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.
