Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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The land, which consists of 84.6 acres, was originally divided into five tracts and named River Ridge Station Shopping Center. The largest of those tracts, located on the north side of Utility Drive, has been developed and includes several retail shops and restaurants. The last remaining undeveloped parcel was subdivided into two tracts, and those tracts, originally zoned Highway Business in 1999, were the ones rezoned Monday night.
The first tract was zoned Highway Business Special Use and may include businesses such as banks, various retail stores, medical offices, storage spaces, day care, and restaurants without drive-through services.
The second tract was zoned Pedestrian Business Special Use and may include the same spaces as the first tract.
Stan Forester, a commercial land broker and president of Paragon Properties, told the council,
“This shopping center has been successful. One hundred percent of the outparcels, except for one, have been sold. They are all locally owned and operated with the exception of Food Lion, which is based in Salisbury. This is basically a business park concept.”
Forester said nearby residents were”“very excited about the plan.”
The only opposition to the plan came from Robin Dean, who lives on Trinity Garden Circle in Moravian Heights, off Marty Lane. He said the area is already dangerous, in relation to traffic, because of numerous curb cuts, a U-turn and”“interstate travelers lost in Clemmons.”
“They leave the interstate, use the facilities and then have no idea how to get back to 421,” he said. He said the council has ignored the Clemmons Area Development Guide recommendations in relation to the appearance of the gateways into the village.
“The gateway should be attractive, and it is horrible,” he said, showing pictures of the area. “It is ugly and something we should be ashamed of.”
Gary Roberts, of the City/County Planning Staff, said the staff recommended approval of the rezoning request, with two conditions.
The first of those deals with interconnectivity between the tracts.
The planning staff recommended a driveway be located between Tract one and River Ridge Animal Hospital. Forester and veterinarian Matt Fox said they were opposed to that connection.
“I asked that the interconnectivity recommendation be removed because I didn’t see any purpose in it,” Forester said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense for interconnectivity to the veterinary office, and we didn’t want to be sending people from this business park through their parking lot and onto Utility Drive.”
Fox told the council he was in favor of the site plan, with the exception of the interconnectivity recommendation.
“The need for connectivity for someone to come from the retail area to our destination is very unlikely. We routinely walk the animals from the indoor kennels to an outside area, so safety is an issue. Also, there are several old oak trees located along there, and I think the connection will wipe them out,” Fox said.
Roberts told the council he thought Forester and Fox “brought out valid points” in regard to the driveway.
The second issue deals with sidewalks.
The planning staff had recommended additional sidewalk linkages, one of which would be located on private property on the west side of Styers Ferry Road. To date, the property owner of that property has not given permission for the sidewalk to be there. Forester said, “If you want me to put a sidewalk on another person’s property, I’ll do it, but it’s awfully hard. If they refuse, I might have an option to put it on the other side of the road, where Big Shotz is.”
Council member Larry McClellan said, “Without the permission of the property owner, how can we require it?”
Looper told McClellan they could deny the petition if the sidewalk could not be located on the west side or could allow the petition and let the sidewalk be located on the east side.
After some discussion, the council decided to allow the petition with the condition the sidewalk may be located on the east side, and to not require the location of the driveway between the shopping center and the veterinarian hospital.
Looper said the only other issues raised included stormwater, traffic and lighting.
“There is an existing stormwater detention pond right behind there,” Looper said, “and it was designed to capacity in 1999 for these structures,” so it will be able to handle the runoff.
In regard to traffic,
“There will probably be a nominal increase in traffic, but not enough for the DOT to extract improvements on Utility Drive or Lewisville-Clemmons Road, due to this,” Looper said.
The planning staff recommended a maximum height of 25 feet for lighting, which must not produce more than one-half foot candle of light at the property line. That recommendation was included in the motion to approve the rezoning.
Rezoning Request
Continued
The Clemmons Village Council continued a rezoning request to the January 8 meeting. The property, located at Gobble Acres Drive, consists of 33.1 acres. The rezoning would change the property from RS9 (Residential Single Family) to GO-S (General Office District.)
There is a protest petition associated with the request.
Road Renamed
The council voted unanimously to rename a road, the request of Ernest (Tony) Golding. The road was Gobble Acres Drive and was renamed to Golding Center Drive. It is located off Kinnamon Road.
Funding Request Continued
A funding request of $2,000 by the Clemmons Historical Society to help pay for the preservation/conservation of the Idols Dan Hydroelectric plant and area was continued to the January 22 meeting.
Council member Chris Jones said, “The project itself is worth looking into, but I would like to have an idea of where the money is going.”
Slow Down in Wyngrove
The speed limit was reduced from 35 to 25 miles per hour in the Wyngrove subdivision on Terrence Drive and Wyngrove Circle, following receipt of a petition of at least 75 percent of residents on those streets. The council voted unanimously to make the change.
Public Comments
Two residents signed up to speak during the public comments portion of Monday night’s meeting.
R.G. Stanley, who lives at 119 Briarwood Court, complained about people parking on the street.
“There are three to four cars parked there all the time, in the middle of the street. Nobody should park on the street
– it’s dangerous.” Stanley said complaints to the “sheriff” and various council members had gone unanswered.
Henry Koster lives at 7006 Bridgewood Road and said he was concerned with development.
“There are 18,000 souls here and still, it’s called a village. That’s a misnomer. It’s really a suburb of Winston-Salem, like Cary is a suburb of Raleigh. I like living here, but I’m concerned the future isn’t so great. There seems to be an open season on rezoning here. I think you should send the land speculators and developers packing.”
Koster asked for a moratorium on rezoning.