Holly Springs council approves rezoning for proposed 78-unit Holly Street townhome project

Holly Springs elected officials on the evening of the meeting approved a rezoning request that clears the way for a proposed 78-unit townhome development along Holly Street.

Planning staff presented the request from Holly Street Land Development LLC to rezone a 17.348-acre tract. Planning staff said Tract 1 (about 13.46 acres) would be rezoned to Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) for attached single-family dwellings and limited to a maximum gross density of 5.8 units per acre — a cap staff said translates to a maximum of 78 units. Staff also recommended rezoning the two smaller tracts to R20 single-family residential.

"This 17.34-acre tract is located off of Holly Street ... it is to be developed for the 78-unit townhome development," Planning staff (S4) said, and recited additional staff stipulations including architectural standards, a minimum 20-foot garage setback from the back of sidewalks, dark-sky-compliant lighting and entrance-design improvements to be determined by the city engineer. The planning commission had recommended approval, 4–1, the staff report said.

Planning staff also noted the local school board had recommended a mitigation fee of $392 per residential unit.

Area residents had raised concerns about traffic, wildlife and site-distance issues during the planning commission review, the staff report said; Planning staff said remaining site-distance questions would be addressed by the city engineer during permitting.

Council moved to approve the rezoning at the meeting; the motion passed by voice vote recorded as "Motion passes 3 0." The council did not identify individual yes/no votes in the record.

Next steps: rezoning approval allows the developer to proceed with any subsequent site-plan and permitting steps subject to the staff stipulations and city-engineer review.