Council approves rezoning at 4107 Charlie Engle Lane to allow 50-lot residential expansion

The Burlington City Council approved a rezoning request for 4107 Charlie Engle Lane that will change a 5.97-acre portion of a 22.178-acre tract from Medium Industrial to Medium Density Residential (MDR).

Jamie Lawson, the city’s executive director of planning and development services, explained staff's recommendation for approval and noted the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended the rezoning. Todd Lambert, project engineer for Vinterra, presented the applicant’s plan and said that while the TRC-approved layout currently yields 42 lots on the developer's 15 acres, incorporating the adjacent 6-acre landlocked parcel would return the project to the originally hoped-for approximately 50 lots: "So adding 6 acres gets us back to what we were hoping to get originally," Lambert said, explaining the constraints created by Back Creek and floodplain that limit access and lot configuration.

Lambert said that at the hoped-for acreage the project would be roughly 2.2 units per acre, well below allowed MDR density. He also said neighborhood meeting attendees primarily had questions about whether the entire larger tract was included in the rezoning notice and about possible access to the new water line the developer would install.

After a public hearing with no opposition on record, a council member moved and the council approved the rezoning by voice vote. The rezoning was justified in the motion based on consistency with the comprehensive plan and the future land use map, and staff said future development will require compliance with the city's unified development ordinance.