Union County land use board backs earlier hours for Stoneboat project, adds requirement for solid sound wall

The Union County Land Use Board on a voice vote recommended approval of a modification to operating hours for the Stoneboat (Eula Church Road) commercial project, but added conditions to address neighbors’ concerns about noise and light.

Planning staff presented the request and recommended approval, saying the modification is consistent with the county’s land-use map and development standards and that outreach to nearby Weddington and Wesley Chapel produced no responses. "So we recommend approval," said a staff member summarizing the application and asking the board to forward a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners ahead of a June public hearing.

The applicant, Dean Harrell, representing the Eula Church Road/Stoneboat project, told the board the change is needed to make the development economically viable. "To make the project viable, we're requesting the modification of the hours that were 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.," Harrell said, explaining that potential tenants such as a coffee shop, veterinarian and urgent care want to serve pre-work customers.

Neighbors who spoke at the meeting urged limits on noise and light. "Our primary concern with the project ... is the effect of light and sound from the proposed development," said Bill Charles, a nearby resident. Tanya Cussler, who lives adjacent to the site, said earlier openings and later closures would materially affect her quality of life and asked that buffering be strengthened. "I am completely impacted by this," Cussler said, asking the board to require a solid wall atop a berm and to document restrictions on trash pickup and other operations.

In response, the applicant and staff described planned mitigation measures. The applicant said county code requires downward-directed lighting and described a proposed 4–6 foot berm topped by a 5–6 foot concrete privacy wall designed to absorb sound. "We can put it on the record here that it's going to be similar to the wall to [another project]," Harrell said, and agreed to deed-restrict certain operational items such as trash pickup times to limit early-morning disturbance.

Board members incorporated those commitments into the recommendation. The board amended the motion on the record to require a solid, sound-absorbing wall and to note limits on trash collection during early-morning hours; the motion passed by voice vote. The board did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript.

The board's recommendation will go to the Union County Board of Commissioners for a public hearing on June 16 at 6 p.m.; property owners will receive notices and a sign will be posted at the site.

What remains unclear from the transcript: the minutes do not record a roll-call vote or precise trash-collection hours beyond the board’s on-the-record direction to limit pickup to daytime hours, and the final permit conditions will be set by the Board of Commissioners and in project documents.