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Developer seeks conditional industrial rezoning for 135-acre Barfield Road site; neighbors press for building rotation, buffers and lighting controls
Summary
Applicant JS Acquisitions (Ryan Beetle) seeks CHLI rezoning and annexation for a 135.15-acre Barfield Road site to permit roughly 885,000 sq ft of industrial space across four buildings; neighbors and several commissioners pressed the applicant about loading-bay placement, spinning the building away from homes, tall evergreen buffers, and dark‑sky lighting commitments.
Planning staff (Ashley) presented CZ202601, a request by JS Acquisitions LLC (applicant Ryan Beetle) to rezone 135.15 acres at unaddressed Barfield Road from Iredell County RA to a conditional hybrid light-industrial (CHLI) district. The applicant proposes approximately 885,000 square feet of industrial space in four buildings, 13 acres of tree‑canopy retention, more than 13 acres of open space and public infrastructure extending from Cornelius Road to Barfield Road. Staff said the parcel lies in the WS‑IV critical watershed area with a 50% maximum impervious limit and noted the applicant proposes about 35.53% impervious surface.
Neighbors raised concerns about building orientation and the proximity of loading doors to adjacent homes. Commissioner Owens asked directly why the developer would not "turn the building around" so loading bays are farther from houses, saying, "I just can't understand why they don't want to turn this building around and be that close to these people's homes." Staff and commissioners pressed whether UDO (the town's development ordinance) constraints prevented flipping the building; staff said the UDO contains overlapping provisions that can create design conflicts and that some decisions reflected practical trade-offs between truck activity and car parking.
The applicant agreed to a set of additional conditions in response to neighborhood concerns: accelerated landscaping within a 50‑foot Type A buffer along the eastern edge of Building 4, retaining walls and grade work to support planting, limits on pole-mounted lighting in the loading area, and a commitment to commercially reasonable efforts to install the buffer landscaping as soon as practicable following construction. Commissioners suggested evergreen screening (for year-round foliage) rather than only a wooden fence to address sight and sound concerns. Staff cautioned that some elements, including precise grading, fence placement and whether a building can be reoriented, may be subject to UDO interpretation and engineering constraints; the applicant will return with refined plans.
No final rezoning ordinance vote occurred at this hearing; the matter remains under consideration and the applicant is expected to refine exhibits and respond to neighbor concerns ahead of the board's formal decision.
