Planning board recommends conditional approval for Morris Farm subdivision with conditions

The Weddington Town Planning Board on Feb. 23 recommended the Morris Farm conditional-zoning application from Toll Brothers be forwarded to the town council with a set of technical conditions and clarifications.

Greg, planning staff, told the board the proposal covers roughly 92—4 acres on Weddington Matthews Road and proposes 39 conventional lots, each generally larger than 40,000 square feet. He said the current package shows substantially more common open space than minimum code requires: "you need at least 20% ... that site plan now has even double that ... at 40 acres or 43% open space," Greg said.

At public comment, Mr. Emiran urged the board not to proceed without additional detail on septic plans, drainage-field siting, and missing Appendix 2B submittals. "Toll Brothers has had issues in three neighborhoods in Weddington, including Bramley, Enclave, and now Luna," Mr. Emiran said, and recommended tabling the application until outstanding items are submitted.

Toll Brothers' Margaret Pucket, vice president of land acquisition, reviewed revisions to the plan that reduced lots and removed a creek crossing and said the current design includes on-lot septic, larger-than-typical lots (average about 46,000 sq ft) and roughly 40—46% open space. On trees she said the applicant mapped 143 heritage trees and proposed removal of 22 of them, adding, "of the 143 I identified on this site, toll is removing or proposing to remove 15.4% which is only 22 trees." She said the applicant will plant supplemental vegetation including street trees and perimeter plantings as mitigation and will include required septic permits in the submittal.

Board members and staff pressed the applicant on several technical items and possible conditions: whether septic fields would require operator inspection (staff and the applicant said systems would be homeowner-maintained), whether the stormwater analysis reflected the revised lot layout (staff agreed to confirm the stormwater/HydroCAD materials and to include a BUA summary), and whether the developer could obtain a verification letter from NCDOT that short stub roads would be accepted for state maintenance if built to spec. On the question of the existing farm pond, the applicant said the pond would be drained slowly and monitored and maintained to control outflow, and that the pond is a farm pond rather than a jurisdictional wetland.

Greg and the board read a set of conditions into the record that must be included in the packet or verified before council review: a perimeter and entrance landscape/100-foot thoroughfare buffer plan; an up-to-date sealed tree survey; a BUA (built-upon area) summary; a school-impact/capacity letter; HydroCAD verification of drainage-area totals and pond sizing; written verification from NCDOT that the stub roads would be accepted for state maintenance if built to spec; and NCDEQ confirmation of whether bypassed/undetained runoff under the proposed design would be acceptable or would trigger major-permitting requirements. The board also requested specifications for any fire/emergency-access gate proposed at the Bonner Drive connection, to be held as a condition for approval or to be addressed by council.

A board member moved and, after a readback of conditions, the planning board voted unanimously to recommend the application to the town council with those conditions. The motion did not record a named mover in the transcript; the recommendation is a referral action to the council.

What happens next

The planning board's recommendation will be transmitted to the Weddington Town Council for a public hearing and final decision. Staff said the council hearing is not imminent and applicants will have the opportunity to revise the packet; several board members encouraged the applicant to return with the requested verifications and to incorporate the entrance, tree-survey and hydrology materials into the council packet.