Burlington’s city council has approved a zoning change that will allow an outlying remnant of the Mackintosh on the Lake subdivision to be integrated into another proposed residential development.
During a regularly-scheduled meeting on Tuesday, the council signed off on a medium density residential designation that developer Shawn Cummings had sought for a 35.7-acre tract at the terminus of Castlerock Drive.
[Story continues below photo.]
Jamie Lawson, the city’s planning director, noted that this particular parcel lies on the Alamance County side of Mackintosh on the Lake. Prior to Tuesday’s zoning change, it retained a version of the “conditional” land use designation that this massive subdivision received roughly two decades ago. Despite being zoned for residential development, Lawson said that these 35.7 acres had remained in their wild state due to flood plains and other complicating factors.
Cummings’ requested medium density zoning allows a slightly sparser level of development than the previous label – reducing the overall density from 5 to 4.85 dwellings per acre. Yet, this change is actually a strategic gain, according to Todd Lambert, a civil engineer in the developer’s employ.
Lambert, who served as Burlington’s city engineer before he went to work for Cummings, told the city council that his boss plans to combine this parcel with an adjoining swath of medium density residential zoning along Greeson Lane, which belongs to one of the developer’s business partners.
Lambert observed that the city has already approved 343 single-family homes on that neighboring parcel. He added, however, that the city’s development rules have demanded that certain, eminently developable portions of that site are set aside as open space.
Lambert said that the 35.7 acres at the end of Castlerock Drive will provide an alternate means to meet the city’s open space quota without tying up any prime real estate.
“This is actually a rezoning so we don’t develop the property [on Castlerock Drive],” he went on elaborate. “What we are proposing is that this be rezoned to medium density residential so it matches the Greeson Lane property. We can then combine this property with the Greeson Lane property, and that density can be redistributed on the Greeson Lane property.”
A neighborly gesture
Lambert informed the city’s elected leaders that he has held several community meetings to share this proposal with neighboring residents.
“What we found in our feedback was that everybody was very much in favor of it,” he said. “It kept the property behind them as woods, and they were happy that this property would stay undeveloped in perpetuity.”
Before it rendered a decision on Cummings’ request, the council held a state-mandated public hearing that drew one comment on the developer’s proposal.
David Kadet of Glenkirk Drive used this opportunity to inquire about a potential easement that would give residents of Mackintosh on the Lake access to the 35.7-acre tract for recreational use. Burlington’s mayor Jim Butler acknowledged that the proposal before the council included no stipulation to that effect.
Yet, Cummings, who was on hand that evening, dashed up the podium to offer his personal assurance on that score.
“Our 110 percent guarantee,” the developer said, “is that, once the rezoning is done, we are going to put in a permanent easement for Mackintosh residents for all 35 acres…and we think that is a huge win for the community.”
The council went on to vote 5-to-0 in favor of the rezoning request.
‘Infill’ ‘er up
The council proceeded to approve another zoning change on Tuesday that will allow some “infill” residential development on a vacant lot near the North Carolina Railroad.
The council voted 5-to-0 in favor of this request for high density residential use, which will enable Henry Segovia to develop a .87-acre parcel that lies at the juncture of Queen Ann and Railroad streets. According to Burlington’s planning director Jamie Lawson, this parcel has remained undeveloped due, in part, to its division between a high density residential and a light industrial district.
“The rezoning request really does complement the existing residential uses surrounding the area,” she added before the council’s 5-to-0 decision. “Converting this to high density residential would also allow for more infill development.”
