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Board approves Womble Tract conditional rezoning with larger buffers; applicant agrees to riparian protections
Summary
The board approved a conditional rezoning of about 122.5 acres to a Community Mixed-Use Center conditional zoning district. The conditions include a cap on uses and density, doubling riparian buffers to 100 feet on certain streams, and increasing the landscape buffer along US 64 from 50 to 60 feet with at least half undisturbed.
The Board of Commissioners voted to approve the conditional rezoning for the Womble Tract (PB24509) on Jan. 13, authorizing a Community Mixed Use Center (CMUC-CZ) designation on approximately 122.5 acres.
Patrick Bradshaw, attorney for the applicants (Highcroft Investors and Rainier LLP), described the proposal—s limits: a maximum of 840 dwelling units and 350,000 square feet of nonresidential space on the whole tract. He said the application had been refined in coordination with town staff and the planning board; the packet included a uses table limiting permitted principal and accessory uses on the property.
Bradshaw told the board the applicant voluntarily offered environmental protections and design concessions, including doubling required riparian buffers along certain streams from 50 to 100 feet, consistent with the future land use plan—s recommendation for open space along stream corridors. Engineer Robbie Oldham and staff also described discussions that led the applicant to increase the proposed US Highway 64 bypass landscape/street buffer from 50 feet to a minimum of 60 feet, with at least half of that 60-foot area to remain undisturbed.
The planning staff and planning board recommended approval with the proposed conditions. Board members noted the property—s location between mixed-use areas and existing entitlements in Chatham Park and said the conditional zoning aligns with the town—s future land use plan for traditional neighborhood infill and employment mixed-use nearby. After discussion of the conditions and the increased buffer, the board approved the rezoning.
Ending: The approval establishes the conditional zoning and its conditions; future site plans and subdivision approvals will apply the agreed buffers, permitted uses, and the maximum unit/nonresidential caps included in the ordinance exhibit.
