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Columbus County approves Cottonwood Phase 3 PUD after developer vows stormwater fixes
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Summary
After a developer presentation and commissioners’ questions about neighborhood drainage, the Columbus County Board of Commissioners approved the 30.3-acre Cottonwood Phase 3 Plan Unit Development, which includes 45 single-family lots, a reserved commercial parcel and stormwater improvements to address failing drainage near Cottonwood Phase 1.
The Columbus County Board of Commissioners on a voice vote approved the Cottonwood Phase 3 Plan Unit Development (PUD) after a presentation by Philip Hornbeck of Development Resource Group of the Carolinas and questions from commissioners about stormwater impacts on the neighboring Phase 1 community.
Philip Hornbeck, representing developer Shuttleworth Inc., told the board the PUD covers 30.3 acres with a southern single-family component and a north parcel reserved for future commercial use. "The PD consists of 30.3 acres total," he said, and described the single-family element as 45 fee-simple detached lots fronting private right-of-ways.
The developer emphasized design standards to be required by the PD: paved private roadways with curb and gutter, concrete sidewalks, street trees at roughly 50-foot intervals, landscape buffering and dark-sky-oriented lighting restrictions. Hornbeck said wetland areas on the site will be protected "in perpetuity" with no lot lines platted into wetlands and that designated green space will be recorded as common area maintained by an HOA.
A central focus of the public hearing and subsequent conversation was stormwater. Hornbeck described failing cross pipes and a clogged pipe near the north entrance to an existing Cottonwood Phase 1 neighborhood and proposed a set of improvements: cleaning and protecting existing crossings, removing the failing pipe, creating an open-channel diversion to route flows around Phase 1 and installing a new pipe at Dothan Road and Narrow End to route water east of the neighborhood. He said the on-site detention pond provides staged storage and dual outfalls (primary east, secondary west) so runoff is released slowly and downstream flows do not increase.
On pond size, Hornbeck estimated the detention pond at "just about 9 9 acres and change" and described it as "oversized" relative to typical pond-to-site ratios; he said stormwater measures will be built to NCDEQ standards. He also noted that because the parcel sits near a voluntary agricultural district, deeds for lots in the PD will carry an acknowledgement of nearby agricultural activities (noise, odors, machinery) to reduce future nuisance claims.
Planning Director Bridget Spann brought the item forward for final approval. A motion to approve the PUD was recorded as moved by Commissioner Coleman and seconded (recorded in the minutes as Commissioner Smith); the board approved the item by voice vote.
The PUD approval authorizes the developer to record the PD documents and proceed with engineering and permitting required before individual lots or the commercial parcel can be developed. The record shows no tenant or specific commercial use has been proposed for the reserved commercial portion; Hornbeck said there are currently no plans or tenants identified.
