In both cases, the board decided to defer a decision until additional information is available and certain details are clarified.
The later board approved a rezoning request for property on Blues Siding Road and also voted to continue a conditional use permit public hearing on an American Tower application.
Board Chairman Jimmy Melton said he did not oppose the text amendments requested by GS Communities LLC and David Alan Shaw but thought the board needed additional information before making a decision.
Public meetings were called for both applications, but no one spoke for or against the measures.
GS Communities asked the county to amend the zoning ordinance to allow accessory buildings on lots of three acres or larger in the Gated Community-Seven Lakes District. The ordinance, as it is now, does not allow accessory buildings in the GC-SL district, although they are allowed in the Morgan Woods subdivision on lots containing a principal building or residence.
The Planning Board recently approved a subdivision request for Morgan Woods, a subdivision of Beacon Ridge/Seven Lakes West. However, Morgan Woods has covenants and restrictions that differ from those applying to Beacon Ridge. The amendments, if approved, would affect the entire GC-SL zoning district and restrictions would indicate where accessory buildings could be placed.
Barney Brueck, president of the West Side Landowners Association, had submitted a letter indicating that the association hasn’t taken a position on the request.
Responding to a question from board member Frank Maser, Planner Jeff Jones said it was not necessary to notify every property owner since the landowners’ association has been notified.
Maser said he was not opposed to the amendment but pointed out that the amendment would not spell out all the requirements for placement of accessory buildings.
“Usually there’s no problem until someone erects one (an accessory building) in the front yard or next to neighboring property,” Maser said.
Maser said most people assume that a property owner will put the accessory building at the side or the rear of the main building. He said this amendment would mean “a blanket provision with no restrictions at all.”
Board member John Garner agreed with Maser.
“This is such a large tract,” Melton said as he asked Jones to secure more details from GS Communities and to talk further with the West Side Landowners Association.
The Shaw application asks for a text amendment that would permit duplex units and townhouses to be built in the GC-SL district. The requested change is complex because Seven Lakes — a private, unincorporated residential development — is not greatly affected by the countywide zoning ordinance. Instead, restrictions are built into deeds and covenants. However, these deeds and covenants vary, and some deeds actually allow duplexes and townhouses.
Notices of the application were sent both to the Seven Lakes Landowners Association and to the West Side association, but once again notices were not mailed to individual property owners.
Garner and Maser raised the issue of notification after noting that the two associations do not control all property in the district. The zoning ordinance does not require notification of individual property owners in gated community districts.
County Planning Director Nancy Roy said this situation reflects the difficulty the Planning Department faces when trying to develop zoning regulations for an unincorporated area large enough to be a municipality.
“This points out the difficulty of zoning in small cities,” Roy said.
Melton said the board needs additional information and asked Jones to secure that information in time for the February meeting.
Board members unanimously approved a request by Judy Rowland to rezone a tract of about 42 acres from Residential Agricultural-40 to RA-Conditional Use District. The property fronts on Blues Siding Road and N.C. 22.
Voluntary conditions proposed by the applicant include limiting use of the property to single-family, site-built dwellings.
Planner Barry Baker told the board that the owners are willing to limit building sites to one and a half acres. The site plan indicates five potential home sites and one existing home site.
“We want to keep it rustic out there,” said Dr. Michael Rowland, the applicant’s husband.
On a motion by Harry Huberth, the board approved the request with the attached conditions. Garner made the second.
In a routine action, the board agreed to continue until February a public hearing on the American Tower application to erect a wireless telecommunications tower on property owned by James and Mary Dixon on the north side of McCaskill Road west of the intersection with N.C. 22.
The hearing was held during the December meeting, but members voted to continue the hearing because of several unanswered questions.
The postponement until February was necessitated by legal requirements of the zoning ordinance, which calls for quasi-judicial hearings on such matters.
A quasi-judicial hearing is similar to that of a court trial, and because one board member could not attend the January meeting, it was necessary to postpone the hearing until all nine members could be present.
