Planning director briefs commissioners on three rezoning and site plan items for Feb. 27 hearing

Forsyth County Planning Director Chris Murphy on Feb. 13 briefed commissioners on three land‑use items scheduled for public hearing on Feb. 27, emphasizing floodplain constraints, septic system considerations and prior planning recommendations.

The first request, filed as F‑1652 by Eddie Longbottom, asks to rezone approximately 35 acres at the north end of Quicksilver Drive and the west end of Tiger Eye Court from RS‑9 to AG. Murphy said the parcel lies primarily within the floodplain (he cited the South Fork Muddy Creek along the site), and that the request is consistent with the county farmland protection plan and the 2018 South Suburban Area Plan update. The Planning Board reviewed the matter on Jan. 9 and unanimously recommended approval; there were no speakers in opposition at that hearing.

The second item is a site plan amendment from Clay Pigeon Properties LLC for a roughly 17‑acre site at the southeast intersection of Stanleyville Drive and Montlou Drive. The applicant seeks to change an earlier approved 28‑lot single‑family subdivision (S20S) to a 23‑lot planned residential development (PRD) with RS‑20S zoning. Murphy said the change was driven by septic feasibility concerns and results in a single‑loaded street with lots proposed along one side; the lots on the straightaway are proposed at about 50 feet in width, with deeper rear areas set aside for septic fields. Because the revised layout differs substantially from the previously approved plan, staff returned the item to the board. The Planning Board unanimously recommended approval at its Jan. 9 meeting.

The third briefing covered F‑1654, a rezoning request by Nancy Johanna Carrasco and Prospero Carlos Carrasco to rezone just over 3 acres at the east end of Hammock Farm Road from general industrial (GI) to RS‑40. Murphy said three adjacent lots to the south had been rezoned from GI to RS‑40 over the last decade; the area plan recommends single‑family use and the change would bring the parcel into conformance with the surrounding neighbourhood by removing a high‑intensity industrial district around existing homes. The Planning Board heard the item Jan. 9 and unanimously recommended approval with no speakers in opposition.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions during the briefing. One commissioner asked which main roads provide access to the Longbottom parcel; Murphy cited Freeburg Church Road and nearby Ebert as the closest routes and noted the site’s proximity to the Davidson County line. Another commissioner asked about state regulations for development in flood zones; Murphy said stormwater and erosion control handle those standards and summarized that development is restricted in the floodway, allowed in floodplain fringe with limitations and requires freeboard and flow accommodations, noting that the Longbottom parcel’s floodplain location limits development opportunities. On the Clay Pigeon site plan, Murphy confirmed the 50‑foot lot frontages on the long, narrow lots and noted that any future increase in density above one unit per acre would require a rezoning return to the commissioners.

All three matters will appear on the Feb. 27 public hearing agenda; staff will circulate full packets in advance of the hearing, Murphy said.