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Newcastle approves Town Center Plaza PUD, clears preliminary plat for retail development on South Main
Summary
Council rezoned about 9.6 acres at 250 South Main Street to a Planned Unit Development and approved a preliminary plat creating six lots for a mixed retail center; engineering and design guidelines were presented by the city's consultant.
The Newcastle City Council voted to rezone approximately 9.6 acres at 250 South Main Street from CC-2 (Community Commercial) to a Planned Unit Development (PUD) called Town Center Plaza and approved the preliminary plat creating six lots for retail and restaurant uses.
Planning staff presented the PUD as a framework to attract retail development while tightening design standards for architecture, lighting and signage adjacent to residential neighborhoods. The PUD and preliminary plat call for shared parking and cross-access aisles, two access points on Main Street and a secondary access to Southeast Third Street. Planning staff said the PUD includes design guidelines and allows staff some administrative flexibility for use determinations consistent with the PUD's stated retail purposes.
FSB civil engineer Sean McGraw presented the site plan and said the developable area, after removing floodplain and detention, is roughly seven acres. McGraw said the proposed anchor building is about 22,000 square feet (comparable to a small-format grocery like an Aldi) and that shared stormwater detention ponds were designed conservatively; the ponds have about 30,000 cubic feet of capacity and the initial design is expected to use roughly 13,000 cubic feet. The design includes consolidated dumpster locations and a vehicle circulation plan intended to meet turnaround and delivery requirements.
Planning Commission recommended approval 5-0 after the commission requested small edits: removing one discretionary administrative bullet in Section 9 of the PUD and correcting one wording item that referred to the city as "landlord" rather than "developer." Staff recommended approval and the council adopted the rezoning and preliminary plat with unanimous votes.
Council also discussed a scope-and-fee proposal to continue FSB's engineering work on detailed design for the project; staff said keeping the same engineering team would keep the project coordinated. The council authorized moving forward with design services; staff indicated the engineering proposal was in the mid-five-figure range.
Councilors said they expected the Town Center Plaza to set a higher design standard for the south side of town and to generate sales tax revenue and commercial services for Newcastle residents.
