Planning board backs rezoning at Seacrest Shortcut for small professional office

The Indian Trail Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of ZM-2025-57, a conventional rezoning of a 0.9-acre parcel at 6209 Seacrest Shortcut Road from SF-1 (single-family low density) to General Business District to permit a small-scale professional office.

Planning staff described the property as a single-family home built in 1985 located at the corner of Seacrest Shortcut Road and Unionville Indian Trail Road, inside the town's designated Mixed Use Activity Center. Staff noted nearby zoning pockets and ongoing larger mixed-use project reviews, including the Villages at Crooked Creek and the Poplin mixed-use project, and said the future land use map recommends mixed-use development in the center around that intersection.

The applicant, Danielle Pennington, told the board she operates a State Farm agency near Highway 74 and intends to relocate that business to the Seacrest site. Pennington said she wants to keep the building's residential character and described the planned office as low-impact. In her remarks she said, "My promise to Mr. Vaughn and my promise to you folks is to keep this as low impact and try to keep the integrity of the original structure."

Board members asked whether this would be the first commercial conversion in the immediate area; staff replied that this could be among the first small-scale commercial uses within the Mixed Use Activity Center but that larger commercial development is under review nearby. No public comments were recorded on the case.

A board member moved to recommend approval of ZM-2025-57; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously.