardson Roots. I don't know who the other owners are. or there may not be any. But I'm wondering does this imply that the organization anticipates buying other properties for undetermined purposes? We have um talked odd nauseium about this is a conditional reasonzoning request and the young lady here just asked the question I have. How are those conditions maintained? Who enforces those? What do I do if I have a problem? If they agree to no fertilizers, how do we know that's the case? Are there inspections? Just just a question. Um, at last month's meeting, a question was posed by one of the gentlemen here um to Mr. Israel about why Pine Oak um was not on the 2040 comprehensive plan as a neighborhood um center commercial property. um his response was that it was a short-sighted view on the part of those proposing the comprehensive plan. I would disagree with that. Um, and I feel like Tracy, whom I have not met, but very much appreciate, um, has brought that to confirmation that when the plan was put

together, Old Hickory was residential and maintained residential because it is in fact residential. Um, and lastly, regarding the traffic, again, um, Mr. Israel when he gave a very thorough such a lovely response addressing all the things about why Pine Oak was not on the 2040 plan. One of the comments he made was that Pine Oak Road is not the ideal connector for the north and south. It's not. And he recognized and referenced Kensington as that. Um, just because our road connects to Providence Road and Marvin does not mean it should be a hub for business. Has been brought up several times. There's commercial property literally across the street. This property was purchased as residential. It should remain residential. And you should deny this request. I recommend that it be denied. You should honor the request of your neighbors and listen to us, please. And again, we appreciate your service so very much. And thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Rachel Williams. My husband and I have resided in Old Hickory for almost 30 years and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with everyone uh and before the planning board this evening. I think that all of my neighbors have already said everything that I plan to say. I didn't plan a speech, but I think it was put forth uh very eloquently by our former commissioners who are also uh very well-versed on the on the matter. uh some of my neighbors, many of them who I've seen walking the neighborhood for those past 30 years reminding me that I need to get out there and walk more. Um but I just want to say that in addition to the very serious traffic concerns that are are presented here, which I think could also be other things that are addressed with community leaders, NC DOT u and and others in the traffic engineering department might be something that our our neighbors want to take up separately. Um, I do believe that the deliveries are going to contribute to that traffic problem. I also don't believe that in section seven of the Waxaw comprehensive plan for 2040 that allowing this R3 zoning to be converted to conditional commercial zoning is in keeping with the original intent of the comprehensive plan. I feel like that is a stretch at minimum and should be, you know, really viewed as the the uh the planning board members as something that they should not approve and should not support. Uh among other things, I want to echo the concerns that have been uh presented from my other uh fellow neighbors here about keeping our residential area a residential area and not allowing what has been approved across the way with the Lowe's Foods to encroach and sneak its way down parcel by parcel

uh acquisition by acquisition to turn our quaint little neighborhood into commercial. We bought these houses over 30 years ago. We've raised our families. We now have grandkids. I would like them to be able to continue to enjoy Old Hickory and Pine Oak as a residential neighborhood forever. And yes, we want to support, you know, whatever growth and embrace what has happened across the way, but we do not want our neighborhood to turn into a shopping center. So, I thank you very much for your consideration and hope that you will do the right thing and deny your recommendation for this zoning petition to move forward. Thank you. Thank you everyone. There is one more uh we have received through email as a as a public comment and Brandy I request you to read that out loud. This public comment was from MC Quartet was sent in by email says good afternoon. I am writing to express my concerns regarding the plans for this property. The location of this property right on the curve may increase the likelihood of accidents. I believe the owner understood fully that this location was residential at the time he purchased it. Trying to now change this is not good is not in good faith with our neighbors and community. Please do not allow this to be reszoned to a business.

Thank you. Thank you, Brandy. [applause] Uh before we move to any further questions or discussions, I wanted to check with the owner, Derek, if you have anything that you wanted to share with us today. Sorry. I have one more comment if you would just

Okay, sure. Um, speaking for those of us that live uh on Pine Oak on the other side of the curve, uh, most of us own the property that goes from the street all the way to the middle of the creek. Uh, I have two and a half acres there. Um, and you mentioned, sir, the the greenway, the possible greenway going next to the creek. Um, that put that means there going to there's going to be pedestrian traffic through my backyard. Um, 12 down 12 mile right. Yeah. Okay. I misunderstood. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Derek.

Good evening. A lot to unpack. Obviously, uh I don't I'll try to get to everything, but forgive me if I don't. Excuse me. Derrick, did you want to present any slides? It's okay. Yeah, it's okay. I think

I don't want to go into, you know, too much detail because we talked about a lot basics at the at the previous one, but I know there were some things that we needed to or were asked of us to to follow up on. And one thing was like traffic safety, uh the site plan, which so you can see the site plan there. And and the main things were so the house beautiful as it is, it doesn't it's lacking a garage. So just at minimum you'd like a space to to pull cars and things in and have storage. And so you know what we've proposed, not set in stone obviously, but just what we proposed kind of an L-shape something behind the house there. And we kind of depicted a drawing of what that may look like. the parking area. You see, again, the main thought with that was, it goes back to safety because I'm we're we're sympathetic with with all of the traffic and safety things. We It's hard being the new people, you know, in in a neighborhood where people have lived for so long and trying to get them to to understand who you are. And we want to be a part of the solution truly. And and our thought process has been Number one, we went in and we previously when you would drive by this property, it's it's very wooded and and some overgrowth and brush and and so you couldn't really see up into the property. And we cleaned it up a little bit, you know, with it kind of just because we recognize it's even if the numbers say it's low, you know, risk, it's there is a curve there. And we we're trying to improve the sighteline and make it as safe as it could. So, we did what we could there. We widened the driveway and the the thought process with the the quote unquote parking area that you see there. We get UPS comes by a couple times a week. And so, the thought is by widening

the driveway where it says gravel driveway, they could pull straight in there and have room to turn around and drive straight back out. So if if cars, even if it's a couple cars are there, they can park over in that area, leaving plenty of room for a delivery vehicle to safely enter and exit the property. Um, and again, it's a couple times a week. There could be someone that lives there and gets an Amazon truck every day. I mean, we're we're honestly less than that. They come by like Monday and Tuesday every week and that's about it. But I am sympathetic to the the traffic and I want to be part of the solution. You know, I understand there's, you know, FedEx trucks and things that have ended up in people's yards and and and you know, that could happen if someone was living there that an Amazon truck could skid off the road and, you know, I don't think we're we're not contributing to that. I want to be part of the solution and try and make it better. Honestly, um I won't go too much in more into the the site plan. You know, you can see for yourself what we're envisioning is like plant display. Truthfully, we we bought this property because I I've lived here my whole life. I think Waxaw is lacking something like this. You you have a Lowe's garden center at Kuritin. Outside of that, you'd probably have to drive to like Pikes and Ballentine to get different things. And even that's kind of big box store. I think I know I mean there's 25,000 people I think that live in wax. So I know there's some people in here that and I'm sympathetic to it that are don't like it and I understand that. I think there are a lot of people that would really benefit and appreciate this. And our goal has been to to to make something here that I think people would really appreciate and find value in. And it's something unique to the community that it doesn't have. and we're willing to put all these conditions in place. I don't I don't

even know if it's it's probably not even doable, but I I would go so far as to say I'll put a condition in place that says if if I ever want to sell the property for any reason, like I I'll I don't know if this is doable, but I resent it back to residential. I'm not a I'm not an investor. I'm not a flip. I'm not I did buy the property in in Pine Oak property. We originally were buying it through Richardson Roots LLC. So on all the paperwork that's what it said if the sellers of the property thought that like they could have seen that. So I I I would argue that that we weren't hiding anything. They could have looked and be like why does it not say Derek? What what is this? Like you know who you're selling it to. So that's all I have to say about that. But it was changed to Pine Oak Property LLC because my accountant I don't know any of that type of stuff. They said that's we should put it in that and that's the truth of the matter. I plan on being here forever. I this is a dream of ours to do this. I think it's something valuable to the community. I think a lot of people would really appreciate um having something like this here. regarding I I've heard the domino effect and I understand that in theory. I think a lot of that [snorts] a lot of that honestly boils down to the individual homeowner though and what they want to do with their property. I think as evidenced a lot of people have said they've lived here for for decades. I don't think they're actively looking to sell. So if you're not actively looking to sell, there's no domino. I think the way that Pineoke is configured now with the roundabout, it's kind of somewhat in like two different sections. You the section going more towards

Providence Road is very like almost like neighborhoods. They're little culde-sacs and and and like neighborhood type. It's a different feel than the the section part of the road I'm on. And so I think you know anything that may happen there. They're direct. It's not any you can't say because of what I'm doing something 500 yards down the road. If anything, it would be because of what's across the street. But also the look and feel. I just I can't see a a commercial developer wanting to like handpick any home there and and and say that's this will be a great spot for a a business. the where this property sits, in my opinion, it is just unique and and different from everything else. And for a domino to happen, it would have to, I think, start at the next door neighbor. To my knowledge, they're not looking to sell, but say they did sell. You can sell it. It people do buy homes to live there, too. it it's you could sell it to someone who just wants to live there. You for it to sell to a developer who's going to develop the land, get the plan approved. I feel like a thousand things would have to fall into place. And this is something that's going to happen over 20 years if all these people decide to sell their homes and they lived here for decades. And because it is a nice neighborhood and [clears throat] it's unfair, I think to say that what I'm doing is going to six months from now just totally change the feel of the entire road. That's up to the homeowner what they want to do with their property. They don't have to sell it to anybody. And if they do, you can see who you're selling it to and decide what you want to do with your property. I think in closing, again, this is something this isn't about me and what

I'm wanting to do. I'm not trying to gain anything for myself at all. And I know that's just my word and people can can do with it what they want, but this is a a dream of ours to bring something unique to Waxaw. I think it's lacking and that I know a lot of people would really enjoy. Thank you. Thank you, Derek. You want to You will have to come over here, please. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. No, no more. You did not sign up. So, I just have a question for him. I wasn't I wasn't available to be at anything else because I had other places. But I wonder why he bought the house

to begin with knowing that it was residential. I don't understand why he bought a house intentionally doing this. Thank you. Has he ever answered that question? Thank you. Public comment is over. I appreciate everyone's concern. I was just going to close the public comments. Um, thank you everyone for all the comments. Questions? Yes, we will go ahead with the questions, but I'm just closing the public comments that people get a chance to present. I'm opening this forum for everybody to questions.

Blair, you you had a you had something to say or a question. Sorry. I want to make sure it's clear to the board what the conditional zoning process is because that is a critical thing in this whole decision. Um I went through some of the steps of the conditional zoning process. Uh if whether or not the the conditional zoning is recommended by the planning board, the applicant has the the opportunity like any property owner to go before the board of commissions commissioners and present their case for decision adoption of this what would be a map change, what would be a change to the [clears throat] property itself. I want to underscore that and I I know that many people here understand it. I'm not sure that 100% of everybody understands it that the plan that's adopted would stay with this property. If he were to sell, if if if Derek were to move on or whatever, if that conditional zoning was passed, it stays. And if someone wants to do something new, they have to go through their own process of reszoning if they want. uh maybe they keep it the the NC conditional zoning but they want to change the plan they want to build a bigger building or whatever they don't have license to do that they have to come to the board through this process that we've been talking about and present it all over again now once the conditional zoning if the conditional zoning if any conditional zoning is adopted the process continues that you know this is a conceptual plan you know it shows basics and it has a list of conditions and in this process those conditions can be added to they can be subtracted they can be edited and that's what this process is supposed to bring about. So

if the planning board for instance has additional conditions or changes to those conditions that they want to see in response to the to all the points that have been brought up. Now is the time to do that. You can do that. the board can do that and the applicant has the choice to accept those conditions or to even suggest more conditions on their own. In other words, it's not just a static thing. This is a this is a deal in the making if all parties are interested. Once the conditional zoning is adopted in any case, then the actual plans have to be made to build out these things. you know, if they if if they want to build a parking lot, um that has to be on the plan. The additional building has to be on the plan. All these things go through a a construction review. And in that review, the staff is responsible for making sure that they keep these conditions. They cannot depart from these conditions. If they if the plan that we receive as staff show is is consider or is just a little bit different from this conditional zoning plan we say to them this does not meet the conditional zoning and if they say well no we really want this after we thought about it we really want to do this okay well then they have to bring it to the board again so it's a very thorough process with many checks and balances so basically what I'm saying is that what you see is what you get or what you want is something that can be bartered. Now, you know, it can be we can go through a list of things that you want to do. Um, some of the things that were brought up and I'll keep this short. Um, you know, the conditional zoning controls the size of the building. It controls the look of the building. It can control anything about the site. It goes beyond regular zoning. It is no,

it's got to be specifically like this. Um, so that's a great thing. You you get to see what you're getting instead of just a straight resoning, which is, well, they could put anything that's an NC here. They could put a 10,000 square footprint building. No, they can't. Not in a conditional zoning. They have to put what they're showing. Um, that also goes for buffers, for screening. If you want to see more screening, if you want to see a bigger buffer, you can make that as a condition. And if the the applicant agrees to it, that goes into the conditional zoning. Um, it could also affect uh pesticide storage or any uses like that. Um, if if some are if there are some uses the that that the applicant is wanting to do that, you know, you feel like no, that that doesn't fit, that can be part of the conditional zoning. um uh [sighs] the number of parking spaces. You know, maybe it looks like too big of a parking lot. Normally in a resoning, there's a a specific number of parking spaces that go with certain uses. In a conditional zoning, that can change so you can edit it. Um so I just wanted to make sure that that was clear and can certainly answer more questions about that.

Thank you, Blair. Appreciate it. I would like to open this for questions and discussions for the to the board. Go ahead. I had a question for Blair. This might also be for Matt. So, being a new guy here, um the conditional zoning, there's always been a lot of questions on that. The the first part is someone former commissioner had mentioned that it's illegal to even enforce that. Is that true or illegal to enforce that? Is that what you're saying? Yeah, it said that the future so if somebody buys it later on and wants to put something else in that it's not enforceable.

No, the the zoning goes with the land. But I'm glad you brought up enforcement because that was a concern that was brought up as well from the from the neighbors. You know, how do we how do we make sure that zoning laws are kept the same the same way that we would do with any property with any zoning? If there's any property in Waxaw where they are doing something that is not that does not fit their particular zoning district rules and that goes for conditional zoning as well. If they don't do everything that they say they're going to do or if they or maybe they put it there and then they took it away or something like that. That's where enforcement comes in. And anytime a you know a neighbor or anyone is is suspicious of that going on, they're to call town hall and they're to alert us to it. And we have inspectors that go out every day and look at these things. And there is a whole process for enforcing zoning rules. Um, and it's it works because you can look around and and you'll you'll see that yes, zones keep to their to their rules. When there is a departure from that, that's when enforcement comes in. How are you?

Could you The concern is about about the uh by appointments only.

I think the way that that would be enforced and I I have to admit I don't have any practice with that, but you know, I'm not the only one on staff, which is good. But um one of the things that's easily noticeable is the amount of traffic that's going into the to the to the um the the parcel or you know is do you suspect if anyone suspects that hey there's way too much traffic going into there it's not meeting the conditional zoning rules. It's not meeting you know that then we would go in and we would you know do enforcement and and enforce the rules that were agreed to. It is a contract. It's good to to look at this as a contract between the town and the applicant. And so it's mutual. So in that way, it could be enforced. In that way, it could be, you know, policed. There is the the thing that we respond to the most is going to be anything that we hear from the neighborhood. Any anybody who complains about something because your eyes on the street. Um, we are too, but we're, you know, when we when we hear something from the from the neighbors or any resident of Waxaw, we check it out. And so,

um, there's there's a whole list of proc there's a whole process that's gone through in enforcement. It's in the land development code. I wish I could quote it. I don't know it that well because I'm not in enforcement, but um, or inspections, but it's thorough. So, so is there a fear that all these additional conditions would put a extra stress on Keith's whole force of people? So, we've had examples already in town where some things have not been able to be enforced. For instance, the the Rahobath red light um situation was something that was conditionally put in a contract and then it got changed by a person that was on the staff that's no longer around. So there's the fear that I have of that particular type of thing that we make these contracts and they're already hard to enforce and we've got major developers. How are we going to do it for all these single small places and that it seemed like that's going to be a real tough part? And the other question I have is do we publicly make these records available to everybody because there was a situation where a person bought a house recently that um they were told was commercial but it was not. So was that person when they went to buy the house such as Mr. Robinson. Maybe he he did know that this was residential. I guess he obviously does at this point in time. We know that. But if he had not known that, was there a place where the realtor could have gone in and se seen the records and seen all the things about a property that say these are all the conditions that are there. Do we keep those kind of records and make them readily accessible for people?

Yes, this is all public record and um yes, I know that real estate agents sometimes misrepresent property and that's you know that's them breaking the rules. um that's something they can be sued for. Um but uh I want to just underscore that the rules are our our ability to enforce rules or the the the rules that we that the town has basically break down to municipal rules which were are enforced by the police and zoning rules uh or the the land development code which is enforced by our department. So, I can't speak to any individual infraction and what the history of it is and where they are now. I know that it occurs, but I think from what I've seen, Waxaw does a pretty good job in enforcing their zoning and um it could always be improved. The you know, other laws get broken, enforcement of that could be improved, sure. But I think what you're seeing here is not an unusual thing. Uh I'm just trying to present the facts of this particular case and what I'm showing you is that there is a plan where things are going to be built a certain way and there's also um a visual of what the building is supposed to look like and they can't depart from that or their plans will be rejected and they will not be allowed a certificate of occupancy. So they have to keep to these rules. their behavior down the road. I can't guarantee that. The police can't guarantee that, but they can enforce it and we can enforce it.

So, thank you. Okay, great.

Yeah, I just wanted to confirm um the way that I'm observing this is um we had uh some something like 17 um folks speaking tonight about their concerns and none of those concerns were new. They were reflected in the original neighborhood meeting and the notes that Derek provided from that meeting. Um they were discussed at our last planning board meeting and no changes as far as I could see were made to the proposed conditions in the package and the comments tonight um uh indicate that none of the or that the set of conditions that were proposed in the package were not sufficient to settle uh to resolve those concerns at least for the people uh present here. I just want to make sure that that's that I'm reading that correctly. Um and that there really hasn't been any change in either side either the set of concerns or the set of proposed um conditions that seem uh inadequate to address them.

So are you referring to the feedback that they received at the neighborhood meeting? Well, I'm so we had the neighborhood meeting. Yeah. Uh that produced a set of proposed conditions that were shared last month. those conditions did not uh those proposed conditions for the zoning were not changed for this month's presentation. Uh and we just got confirmation from 17 or 18 speakers that the conditions that were proposed weren't resolving those same concerns. That's how I'm observing it. I just want to see if there's a different way to look at it. agreed.

If I may, uh, I think it's it's great that you brought that up because again, as I said earlier, this is an opportunity to look at those conditions and say these are maybe we have some additional conditions that you know you have in mind. The applicant is here. You all can have that discussion. I will record what conditions are mutually agreed to or to be considered. That's that's part of the that's a big part of the reason for this meeting. I appreciate that. I kind of thought that's what we did last month. Last time, right? Well, I'll clarify because I stepped in. The request was for additional information. We didn't say anything about conditions. We asked for additional information about

what the site would look like. We had we felt we had limited um I actually don't have my notes, but essentially was additional information about the proposed, not necessarily any change in conditions. To your point, Rick, they did have the opportunity to add. Yeah. Yeah, and if I may, I that's one of the differences in this presentation is that now you have a site plan to look at, a conditional zoning site plan. Granted, it's a little bit conceptual, but those are just to illustrate what the conditions are. And you also have a traffic.

I wouldn't there are different ways to represent a building. One might be an architectural uh elevation. um this is what is being presented tonight um as a way to show the character of that building. So those were the two items that are normally part of a conditional zoning presentation. The applicant didn't have that already at that point. We presented what we could. Tonight we have much and I'll say that they they also added information about the traffic uh um [clears throat] uh data and I think also it added uh information about the limitations on the delivery vehicles but what I'm missing is the information about the chemical storage. Right.

Um would you like to speak with the applicant about those specifics? Yeah, that's that'sed from our last uh month's meeting. All right. Well, you can invite. Sure. Uh Derek, if we if we could kindly invite you to answer a couple of questions. I know you mentioned about the limitation on the delivery vehicles. They would be you said twice a week.

Yes, we ship um not many, but we ship a few plants on our website and UPS comes by usually on Mondays and Tuesdays to pick up what we have going out. We don't really ship anything beyond that for fear that it may sit on a truck over the weekend. So usually like Monday and Tuesday a couple times a week they'll come by and pick up you know usually roughly 10 bucks. But that's not assured, right? That that Well, that's the way Yeah. I mean that's the way we do things. Again, I I I would argue that someone living there could get I know at our house we get an Amazon truck 5 days a week. Yeah. So, you know, we're less than that.

U regarding chemicals, I know that was mentioned before. I did mention it at the neighborhood meeting because that was brought up about chemicals, fertilizers, fire hazards, things like that. And I said that when we started the business four years ago, that was like one of the very first things we just put on a website trying to fill out a website and no one ever bought it and you just kind of forgot it was there. And that reminded me that it was there. And so I have removed that from the site because it needed to be. We don't sell it. We don't It's not on site. Anyone's welcome to come by and see for themselves. That's it's something maybe at one point we thought we may do and realize that's not what we do. So

So if I may um so that could be made into a condition that there is no storage of a list of chemicals or or category of chemicals. And how about the details of the potential outbuildings? Is that the addition? That's not the addition. That's something else than the proposed addition. Correct. The outbuildings it showed on the site plan. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. on the site plan. We proposed um you know a couple like I don't know people have like sheds and things like we don't do. So I want to clear up there's been some talk about maybe like we're not a big commercial grade anything like we don't have green houses and things like that. We don't grow anything. What I'm proposing is just things I'm envisioning like through that red area maybe a nice like gravel walking path and some more or less a showroom display of some things that because some people like to you know see what they're buying in person and and it's an ability to do that. We may add like a little what you see there. That's just kind of a a rough idea, but a little shed or something. You know, people have sheds and things in their yard, but something that looks nice and, you know, I I wouldn't rule out that something like that that looks nice. Certainly that could be there at some point, but

Thank you. Yeah.

Any other questions? I did also add since on the site plan like additional so we've put the fence in we've add some added some if you ride by you can see like some landscaping on the outside of the fence we've also added like additional screening on the inside of the fence all the way around really to try to you know if anyone doesn't want to see what it looks like there you know we're certainly sympathetic to that and and willing to say okay we can block that out so to speak but yeah I mean that's Like Blair said, it's these are just things in my mind that people I've from the feedback I've gathered that I feel like is important, but we're open to to whatever. You would just have to tell me, you know, your thoughts and then, you know, I'm I'm more than willing to. Like I said, I'd reszone it back to residential before I left if that if that was possible. I it's it's not what it's about for me.

Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions? Balvi, you had a question.

Uh I have a question for Derek. Uh first of all I wasn't here last meeting but I have read the notes. Uh this is interesting business and it would attract a lot of population especially springtime when it's like it's the season. Uh you're saying that it would be by appointment but my question is uh how are you going to control like appointments? Do you have any number in mind? Because once you're in business you want to grow. Is that correct? So or you're just saying that um if if if it's if if it's like the intent is we do not have something like this in Waxaw and if you want to showcase that definitely it will gain popularity looking at the beautiful like uh images what you have uh do you want to control that do you want to keep like okay 10 10 appointments per day or 20 appointments per day or monthly appointments like there there is little disconnect if it's a business it has to grow in certain like organic growth. So, do you have any explanation?

Yeah, I mean my my thought would be obviously something very small. It's not a big piece of property. It it it checks a lot of boxes for what we think it can be. I think again it's a unique piece of property that and it's a location to do something that people would enjoy. Now, I envision something yes very small because I'm not again I'm not planning like green houses and you pulling up and pulling wagons around and shopping. It's more of a way to just make it look really pretty and display some things that if someone wants to be curious what something looks like, they could go there and walk around and see, you know, some just ideas of things that we have. Um, very small obviously. I mean, you can just look at, you know, this is this area in red is like in the wooded area around the front and side. It's not a big area. So, I mean, how much can you really do there? We envision something through the website like you would make an appointment to get a a haircut or something. We'll have a structure where you have, you know, four slots a day or something and and then that's and it may not even be that much. You tell and again that's if you want it to be two slots a day. That's you. I mean, it's just uh I'm sympathetic to all of the traffic safety and everything. And I want to find a solution that can bring value to the community and be something that people really enjoy while also being sympathetic to the needs of everyone around and and in time maybe be something that people are are really proud to have there.

Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions from the board? Yeah. Am I permitted to ask a business question to Derek? Yes. So, two deliveries or pickups a week. What type of revenue are you doing currently now on the internet? I know somebody had mentioned in there that you don't get taxed based on where you're shipping from, you get taxed on where you're shipping to. So, if you're sending everything to Illinois and all over the place, that's zero revenue for Waxaw. What do you expect to bring? We're trying to do more local, you know, revenue. That's the idea. which would come from people coming into the lot for appointments that you're going to do four appointments a day.

I don't know. I mean, I think that's getting a bit, you know, off topic here. So, and I don't have those numbers in front of me. All right. Silence. Um, I'd like to make a motion. Yes. Any other questions before Rick is ready to make a motion? All good. Okay. Um, [snorts] I'd like to move to recommend denial of the conditional resoning with an inconsistent well with a yeah with an inconsistency andor unreasonableness statement. Are you going to state it? You have to state the whole You have to state the whole thing. It gets recorded. Um,

all right. Well, I'll give it a shot. Hold on. Order. Um, welcome Rick. Sorry to interrupt. There's a motion sheet at your spot if you would like to refer to that. Make it a little bit more easier. Has something to say before you do that. Rick, if you would withdraw your motion, I would like to make a motion. Um, that's going to be I think you'll be okay with and we'll have discussion. Okay.

Uh, I make a motion to recommend the denial of the zoning the excuse me, the conditional zoning with an inconsistency and order a reasonable statement. The request is [snorts] inconsistent with the Waxaw 2040 future land use map specifically in terms of land use of the specific parcel. The request is unreasonable and not in the public interest as the parcel is not reasonably adjacent to the existing neighborhood center property with limited impact to the tax base as well as the potential negative impacts to the community. All in favor? I I

Thank you. Thank you. Um we moving along to next uh point. There's new business. I don't think we have any new business. That brings us to the adjournment. Motion to adjurnn. Uh we don't need a second. Yeah. All in favor? I I The meeting is adjourned. Thank you everyone. Have a good night.