Smithfield Council approves Buffalo Ridge conditional rezoning with 14 conditions

The Town of Smithfield on Monday approved a conditional rezoning for a proposed subdivision called Buffalo Ridge that would convert roughly 140 acres on Buffalo Road into about 210 detached single‑family lots.

Council voted to grant Smithfield Land Group LLC’s CZ24‑05 request after a public hearing that drew residents, planning board members and developer representatives. The approval came with 14 conditions that the council and staff said are intended to reduce neighborhood impacts and ensure compliance as the project moves through engineering and permitting.

The planning staff summary described the proposal as consistent with the town’s future land‑use map for medium‑density residential and outlined major project features: two entrances on Buffalo Road, two stub connections to Holland Drive, sidewalks on both sides of internal streets, an 8‑foot trail along Buffalo Road, architectural standards for home facades, and two aerated stormwater ponds designed to mitigate post‑development runoff to a 10‑year storm event. Staff also flagged that about 64 lots sit in the 100‑year floodplain and that many of those lots would be elevated above the floodplain prior to building.

During the hearing, residents raised repeated concerns about cumulative traffic on Buffalo Road near three nearby schools, the effect of new development on local flooding patterns and whether vegetation buffers would be preserved. Emma Gemmell, a nearby resident, urged the council to demand broader, area‑wide traffic planning and to reconsider code changes that she said have enabled higher density development near existing neighborhoods.

The developer’s attorney, Rhianna Smith, said the application had been revised to respond to community concerns and argued the project aligns with Smithfield’s growth management plan. Project engineers told the council the traffic impact analysis (TIA) would be scoped with NCDOT and the town if the rezoning passed, and that the preliminary plat would not be finalized until required study results and necessary DOT conditions are incorporated.

Key conditions incorporated into the approval require: the developer to apply for sewer capacity for the entire project up front; curb and gutter with underground drainage on Buffalo Road; architectural standards to be included in homeowners‑association documents; preservation or supplementation of natural vegetation along Holland Drive with a required buffer (planning board had proposed an opaque vinyl fence for some lots); two constructed stormwater ponds that the developer agreed to provide even though staff said the project falls below the town’s 24% impervious threshold that would otherwise trigger required ponds; and a no on‑street‑parking requirement to be enforced through HOA covenants.

Council members debated which mitigation measures the town may legally require versus what must be resolved by specialists such as DOT or state permitting agencies. Several councilors pressed for conditions they said would protect existing neighborhoods, while others cautioned that some elements — for example, driveway permits and specific lane additions on state roads — are subject to NCDOT review and cannot be unilaterally imposed by the town.

The mayor called the motion and the council approved the conditional rezoning by voice vote; the minutes record multiple opposing votes but the motion carried, and the council directed staff and the applicant to proceed with the engineering and TIA steps required before preliminary plat approval.

The developer told the council it expects a phase‑one build in spring 2025 and a multi‑year buildout of the entire subdivision. The TIA scoping meeting with DOT and the town will determine the geographic extent of the traffic analysis and which previously approved but not yet constructed projects are included in the study.