Cornelius planning staff recommends denial of rezoning for Cornelius Business Park after traffic, parks concerns

The Cornelius Planning Board opened a public hearing on REZ 125 Cornelius Business Park on a 36-acre parcel in the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction, and town planning staff recommended denial of the developer's conditional rezoning request at the meeting.

Aaron (town planning staff) told the board the application from Greenberg Gibbons of Charlotte would rezone the site from rural preservation to a conditional zoning district to allow a 88,000-square-foot flex space and office/warehouse center. "The case before the board this evening is a conditional rezoning which proposes a property specific district that restricts future development to a concept plan, list of conditions, and associated development standards," Aaron said. The property is about a quarter-mile from the Bailey Road/NC-115 intersection and directly across from Bailey Road Park.

Staff and the applicant discussed how the requested uses relate to the town's plans. Aaron said the town's current land use plan designates the area as Business Campus and that the town's Parks and Greenways master plan (adopted 2024) shows a greenway alignment along a nearby stream and identifies a roughly 100-acre park area to be located somewhere in the northeastern quadrant of Bailey Road. "When we did our review of our land use plan, we found that the flex space, office, warehousing would not necessarily be in keeping with areas close to parks and greenways," Aaron said, adding staff favors more internally focused, campus-style research and office parks for that designation.

Traffic was a central issue. Brady Finkley, a traffic engineer with Kimley Horn, summarized the firm's transportation impact analysis conducted for the town and said the study estimated about 907 daily trips from the proposal, with peak-hour volumes of roughly 124 (AM), 108 (school PM) and 115 (PM). Kimley Horn concluded mitigation was required at the NC-115/Bailey Road intersection and at the Bailey Road/Bailey Road Park access. The report recommended a new westbound left-turn lane on NC-115 to remove split phasing at that signal, and a roundabout at the park access intersection to avoid a projected Level of Service F on the northbound approach during the PM and school-PM peaks.

Brady Finkley told the board the recommended left-turn lane on NC-115 would "fully mitigate the site's impact" at that intersection if it can be constructed, and Kimley Horn identified a second alternative of adding a second northbound through lane should railroad right-of-way constraints prevent widening on Bailey Road. On the park-access approach, Kimley Horn concluded adding turn lanes would not sufficiently mitigate operations and that a roundabout would both improve safety and address the town's mitigation requirements.

Board members and nearby residents questioned whether a future roundabout and lane additions would accommodate occasional tractor-trailers and whether additional vehicle queuing related to school pickup and new nearby housing would worsen congestion. One board member noted school-related traffic was substantial and asked whether the peak counts primarily reflected parents and students; Brady Finkley said the counts do not identify trip purpose but that school traffic is a significant factor in the study's peak periods.

Aaron also described other plan and design topics covered in staff review: the applicant proposes a 40-foot Type F buffer along Bailey Road (the town code minimum is 30 feet), sidewalks on both sides of the proposed Zion Avenue extension with a multi-use path on the eastern side, an internal road linking to the proposed roundabout, and private onsite septic with public water service. Staff estimated a preliminary assessed value of about $30 million for the development and an estimated annual town tax revenue of roughly $52,000 (town portion only), per materials presented to the board.

Staff reported two community meetings with about 175 attendees, with comments from Bailey's Glen residents, school parents, and others raising concerns about traffic, compatibility with nearby parks and greenways, and neighborhood circulation; staff said the Chamber of Commerce submitted a letter of support. Aaron said the applicant has agreed to the traffic mitigation items staff listed, including the roundabout and the NC-115 left-turn lane, and that draft rezoning conditions addressing those items are included in the project packet.

Staff's formal recommendation to the planning board was to deny the application because staff concluded the proposal as presented is inconsistent with the town's land use and Parks and Greenways master plans; Aaron said staff nevertheless provided a set of conditions they would prefer if the board considered approval. The planning board opened the public hearing and heard questions and public comment; the hearing remained open for the applicant and public input and no final recommendation or vote on the rezoning was recorded in the transcript excerpt.

The board will consider public testimony and the applicant's response to staff comments before making a recommendation to the Town Board, which will hold the final decision after a public hearing.

Details: the proposal shows four buildings (two facing Bailey Road and two in the rear), building heights described in plan materials (front buildings with about 22 feet total height and rear buildings up to 29 feet), required curb and gutter along Bailey Road, and conditions addressing annexation, cross-access, architecture standards, and possible fee-in-lieu for portions of Zion Avenue not constructed in the public right of way. The Parks and Greenways master plan calls for the greenway to be sited closer to the creek; staff said that alignment is a reason the project as proposed would be inconsistent with the master plan unless the greenway connection is shifted closer to the creek.

No board vote on REZ 125 is recorded in the transcript portion provided; the board instead asked the applicant and staff questions and heard a traffic-summary presentation before moving to public comment and the applicant presentation.