Planning Commission backs Northpointe workforce-housing rezoning and text change to RM-12

Ben Brown, the town's director of strategic initiatives, told the Planning Commission that the Northpointe workforce-housing project has advanced to the entitlement stage and staff recommends two complementary policy actions: a text amendment to the Land Management Ordinance (LMO) allowing workforce housing in the RM‑12 district with density and impervious‑coverage incentives, and a zoning‑map amendment to rezone 16 parcels at Northpointe Circle from Parks & Recreation to RM‑12.

The matter matters because the changes enable a public‑private partnership on the town‑owned 11.337‑acre Northpointe site and are designed to produce mixed‑income rental housing for the island’s workforce. Brown said the development agreement with 1 Street Residential sets a target of roughly 150–170 multifamily units, and staff-calibrated plans indicate the site could yield about 157 units while maintaining neighborhood scale. The town will contribute the land through a 65‑year ground lease and a $1 million ARPA grant; the development partner will handle financing, design, construction and long‑term property management.

Commission discussion addressed scale, affordability and site design. Brown and a representative introduced as Bridal Barr, senior manager with 1 Street Residential, explained the project would mix one‑, two‑ and three‑bedroom apartments, preserve setbacks and trees along Jarvis Creek, include community amenities (community building, pool, playground, walking trails and property management), and incorporate stormwater best management practices to reach aggressive pervious‑surface targets. Brown said the development agreement includes recorded covenants intended to keep the property in workforce housing use in perpetuity, and that at least 50 percent of units would be targeted at 60–80% of the Beaufort County area median income (AMI), with overall targeting between 60–150% AMI.

On the LMO text amendment, staff described conditions for the RM‑12 workforce housing incentive: a minimum parcel size of five acres, frontage on a major arterial (e.g., William Hilton Parkway), a density bonus of up to 25% (capped at 15 dwelling units per acre) if at least 50% of units are workforce units, and a maximum impervious coverage of 45% for qualifying projects. Staff said comparable coastal communities and the town’s existing zoning districts show similar ranges for density and lot coverage.

Commissioner Cortis moved that the commission forward the text amendments to Town Council with a recommendation to approve; Commissioner Duarte seconded. The commission voted unanimously to forward the recommendation. Later, after a public hearing on the rezoning, Commissioner Hens moved to recommend approving the zoning‑map amendment that would rezone the 16 Northpointe parcels to RM‑12; Vice Chair Campbell seconded. That motion also passed unanimously.

Staff said the zoning and text changes will go next to the Community Services and Public Safety Committee and then to Town Council, with a final reading currently scheduled for June 17. Brown described a project timeline in which preconstruction work would take place in 2025 with possible groundbreaking in the fourth quarter of 2025 and first move‑ins in early 2027, subject to approvals and financing.

Votes at a glance: the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the LMO text amendment enabling RM‑12 workforce housing with the bonus rules, and unanimously recommended rezoning the 16 Northpointe parcels from Parks & Recreation to RM‑12. Both matters will go to Town Council for final action.

The Planning Commission directed staff to return with site development plans and design review materials; staff said it expects to present a fuller site and design package within about 90 days.