By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
LANDIS ó Members of the Landis Board of Aldermen declared they were in favor of growth and development but needed more time to mull over a high-density development application on East Ryder Avenue.
The board tabled the application Monday night for the second time. The matter was first brought up at the September meeting.
The property, which sits at U.S. 29 and East Ryder Avenue, is about 5 acres. It is the former site of Greene’s Mobile Home Park. The owners want to build mini-warehouses.
David Wood, of Salisbury, owns the property. The request came from Spear Builders Inc., the Salisbury company that will develop the property.
For nonresidential uses, the maximum development is 24 percent of impervious area. The owner is requesting authorization to utilize the high-density option of the watershed regulations, which would allow development at 70 percent impervious.
The property lies in the Coldwater Creek-Lake Fisher watershed.
Town Administrator Reed Linn said this is rather new territory, since the last time the town went through such a process was in 1999, when Pinnacle Corrugated made a similar request.
If the high density option is allowed, the developer must follow all established guidelines, including maintaining the retention ponds and controlling any runoff.
No rezoning is required for the request. Also, the mini-warehouses are a permitted use.
Another issue was that the town would be responsible for the inspection of the stormwater structures.
Salisbury Attorney Sean Walker spoke on behalf of Spear Builders, saying the company still intends to become certified as inspectors. He asked the board to move forward with the application subject to any necessary changes.The bigger issue for the board is making sure the application process is in line with state requirements. The board indicated it doesn’t just want to push the application through.
“We have to have the sense that things are right on the federally mandated level,” said Mayor Dennis Brown.
Brown said the board is pro-growth. Alderman Tony Hilton said he’d love to see the town’s tax base expand.
Alderman James Furr, however, said he was wary of moving forward.
The board also:
– Denied closing down the 100 block of South Central Avenue on Saturday for the Rowan County Association of the Blind.
The association wants to have an awareness walk with participants blindfolded to simulate how the blind get around. It also wants to set up vendors and have animals from Dan Nicholas Park available.The board had no qualms about the association and its cause but could not agree to a private group shutting down a main thoroughfare in the middle of the day.
The group requested the closing from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.Hilton suggested the association use one of the town’s ball fields.
The board ultimately gave permission for the group to have the event but not shut down South Central Avenue.
– Called for a public hearing Nov. 3 regarding a rezoning request on Mount Moriah Church Road.
The current zoning is single family residential and the property owner, Premier Holding Co., is requesting general residential to make it “more suitable for future development,” according to the proposed zoning application.