Tuesday, November 28, 2023

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Graham, NC 27253
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Developer for apartment complex under construction tries for zoning tweak

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Burlington’s planning and zoning commission has endorsed a developer’s request for high density residential zoning to accommodate an apartment complex that’s currently in the works near the northeast corner of Kirkpatrick Road and Grand Oaks Boulevard.

During a regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday, the commission’s members voted 7 to 0 in favor of the request, which Dennis Euliss has filed for a 5.6-acre tract that’s presently zoned for office institutional use.

Euliss, who joined the meeting via the Zoom teleconferencing platform, informed the commission that he has applied to have this property rezoned in order to proceed with a multi-family development that’s already under construction.

Euliss told the commission that his rezoning request will enable him to proceed with his plans for the apartments as they were approved under a zoning ordinance that has since been superseded by a new set of municipal development rules.

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“I’m not looking at building any more units, just the same complex we’re building there now,” the developer assured the members of this appointed advisory board.

According to the city’s planning manager Conrad Olmedo, Euliss’ plans call for 108 rental apartments distributed among three separate, three-story buildings.

Euliss’ proposal had previously clinched the blessing of the city’s planning staff, which found the proposed land use to be compatible with other neighboring uses. The specifics of the developer’s apartments have also been vetted by a staff-level technical review committee, which signed off on the project in March of 2020.

Joey Lea, the city’s zoning and subdivision administrator, pointed out that the requested zoning change would allow Euliss to complete his proposed apartments without forcing him to incorporate another parcel that lies next to the one he’s currently developing in order to meet the density requirements for an office-institutional district. Euliss told the commission that he currently plans to use that adjacent parcel for some form of office-style development.

The commission’s unanimous endorsement has smoothed the way for Euliss’ request to get an automatic hearing before Burlington’s city council in April.

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