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Council holds Z-1324 New Hope Road rezoning open to allow further conditions on Walnut Creek and environmental equity
Summary
A rezoning request for roughly 7.75 acres on South New Hope Road to NX-4 conditional use (multifamily and commercial) was held open while the applicant continues meetings with environmental justice partners; planning staff previously found the request consistent though the Future Land Use Map designates the site low-scale residential.
The City Council voted to hold the public hearing open and defer decision on rezoning case Z-1324, a request to rezone portions of a roughly 22-acre parcel on South New Hope Road (the request covers about 7.75 acres) from R-6 and R-10 to NX-4 (neighborhood mixed use, conditional use), while the applicant continues negotiations with environmental justice partners on site conditions tied to Walnut Creek.
Planning staff (Hannah Rekow) described the site constraints and recommended approval to rezoning with conditions; the Planning Commission had recommended approval 8–1. The subject property contains flood-prone areas along Walnut Creek and utility constraints, including a 200-foot Duke Energy power-line easement and a sewer easement that limit building placement. The applicant said the southern portion of the property south of the sewer easement would not include residential units and offered several conditions: a 200-foot setback from two adjoining properties to the east, a cap of 150 dwelling units, limits on nonresidential square footage (35,000 square feet total with up to 15,000 square feet office and up to 20,000 square feet retail), and a 10-foot‑wide multi‑use path connection to the Walnut Creek Greenway.
Worth Mills, representing Golong Holdings LLC (the applicant and property owner), asked the council to keep the hearing open and defer for two weeks to continue work with environmental justice partners and to finalize additional conditions. Mills said the developer expects to coordinate roadway improvements along South New Hope Road and to contribute to future turn-lane work as required by NCDOT projects along the corridor.
Ryan Bergman of the City Manager’s Office reported a preliminary finance analysis prepared with the city’s annexation tool that projects about $22 million in revenue over 10 years with a cumulative net positive of roughly $5.5 million; he cautioned the tool is a basic comparables model typically used for annexation analysis.
After discussion the council voted to hold the hearing open and bring the item back at the next council meeting; the applicant said it would continue meetings with partners and provide updated conditions to staff.
