A cluster subdivision that would have up to 110 single-family homes is being proposed for the easternmost side of Mebane, just over the Alamance County line in western Orange County.
The subdivision is being proposed for 43.32 acres along Saddle Club Road, near the intersection with Lebanon Road, which is within the city of Mebane’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Slippery Elm Properties of Raleigh has filed plans with the city of Mebane for a residential cluster development subdivision that would have 110 single-family homes with two driveway parking spaces per house, based on preliminary plans filed with the city.
The proposed site is located between The Retreat at Lake Michael and Tupelo Junction, based on preliminary plans filed with the city. A preliminary site plan for the cluster subdivision is currently being reviewed by staff, Ashley Ownbey, development director for the city of Mebane, told The Alamance News Wednesday.
[Story continues below layout of the proposed subdivision.]
A residential cluster development is a type of residential development which allows the transferring of densities from one area of a land parcel to another, according to the city’s development ordinance.
That type of residential development is to be considered as an alternative to conventional single-family detached or single-family attached homes, under Mebane’s development ordinance. That provision in the ordinance allows lot sizes to be reduced by 40 percent from conventional single-family lot sizes for the zoning district in which the residential cluster development is located, while also requiring lots to front a public street or common area owned by a homeowners’ association.
The property being targeted for the cluster subdivision is currently owned by Dmitry and Olga Feldman of Huntington, New York, according to documents on file with Orange County’s Register of Deeds.
The developer is requesting rezoning for R-12 (conditional district), a designation which calls for minimum lot sizes of 12,000 square feet, under the city’s development ordinances. Lots abutting Saddle Club Road would not have direct access to Saddle Club Road, based on the plans that Slippery Elm Properties has submitted to the city of Mebane.
The surrounding properties are currently zoned agriculture/residential and R-20, based on the site plan.
Approximately 2.85 acres would be designated as a common area and 5.23 acres would be developed as a public “amenity area.” Approximately 5.30 acres of open space would be owned and maintained by a homeowners’ association as a private common area. The western side of the public amenity area would have a 40-foot landscape buffer.
The public amenity area would feature a soccer field, walking trail, bike rack, volleyball courts, and public restrooms, all of which would be surrounded by an eight-foot high chain link, based on the preliminary site plans. The public amenity area would have 50 parking spaces. Other potential amenities include five-foot concrete sidewalks throughout and at the perimeter of the proposed cluster subdivision. The developer is also proposing to connect a future walking trail to Lebanon Road.
Stormwater control measures, such as stormwater retention ponds, would have screening in the form of “evergreen plantings” to mitigate visual impact. A 20-foot landscape buffer would be built at the rear of the site; a 30-foot “streetscape” buffer would be built at the front of the site, near a proposed connect to the existing Tupelo Junction subdivision in the same area of Mebane.
Lots would be 50 feet wide, with front and rear setbacks of 25 feet and side setbacks of 10 feet.
The subdivision would have 12.55 acres of open space, which the developer notes exceeds the city’s requirement for 9.04 acres of open space. The property is served by city water and sewer, according to the developer’s proposal.
Following staff review and any modifications that the city might require the developer to make, the proposal would next go to Mebane’s planning board for consideration at a future meeting, the date for which has not yet been set. Next week’s planning board meeting has been cancelled due to a lack of submissions ready for consideration.
