Huntersville planning board denies special-use permit but backs rezoning for CPCC fire-training site

The Huntersville Planning Board voted 7–2 on Nov. 20 to find that the special-use permit (SUP 24-02) for the proposed Marancas Fire Training Facility did not meet requirements, citing insufficient expert evidence on smoke and health impacts; at the same meeting the board unanimously recommended approval of rezoning petition R24-10 to a Special Purpose Conditional District, subject to updates to buffers and a requirement that the SUP address impacts on adjacent properties.

The vote matters because the SUP is required for the facility to operate in the town’s Special Purpose (SP) zoning and the planning board’s SUP finding is a formal recommendation to the Town Board. The board’s rezoning recommendation would change the parcel’s zoning from Campus Institutional/Neighborhood Residential to SP Conditional District for the training facility if the Town Board approves it.

Planning staff opened the hearing by summarizing the application and the ordinance standards. Staff told the board that the application sought a rezoning and a Special Use Permit under Town of Huntersville Zoning Ordinance Article 9.24 for a live-fire training facility on a vacant parcel at the corner of Statesville Road and Old Verhoff Drive, adjacent to a KinderCare daycare and Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) driving school. Staff recommended approval of the rezoning but recommended the SUP not be approved in its current form because "Staff finds a lack of evidence provided by expert witnesses that provide that the proposed special use will not materially endanger public health or safety," specifically noting gaps in evidence about smoke particulate dispersion and related health effects.

Applicant representatives described the project as a permanent, concrete, two-story burn building and a separate cold-training tower to be used by CPCC and area fire departments for workforce training. Amy Dominoff, senior architect with Clark Nexsen,…