By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Salisbury City Council has approved new setbacks for homes to be built in the Lone Hickory Village subdivision off Morlan Park Road.
The new building setbacks in the 21-lot subdivision will be 10 feet in the front, 5 feet on the side and 20 feet in the rear.
Accessory structures, which will only be allowed in side and rear yards, will require 5-foot side setbacks and 15-foot rear setbacks.
In the original group development plan approved in 1999, front setbacks ranged from 25 to 40 feet; side setbacks, 5 to 10 feet; and rear setbacks, 10 to 25 feet.
Councilmen Bill Burgin and Mark Lewis said the new setbacks are more consistent with setbacks outlined in the new Land Development Ordinance.
The changes also encourage less urban sprawl by increasing the building envelopes of all 21 lots, officials said.
The Salisbury Planning Board recommended the setback changes, too.
A 15-foot landscaping buffer will remain in the rear of lots.
Site preparation has started in the 6.6-acre subdivision, which will include two new dead-end streets.
A Rowan Circle neighbor, Robert Boone, spoke at a public hearing on the proposed changes. He questioned whether 5-foot setbacks on the side were enough ó “We’re losing the country setting,” he said.
Boone made a case for deeper setbacks all around the houses. He said he also would like a 6-foot solid fence to separate the rear of Lone Hickory Village lots from his property.
In another matter, council approved the rezoning of Matika Villa Mobile Home Park at Airport and Gaskey roads.
The zoning changes from Urban Residential 12 to a Manufactured Home District. It also established a Conditional District Overlay.
The mobile home park, owned by Timothy Smith, covers 39 acres and has 90 mobile homes.
Smith’s rezoning request simply changes the zoning from a legal non-conforming use to a conforming use.
Smith doesn’t propose any new development at this time. If he ever would seek to expand, it would require his submittal of a master plan, according to the Conditional District guidelines.
On Tuesday, council approved an additional Urban Progress Zone that includes portions of Industrial Avenue, Jake Alexander Boulevard and the Rowan County Airport.
Urban Progress Zones are economically distressed areas that offer state incentives (tax credits) if a business will locate in the zones, leading to investment and jobs.
Kathryn Clifton, GIS coordinator, reports that 3.2 square miles of the city, or 14.5 percent of its land area, now lie within an Urban Progress Zone.