Proposal includes 192 townhouses, 36 single-family houses, 15K square feet of retail space
Mebane’s planning board voted 7-0 last week to recommend rezoning for approximately 60 acres along North First Street to allow for a mixed-use development that would be named North Mebane Village.
Most of the property is located within Mebane’s extraterritorial jurisdiction at 968 North First Street, while a smaller, 1.23-acre portion is located at an unaddressed location along North First Street.
The proposed North Mebane Village would be built near several recently-approved residential subdivisions, including the Preserve at Mill Creek that Mebane council members unanimously approved, 5-0, two weeks ago.
The developer for North Mebane Village, Matt Kirkpatrick of Reliant Partners in Raleigh, is seeking rezoning to allow for the construction of 192 townhomes, 36 single-family homes, and approximately 15,000 square feet of commercial/retail space. There would be limited commercial uses allowed by the conditional rezoning, city officials said Monday night.
The larger 58.87-acre parcel is currently zoned residential, office/institutional; the 1.23-acre parcel is zoned R-8, based on the materials provided for the planning board’s discussion Monday night.
The preliminary site plan for North Mebane Village calls for the construction of private recreation amenities within the residential portion of the development, including: two pocket parks, natural trails, a multi-purpose field, a playground, and a pool that would be maintained by a homeowner’s association; 23 acres would be left as private open spaces.
The developer is offering to build a public multi-use path network (similar to greenways) in lieu of a public recreation area required under the city’s development ordinance. The multi-use path network would initially connect to the nearby Potters Mill and Preserve at Mill Creek subdivisions but would eventually link up with Cates Farm Park and Lake Michael Park.
The developer will be required to build turn lanes at the southern entrance to the development, as well as a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of North First Street and Arendale Drive, based on a traffic study that the state Department of Transportation and city conducted for the mixed-use project.
Reliant Partners would build the roundabout “in coordination with” the developer for the Preserve at Mill Creek (Lennar Homes), as outlined by the traffic study.
Driveways and parking areas also would be prohibited from being constructed within a certain number of feet of North First Street, Mebane city officials said Monday night.
A portion of the site for North Mebane Village is located within a protected watershed and therefore would be left undisturbed, city officials told the planning board Monday night, noting that plans for North Mebane Village had been filed five years ago.
Tony Tate, a landscape architect with TMTLA Associates of Durham who represented the developer for the discussion Monday night, said that the builder selected for North Mebane Village, DRB Group, is also the builder for another recently-approved project, North First Street Townes.
The site, Tate told the planning board, is suitable for a mixed-use development and “even suggests that it’s a higher-intensity type of development that takes advantage of a more cluster-oriented type development” that leaves more open space with smaller lots. Due to the topography and constraints of a cluster development, only “a little over a third” of the site would be built upon, he explained.
The commercial component would be built for “neighborhood-oriented type services” such as a coffee shop, yoga studio, or daycare that would benefit the residents, Tate elaborated.
The developer is seeking several variations from the city’s development ordinance, such as setbacks between townhomes to provide better access for grounds and building maintenance workers, Tate explained.
“The things we are providing above the [ordinance’s requirements] is the list of nonresidential uses would be restricted – you can’t just put anything in there,” Tate assured the planning board.
The property would also feature street trees; a wider buffer along the road (increased from 15 to 30 feet); and “mulch trails” throughout the open areas, Tate said. An area near the entrance would also have a large green space, which the landscape architect described as “larger than a football field.” Parking for residents and visitors would be located at the perimeter, based on a schematic drawing presented to the planning board Monday night.
Planning board member seeks assurance roundabout will be built
“What kind of assurances can you give the city that,” planning board member Colin Cannell asked, “by hook or by crook, somehow this roundabout is going to be constructed?”
Another representative for the developer said that Reliant Partners is currently drafting an agreement with Lennar – which is building the Preserve at Mill Creek subdivision approved earlier this month – “with language showing exactly how that’s going to be done.”
“An assurance could be made that the money from both developers could go to an escrow account…in order to handle that,” the planning board was told. “That’s something that does need to be settled through the developer agreement.”
Both the Preserve at Mill Creek and North Mebane Village would be built in phases, based on preliminary site plans that have been filed with the city.
However, North Mebane Village would not need the roundabout until a second phase is underway, one of the representatives for Reliant told the planning board, adding, that “whoever has the need to build that [first is] going to end up constructing it.”
Cannell keyed in on what he sees as a need to minimize the city’s “downside risk,” since neither North Mebane Village nor the Preserve at Mill Creek would need the roundabout during the first phase of construction. “My concern is we’re going to be three years, five years out, and everybody’s going, ‘weren’t they going to do the roundabout?’ I’m just concerned we’re going to end up in that situation.”
City officials clarified that Lennar, the developer for the Preserve at Mill Creek, is only allowed to plat [divide] 100 lots before such a requirement “comes into play.” Lennar also would have to put up a “developer bond” before construction can begin, city officials assured the planning board.
City council to hold public hearing on North Mebane Village
Gary Linz, who lives on the Orange County side of the city at 1514 Saddle Club Road and has frequently addressed the planning board and city council about other development proposals, said Monday night, “I like it. I’ve been talking about higher density for 25 years, and it’s good to see we’re moving that direction – and also, a few amenities that you can walk to instead of having to drive to.”
Planning board chair Judy Taylor asked whether the traffic study had looked at pedestrian traffic that would be generated by North Mebane Village.
City officials indicated that they’ve asked an outside engineer to examine that aspect of the project, as DOT generally refers to the city when trying to project future pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Meanwhile, Andrew Stocks, a civil engineer representing Reliant Partners, told the planning board that a “high-visibility crosswalk will be associated with that roundabout. That was one of the requirements for the development across the street, that a high [visibility] crosswalk will be put in, which will now be connected to the roundabout with this project.”
Planning board member William Chapman motioned to approve R-8 conditional rezoning for the two parcels where North Mebane Village would be built. Also voting in favor were: Cannell; Taylor; vice chairman Kurt Pearson; David Scott; Susan Semonite; and Edward Tulauskas. Planning board members Keith Hoover and Gale Pettiford were absent from last week’s meeting.
Mebane’s city council is currently scheduled to hold a public hearing on the rezoning request for North Mebane Village at its next meeting at 6:00 p.m. on March 3.
