Cornelius Town Board to Consider Changes to Land Use Plan Update
Shortly after Chuck Travis is sworn in tonight as the Mayor of Cornelius, he and the incoming Town Board will discuss proposed amendments to a Land Use Plan update that will guide development for the next decade in the north Mecklenburg municipality.
The Town’s Planning Board has spent months working with Planning Director Wayne Herron and outside consultant Clarion & Associates to update the Land Use Plan, which was first adopted in 1999. Some of the key changes under consideration include:
Reducing the size of the Waterfront Mixed Use district along West Catawba Avenue, and returning the Cashion property at U.S. 21 and Washam Potts Road to Medium Density Residential.Along Bailey Road, staff is returning to its original recommendation of Medium Density near the schools and parks and further added some Low Density Single Family just below the High School.The area along Mayes Road at Highway 73 is recommended to be Low Density Single Family.Allowing for increased residential densities in the geography east of NC 115, where 5-acre minimum lot sizes are now required. The update draft calls for those minimum lot sizes to drop to 2 acres (0.5 upa), a slight improvement over the original proposal for 2.5-acre minimum lot sizes. REBIC believes this is still far too little density for an area where sewer infrastructure is currently being extended.Promoting the development of a mixed-use, village center-type development at the site of the failed Augustalee project on Westmoreland Rd.Replacing the current ‘Single Family’ zoning category with two new categories for ‘Low Density Single Family’ (1 – 3 upa) and ‘Medium Density Residential’ (3+ upa).
The Town Board will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at Cornelius Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Ave. A third public hearing on the plan will be scheduled for Monday, December 16th, and the Board will likely vote on adoption of the document that night, as well. Any Realtors®, home builders or developers who are currently doing business in the Town of Cornelius are strongly encouraged to attend that evening and make their voice heard!
To see the other changes to the draft Land Use Plan, click HERE. For a downloadable map of the updated Land Use Plan, click HERE.
