CITY OF KANNPOLIS, NC 2 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION 3 4 Minutes of Meeting 5 March 18, 2025 6 7 The Kannapolis Planning and Zoning Commission met on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM in 8 the Laureate Center of City Hall. This meeting was held in accordance with required public notice, 9 as well as announced on the City's website. 10 11 Commission Members Present: Chris Puckett, Chair 12 James Litaker, Vice-Chair 13 Daisy Malit (arrived at 6:01pm) 14 Ryan French 15 Larry Ensley 16 Jamie Richardson 17 Shelly Stein 18 Scott Trott 19 Mike McClain, ETJ Representative 20 21 Commission Members Absent: None 22 23 Visitors: Jenny Ryerson 24 Kaylee Ryerson 25 Grason Ryerson 26 William Ryerson 27 Todd Graham 28 Christina Dunn 29 30 Staff Present: Richard Smith, Planning Director 31 Elizabeth McCarty, Assistant Planning Director 32 Kathryn Stapleton, Planner and Recording Secretary 33 34 CALL TO ORDER 35 Chair Puckett called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. 36 37 ROLL CALL AND RECOGNITION OF QUORUM 38 Recording Secretary Kathryn Stapleton called the roll. The presence of a quorum was recognized. 39 40 APPROVAL OF AGENDA 41 Chair Puckett asked for any changes to the agenda and hearing none, asked for a motion to approve 42 the agenda. Mr. Ensley made the motion to approve, second by Vice-Chair Litaker, and the agenda 43 was unanimously approved. 44 45 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1 Chair Puckett asked for a motion regarding the February 18, 2025, minutes. Mr. Ensley made the 2 motion to approve, second by Vice-Chair Litaker, and the minutes were unanimously approved. 3 4 PUBLIC HEARING 5 CZ-2025-01 - Conditional zoning map requestsubmitted by OTR Development Partners LLC 6 for property located at 3397 CampJulia Rd from Cabarrus County Low Density Residential 7 (LDR) and City of Kannapolis Residential 4 (R4) zoning districts to City of Kannapolis 8 Residential 8-Conditional (R8-CZ) zoning district. 9 10 Planning Director, Richard Smith, advised that the applicant for Case #CZ-2025-01 (Attached as 11 Exhibit 1) has requested to be continued to the next scheduled meeting on April 15, 2025, to give 12 them time to review their Traffic Impact Analysis. Chair Puckett opened the Public Hearing and 13 requested a motion to continue the case. Mr. French made the motion to continue the case, second 14 by Vice-ChairLitaker, and the continuation was unanimously approved. 15 16 Z-2025-01 - Zoning map request submitted by Sustar/Little LLC for property located at 9172 17 Davidson Hwy. from Cabarrus County Limited Commercial (LC) to City of Kannapolis 18 General Commercial (GC) zoning district. 19 20 Planner, Kathryn Stapleton, provided details for case #Z-2025-01, attached to and made part tofthese 21 minutes as Exhibit 2; and identified the applicant, address, and size of the property. Ms. Stapleton 22 stated that the request is to rezone the property from Cabarrus County Limited Commercial (LC) to 23 City of Kannapolis General Commercial (GC) zoning district and that the property was voluntarily 24 annexed February 24, 2025. She reminded the Commission that the request is a "by right" zoning 25 designation and that there could be no conditions placed upon the approval oft the request. 26 27 Ms. Stapleton directed. the Commission's attention to case maps and drone footage, further 28 illustrating the location, current and surrounding zoning districts, existing property uses as well as 29 the Character Area as determined by the Move Kannapolis Forward 2030 Comprehensive Plan 30 ("2030 Plan"). She further directed the Commission' s attention to site photos, stating that staff found 31 consistency with the 2030 Plan and is recommending approval of the rezoning request. She 32 reminded the Commission of the actions requested, concluded her presentation, and made herself 33 available for questions. 34 35 Chair Puckett asked if the property was being split, and Ms. Stapleton replied that the property is 36 being combined with the larger tract to the east, a parcel that is already located within the city limits. 37 38 There being no additional questions or comments for staff or the applicant, Chair Puckett opened 39 the Public Hearing. 40 41 Two citizens, Shawna Coles and Edward Spanke, spoke against the general commercial 42 development, requesting limited commercial zoning, additional study of the stormwater 43 management, and adequate buffers. 44 45 Chair Puckett stated that the General Commercial zoning being applied is the closest zoning to 46 Cabarrus County Limited Commercial, and he reminded everyone that the Commission was acting City ofKannapolis 2 Planning and Zoning Commission March 18, 2025 1 to place a zoning district designation on the property based on the recent voluntary annexation and 2 not to review the site plan. 3 4 Mr. Smith stated the storm water management would be addressed by staff during the site plan 5 review process. 6 7 There being no further public comment, Chair Puckett closed the Public Hearing. Chair Puckett 8 asked for a motion regarding the Statement of Consistency. Mr. Trott made the motion to approve, 9 second by Mr. French, and the motion was unanimously approved. 10 11 Chair Puckett asked for a motion regarding the Resolution to Zone. Mr. French made the motion to 12 approve, second by Ms. Malit, and the motion was unanimously approved. 13 14 RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL 15 TA-2025-03 - Tattoo or body piercing establishment in the CC District by Special Use Permit 16 (SUP) 17 Mr. Smith requested for the Commission to table this text amendment to the April 15, 2025, meeting 18 due to additional review needed regarding compliance with the Downtown Restrictive Covenants. 19 20 Chair Puckett asked for a motion to continue TA-2025-03 to the April 15, 2025, meeting. Mr. Ensley 21 made the motion to, second by Mr. Trott, and the motion was unanimously approved. 22 23 TA-2025-04 - Maximum number of dwellings in a pocket neighborhood development. 24 Assistant Planning Director, Elizabeth McCarty, provided the text amendment details for case TA- 25 2025-04, attached to and made part of these minutes as Exhibit 3. Ms. McCarty noted that the 26 initial pocket neighborhood concept plan is similar to a cluster development with greater open 27 space standards. She added that pocket neighborhoods are currently limited to single family 28 dwelling units and a maximum number of 12 units and the proposal is to increase that number to 29 30 units. She included that the Move Kannapolis Forward 2030 Comprehensive Plan supports 30 tools to promote affordable housing such as pocket neighborhoods. She reminded the Commission 31 that they are being asked to make a recommendation on the text amendment to City Council and 32 made herself available for questions. 33 34 Mr. Ensley commented that 12 to 30 units is a 250% increase and there was discussion about open 35 space in a pocket neighborhood with a minimum space requirement. 36 37 Vice-chair Litaker asked about street and driveway parking. Ms. McCarty stated that additional 38 review regarding parking would be required as part of the site plan process but that the text 39 amendment was required first. Mr. Smith commented that the development will need to meet 40 minimum street standards and parking requirements of the ordinance. 41 42 Ms. Stein stated her concerns regarding changing the maximum unit count and intent of a pocket 43 neighborhood to satisfy the monetary needs of the developer instead of cultivating the community. 44 She added that the increase in the unit number makes this no longer a pocket neighborhood but a 45 subdivision. City ofKannapolis 3 Planning and Zoning Commission March 18, 2025 1 Chair Puckett commented that the City is limited in space for single family residential, and it needs 2 to rethink how to develop properties and come up with alternative plans and ideas. 3 4 Mr. French stated that it would be better to review this as a subdivision and not change the pocket 5 neighborhood to accommodate it. 6 7 Ms. McCarty offered that the applicant's intent was to create a cottage home community but that the 8 lot width requirements of the R8 district did not lend itself to that type of development; the pocket 9 neighborhood standards offered greater design flexibility for cottage homes. Mr. Smith added that I0 thej pocket community design resembles a cluster development under the subdivision standards with 11 units grouped together with more open space and undisturbed land. 12 13 The applicant, Nicholas Parker, President of Amicus Partners and Principal of Green Street Capital 14 Partners, provided additional background on their research and other pocket neighborhood projects 15 in the area. With a 12-unit maximum, they are limited in finding available property to provide net 16 zero attainable housing for the community and still make it financially beneficial and sell the units 17 at an attainable price. 18 19 Chair Puckett asked if the Commission had any further questions for staff. Ms. Stein stated her 20 concern for opening up the door for other similar developments under the pocket neighborhood 21 development use category and asked why it would not be considered and reviewed under the typical 22 subdivision standards. Chair Puckett asked if there is a change in cost. Ms. McCarty explained 23 differences between the pocket neighborhood development and the typical subdivision standards 24 including lot sizes, percentage of open space, access to open space, and required storage space for 25 each dwelling unit. 26 27 Mr. French suggested that pocket neighborhood developments having 13 to 30 dwelling units could 28 be considered by the Board of Adjustment through a Special Use Permit process. Ms. McCarty stated 29 that the Commission could include that process in their text amendment recommendation to City 30 Council. There was further discussion about increasing affordable housing within the City, the 31 potential price point for the proposed cottage homes, and the mix of unit types in the City of 32 Kannapolis. 33 34 Mr. Smith emphasized that the City cannot hold the developer to a price point. He also included that 35 with this development, a road thru connection will be made (Alpine Street) and it will add new 36 dwelling units of similar size within an older neighborhood. He also reiterated that pocket 37 neighborhood developments are only permitted in a select few zoning districts, not all. 38 39 Mr. Smith summarized the Commission's direction for the text amendment related to a pocket 40 neighborhood development. Chair Puckett asked for a motion to change the proposed text 41 amendment to recommend approval of increasing the number of dwelling units in a pocket 42 neighborhood development to thirty (30) dwellings, provided that a development with more than 43 twelve (12) units requires issuance of a Special Use Permit by the Board of Adjustment. Mr. French City ofKannapolis 4 Planning and Zoning Commission March 18, 2025 1 made the motion to approve, second by Mr. McClain, and the motion was unanimously approved. 2 Ms. McCarty noted that action was required for the Statement of Consistency. Chair Puckett asked 3 for a motion. Mr. French made the motion to approve, second by Mr. Ensley, and the motion was 4 unanimously approved. 5 6 PLANNING DIRECTOR UPDATE 7 Mr. Smith thanked the Commission fori their dialogue on the pocket neighborhood development text 8 amendment. Chair Puckett also recognized and appreciated the Commission' s dialogue. There was 9 further discussion on the recommendation and decision-making process between the Planning and 10 Zoning Commission and City Council. Chair Pucket asked if the two bodies could have a work 11 session. Mr. Smith said that he would make that request known to the City Manager and Mayor. 12 13 Mr. Smith shared the updated development GIS story map. The map was simplified to add categories 14 of general land uses. Mr. Smith concluded by addressing other questions and comments by the 15 Commission members. Mr. French requested using the story map during future discussions for better 16 visualization. Chair Puckett asked about interest in industrial properties within the City. Mr. Smith 17 highlighted the following projects with activity: 85 Exchange, Stanley Black and Decker site, Metro 18 63, and Overlook 85. He also responded to questions about the number ofdwelling units, over 6,000, 19 that are pending and have wastewater allocation reserved. He further commented that the Harris 20 Teeter project is moving forward. 21 22 ADJOURN 23 There being no further business, questions, or comments, Mr. French made the motion to adjourn, 24 second by Mr. McClain and the meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. 25 26 - 27 Ch hhis 28 Chris Puckett, Chair 29 Planning and Zoning Commission 30 31 oluy Sapbh 32 Kathryn Stapleton, Recording Secretary City ofKannapolis 5 Planning and Zoning Commission March 18, 2025