Burlington’s planning and zoning commission has given its blessing to a proposed development that could bring up to 332 new homes to an undeveloped area on the city’s northern periphery.
The commission’s members voted 6-to-0 on Monday to recommend this 132-acre project along East Old Glencoe Road to Burlington’s city council for a public hearing some time in October.
Dubbed Tanners Glen, this project is merely the latest in a series of residential developments that have gradually popped up on either side of NC 62 near Burlington’s northern frontier. These previous endeavors have included Brassfield Meadows by Greensboro-based Keystone Homes as well as an unconsummated 20-year-old project that LGI Homes has taken over on the north side of West Old Glencoe Road.
As the most recent entry to this increasingly crowded drawing board, Tanners Glen has emerged in a heretofore untapped section of Old Glencoe Road that stretches from the east side of NC 62 to the southern banks of the Haw River.
In order to optimize the site they’ve identified for this project, the developers of Tanners Glen have asked the city to rezone these 131.75 acres from medium density residential use to a “planned development” district, which demands more specificity from developers than any other option in Burlington’s land use repertoire.
Lee Bryant with Evans Engineering, who is also a partner in the Tanners Glen project, told the city’s planning commission that he and his colleagues have selected this label precisely because it enables developers to tailor their plans to a particular site.
“We recognize that growth is coming, but we also want it to be done properly.”
– Lee Bryant, Evans Engineering, a partner in Tanner Glen project
“We recognize that growth is coming, but we also want it to be done properly,” Bryant explained when he appeared before the commission’s members on Monday. “We believe that this plan strikes a balance between providing needed housing and preserving the features that make this property unique.”
Over and above the requirements
Burlington’s planning director Jamie Lawson reminded the commission that the whole purpose of a planned development is to give developers more flexibility with the city’s land use regulations in exchange for various concessions. In this case, Lawson insisted that Bryant and his colleagues have offered up far more than they’ve requested in the form of regulatory laxity.
“The applicant has committed to a density which is roughly half of what the existing zoning would allow,” the city’s planning director pointed out as a case in point of these concessions. “This density of 2.52 units per acre would, on their plans, allow 332 single-family homes.”
Lawson noted that the developers of Tanners Glen have also set aside more than four times the city’s 10 percent quota of open space, and they’ve agreed to preserve 13 acres of this wooded area as tree cover – in the absence of any requirement to that effect. The developers have also proposed to double the 50-foot stream buffers that Burlington ordinarily demands, and they’ve agreed to complete an existing water line so that it forms a closed loop around Old Glencoe Road.
In exchange for these concessions, Lawson said that the project’s developers have requested some relatively moderate deviations from street setbacks and minimum lot size requirements.
Potential greenlight for traffic signal
In addition to the aforementioned conciliations to the city, Bryant said that he and his colleagues have struck a tentative deal with the NCDOT that will eventually bring a traffic signal to Old Glencoe Road’s juncture with NC 62. Bryant said that this signal will be installed once the traffic from Tanners Glen crosses a threshold that the state transportation department has set for signalization.
Brian Hurdle, a homeowner in this increasingly bustling area, found much to commend in this traffic improvement when he took the floor during the planning commission’s meeting. Hurdle went on to relay his appreciation directly to Bryant once the planning commission adjourned for the evening.
[Story continues below photos of residents who spoke at planning board meeting.]
“Thank you,” the resident exclaimed as he shook the developer’s hand, “we’re very excited that you’re going to do that.”
The city’s planning commission also heard from three other residents who had some concerns about rainwater runoff from Tanners Glen. Jeff Post first broached this topic with an account of the existing problems with runoff from Brassfields Meadows. In response, Bryant pointed to the retention ponds that he and his colleagues will build to prevent rainwater from engulfing the neighborhood. He later expanded on these measures when Post’s concerns were echoed by neighbors Jim Grubb and Eric O’Brien.
In response to inquiries from the commission itself about outreach to neighbors, Bryant said that he and his colleagues found no need for formal gatherings with the community after they heard back from only two of the 86 neighbors they contacted about their rezoning request.
The commission went on to recommend the proposed zoning change to the city council by a margin of 6-to-0.
A second nearby project, dormant for 20 years, may be coming back to life
The commission’s members were equality unanimous in their support of a proposed tweak to the zoning for the 20-year-old project that LGI Homes has in the offing along West Old Glencoe Road.
Dubbed River Village, this proposed collection of 362 single family homes is still subject to a development plan that the city approved in 2006. LGI has asked the city to swap out a clubhouse and pool which appears in that development plan for an “amenity area” that would include a playground, pavilion, open lawn, and a dog park. The commission’s members voted 6-to-0 to recommend this change to Burlington’s city council.
