By Josh Bergeron
josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — A massive warehouse project could attract significant controversy among local residents, but discussion will have to wait until after a baby is born.

With dozens of people in the audience, the Kannapolis City Council on Monday delayed the rezoning of a 117-acre tract because the wife one of the developers was in the midst of giving birth. By a unanimous vote, the city council moved the public hearing to its Dec. 12 meeting date.

Soon after the city council began its meeting, Christopher Kouri, an attorney for the project, spoke to the council and asked for the delay.

“One of the principals of my client … his wife is in contractions today,” Kouri said. “He was expecting to make the last flight this afternoon in time to make it. Unfortunately he was not able to do that and he really needs to be here and wants to be here.”

Situated near the intersection of Davidson Highway and Kannapolis Parkway in Cabarrus County, the warehouse project poses the potential to create several hundred jobs. Maps included with Monday’s agenda show a 1.21 million-square-foot warehouse surrounded by parking spaces. The facility has been named Kannapolis Logistics Park.

“It will have a tremendous economic development impact on the area and truly on the region,” Kouri said in his brief remarks before requesting the delay. “It’s a real exciting project.”

If approved, the rezoning would consolidate a number of tracts of land into one classification — campus development conditional zoning. Under a campus development district, a developer could place on a tract of land businesses that include: light manufacturing, offices, warehouses, distribution and limited retails and service uses in a corporate park setting. A conditional zoning adds other specifications.

The proposal has already been denied once — in a 4-2 vote the Kannapolis Planning and Zoning Commission. However the city council has the final say.

Attachments to Monday’s agenda outline the various concerns expressed by local residents and requests if the rezoning is approved. Some of the requests made by local residents include: an adequate buffer to reduce noise levels from trucks, prohibiting the storage of hazardous material on site, make the new intersection of Macedonia Church Road and Barr Road, reduce speed limits on Macedonia Church and Barr roads and trash containment areas being located in specific areas of the property.

Yadkin Riverkeeper Will Scott attended Monday’s meeting because a creek on the property feeds into the Pee Dee River.

In other business from Monday’s meeting:

• The city council unanimously approved a few ordinance changes that aim to make it easier for people to repurpose abandoned or unused buildings.

During his presentation, Planning Director Zachary Gordon offered a brief example about the intent of the changes.

“If you need to make a change of use, let’s say for a restaurant, and you need to add a few parking spaces, you’re not going to have to do all the landscaping that might otherwise be required, ” Gordon said.

Building expansions that are less than 20 percent of the existing footprint would also be exempt from parking lot landscape requirements.

“It really is trying to promote redevelopment for some of the older homes and some of the in-town lots,” Gordon said. “We felt this was a fair compromise.”

In another change, sidewalks, curbs and gutters would not need to be added for building expansions less than 20 percent or a parking area increase that’s less than 40 percent.

Commenting on the changes, Councilman Ryan Dayvault said there’s a number of underutilized properties in areas of Kannapolis that are seeing rapid transformation. Monday’s changes allow people to more easily make “reasonable changes” to old buildings, Dayvault said.

“It’s a whole lot better than the lots sitting vacant,” Dayvault said.

• The city council unanimously picked Councilman Doug Wilson to serve as Mayor Pro Tem for the next year.

The Kannapolis City Council annually rotates the responsibilities of mayor pro tem among its members.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.