County hears protests and developer presentation on 727‑home age‑restricted Gold Branch rezoning

Union County planning staff recommended denial Thursday of a rezoning request from Kolter Homes for a 727‑lot, age‑restricted neighborhood called Gold Branch along state Highway 218.

The developer, presenting as Coulter/Kolter Homes, told the Board of Commissioners the community will be restricted to older adults and heavily amenitized to reduce external traffic impacts. “There are 0 children in the community,” Emily Powell of Kolter Homes said during the presentation. The company says the community would include private streets, yard maintenance, a clubhouse and recreational facilities and would market homes roughly 1,400–2,800 square feet.

The board heard county staff detail the request and several concerns. Lee Jensen, Union County director of planning and zoning, said the land use plan designates the parcel for rural residential development and that the proposed rezoning from RA‑40 to R‑4 could add “over 3,000 trips per day” to nearby roads. Jensen also noted the project proposes private engineered community septic because public sewer is not available and that the county received opposition letters and concerns from the nearby towns of Fairview and Stallings. Stallings, Jensen said, expressed interest in annexation if development occurs, but noted it does not border the parcels directly and a satellite annexation would exceed the town’s procedural limits.

Kolter Homes’ team said the applicant has proposed several constraints and community protections: an 80% occupancy requirement that at least one occupant per unit be 55 or older (a federal HUD‑defined 55+ housing standard), HOA rules that limit rentals (an 18‑month owner‑occupancy requirement before leasing and a 5% cap on rentals) and a design with expanded buffers (the developer showed 40‑foot to 100‑foot buffers in many places). The developer also told the board it will construct private wastewater treatment systems and presented technical detail from Kevin Presley, a Class 4 wastewater operator, on the below‑ground decentralized treatment approach and the planned subsurface dispersal.

Residents and engineers who spoke raised traffic, stormwater, septic, and road‑capacity concerns. Doug Buchanan, a civil engineer and Fairview resident, said he believes the traffic analysis understates peak‑hour trips and questioned assumptions about the proportion of active commuters among 55+ buyers. “I feel like the traffic study is skewed and doesn't really represent the full thing,” Buchanan said. Several speakers also noted the condition and width of Mill Grove Road and other local roads and expressed concern about heavy construction traffic and long‑term maintenance.

Jensen told the board the planning staff and the county planning board both recommended denial when they considered the item; the planning board’s recommendation was unanimous. The applicant emphasized economic and tax benefits, saying the full build would generate local spending and tax revenue and include a $500,000 proffer to road improvements tied to the 400th home.

The hearing drew direct questions from commissioners about clustering, traffic counts, and the mechanics and long‑term responsibility for the private wastewater system. Jensen said state legislation now allows these private systems but “the legislation … basically puts the responsibility of that septic system on the designer of that septic system,” and not on the county, as he described it.

The public hearing was closed after multiple residents spoke; the board did not take a final vote on the rezoning at the meeting.

Why it matters: The request would change a rural‑residential area into a large, higher‑density gated neighborhood and could alter traffic, stormwater, school and municipal service forecasts for the area. The county must weigh plan consistency against economic development and housing supply arguments advanced by the applicant.

The county will consider the matter on a future agenda, at which time commissioners could approve, deny, or attach conditions to the rezoning request.