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Residents raise traffic and affordable-housing questions during public comment
Summary
Two residents urged the planning board to address traffic capacity near Shamrock Road and asked whether the town has an affordable-housing plan; staff said a county housing assessment is underway and a neighborhood meeting and traffic-impact analysis are available for review.
Residents used the public-comment period at the March 19 Planning and Zoning Board meeting to press the town on traffic impacts from planned development and to ask about affordable housing.
Mark Monroe, a Harrisburg resident of River Hill, said rail-related road closures shifted traffic onto Farm Hill and nearby bridges and warned that a proposed rezoning off Shamrock Road could add "hundreds of homes" to roads he described as already at capacity. "...you're basically gonna introduce in hundreds of homes potentially on the 2 roads that are already at capacity," Monroe said, urging the board and developer to ensure a "really stable plan" to prevent large congestion impacts on Shamrock, Farmville and the bridge near the dump.
Shelley, planning staff, replied that the rezoning sign and petition referenced a conditional-zoning annexation for the Shamrock Road subdivision and that the applicant has held or will hold a neighborhood developer meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. She said the developer completed a traffic-impact analysis and staff would share the results; she offered to follow up with the resident and bring a transportation planner to subsequent discussions.
Karen Batten, another Harrisburg resident, asked whether the town has a specific plan targeting affordable housing. Shelley said the town maintains a long-range comprehensive land-use plan with housing types and choices but does not have a town-level affordable-housing plan; she added that Cabarrus County and neighboring jurisdictions are conducting a regional housing assessment to examine affordability and housing choice across the area.
The chair closed public comment and the board moved on to the consent agenda. Staff offered to follow up with residents who requested additional information and to circulate meeting details about the developer's neighborhood session.
