Mebane’s planning board is scheduled to hear proposals for two new residential developments at its next meeting on Monday night.
Both of the two proposed sites are located just over the Alamance County line, in western Orange County, but within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Conditional rezoning is being requested for 52.32 acres of land along Rock Quarry Road and Danny Drive to build 106 single-family homes in a residential cluster subdivision. The preliminary plans also include a neighborhood cultural center and a worship center.
The proposed site is sandwiched between Bowman Road and Old Country Lane, near the Buckhorn Road interchange along I-85/40, in what has been identified as an industrial growth strategy/conservation area under Mebane’s long-range development plans.
The surrounding properties are currently zoned, under Mebane’s ordinances, for single-family residential use, as well as manufactured homes. The site of the proposed subdivision is zoned under Orange County’s ordinances for office/research, manufacturing, and agricultural residential uses.
The developer for the residential cluster subdivision, currently termed the Nepalese American Cultural Center (NACC), is also requesting annexation for the site, which would be required before any action can be taken on the rezoning request, according to Mebane city officials. City utilities are available to the seven parcels that comprise the 52.32-acre site.
In addition to the proposed 106 single-family homes, the NACC would have a 6,000-square foot community worship center; a 6,000-square foot cultural center; and other amenities such as a community pool, playground, walking trail, gazebo, and 19 acres of open space.
The developer, Cary-based Bal Krishna Sharma, is asking for a reduction in side setbacks (from 10 to 7.5 feet) and street side setbacks (from 18 to 15 feet). The developer is also seeking to offer the city $100,443 as a payment-in-lieu of a requirement to provide 3.04 acres of public recreation space.
Lot sizes would range between 7,200 and 9,715 square feet – or about 2.03 lots per acre, according to the proposed site plan. Construction would be completed in four phases. Approximately 26 acres of the total site would be developed, and 26 acres would remain as open space.
A traffic study conducted for the project determined that the developer would be required to build a southbound righthand turn lane and a northbound lefthand turn lanes at the subdivision entrances. The developer also would be required to build a five-foot sidewalk along the part of the property that fronts Rock Quarry Road and to link the sidewalk with an existing one at Bowman Village, according to the proposal that Mebane’s planning board is scheduled to hear Monday night.
Mebane Village Townes
The second proposal also calls for conditional zoning to allow for the construction of 69 townhomes on 9.96 acres along Supper Club Road. A portion of that site – also located within the city’s ETJ and in western Orange County – would not be subject to rezoning.
The proposed Mebane Village Townes would be built near the existing Ashbury subdivision along U.S. Highway 70, just outside the city’s downtown business district.
In addition to a 69-unit townhome development, the developer also proposes to build amenities such as a private gathering space, dog park, and 5.11 acres of private open space.
The developer, Supper Club Road, LLC of Fuquay-Varina, is offering the city $95,680 as payment-in-lieu of the city’s requirement to provide public recreation space. The property is located within what Mebane has designated as a “secondary growth area” and conservation area.
Rezoning the site from the existing R-20 designation to R-8 conditional would allow for construction of up to 100 townhomes, based on the developer’s presentation. The R-8 zoning would allow for 10 units per acre for multi-family residences. The proposed density would be about seven units per acre.
Each of the townhomes would have three stories, with three bedrooms and a one-car garage.
A community information meeting was held on May 20 of this year and drew 21 people, whose concerns centered on potential price points (currently estimated at $300,000 and up); building heights (proposed at 35 feet); runoff and traffic; and how the new construction would affect the existing tenants of a nearby mobile home park.
The developer is hoping to begin site work in late 2025 and start construction in early 2026, based on the preliminary timeframe that has been developed for the planning board’s discussion Monday night.
