Hold on conditional zoning requests may be lifted at May 1 Town Board meeting
Photo by Jason Benavides
April 28. By Dave Vieser. The hold on conditional zoning requests for residential projects may be lifted at Monday’s Cornelius Town Board Meeting.
“If the Town Board chooses to adopt the Planning Board recommendations regarding the Land Use Plan Growth Management Task Force draft Monday evening, we have also placed a request for the Town Board to rescind the pause on residential conditional zoning,” said Deputy Town Manager Wayne Herron.
Commissioner Colin Furcht, who ran—and won—on the growth management platform in 2021, said he was pleased with the final rendition of the Growth Management Plan.
‘Pretty close’
“This is pretty close to what I had in mind. I realize traffic is the main challenge. That won’t get fixed anytime soon but we can’t shut the doors either,” Furcht said.
Colin Furcht
Calling it a reasonable and flexible plan, he said it takes into consideration 30-plus projects that have not started yet, as well as 13 road projects.
“The focus here is to allow good business projects and not focus on any more residential,” Furcht said.
Growth has been a challenge for not just Cornelius but many towns in and around Lake Norman.
“The bottom line is that the right projects should be considered and this plan gives us that opportunity,” Furcht said.
Background
The hold, or “pause,” sometimes erroneously referred to as a moratorium, was adopted on Dec. 21, 2021, and called for a nine- to 12-month pause on considering conditional residential rezoning. It has actually been in force for over 16 months. It did not apply to commercial applications, residential developments with 10 or fewer units, or the Smithville Revitalization Plan.
The entire issue played a major role in the 2021 election with many voters citing it as the reason they voted for a new slate of commissioners.
Town budget update
Meanwhile, Town Manager Andrew Grant has announced that the proposed 2023-2024 town budget will be unveiled at the Town Board’s May 15 meeting. The first draft of the budget called for spending two cents above revenue neutral.
The Town Board meetings will be held at Town Hall on Catawba Avenue, and will start at 6 pm. It can also be viewed via live stream on the town website www.cornelius.org.
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I’ll bet very few citizens know what “spending two cents above revenue neutral” actually means. I suggest you be more clear – the first draft of the Town Manager’s budget called for a 12.3% property tax increase for Cornelius citizens.
I’m cautiously optimistic that my fellow Commissioners will not support this initial budget request. Thanks
This is just insanity!!! How about expanding the road development projects before any more housing is approved? This area does not need commercial projects – it’s a residential community and our traffic is a virtual gridlock. On one Friday afternoon recently, it took me 40 minutes to get from Westmoreland road to Giles’s Road – about three miles!! This kind of traffic is normal any time of day so forgive my rage at the stupidity of this proposal.
You are closing the door on current residence getting what they voted for . That is first and foremost getting this traffic under control. We thought getting the new set of commissioners voted in was going to do that.
Lets think of new ideas rather than be a victim to NCDOT delays.
We ousted the previous City Council for overgrowth. I thought this bunch would be different. We need to get the traffic under control! No more residential! Can’t they see the traffic won’t automatically get better?!? I guess money talks, and these clowns are listening at the detriment of the rest of us.