CITY OF KANNPOLIS, NC 2 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION 3 4 Minutes of Meeting 5 December 17, 2024 6 7 The Kannapolis Planning and Zoning Commission met on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at 6:00 PM 8 in 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 14 Jamie Richardson 15 Larry Ensley 16 Scott Trott 17 Shelly Stein 18 Ryan French 19 Mike McClain, ETJ Representative 20 21 Commission Members Absent: None 22 23 Visitors: None 24 25 Staff Present: Richard Smith, Planning Director 26 Elizabeth McCarty, Assistant Planning Director 27 Ben Barcroft, Senior Planner 28 Kathryn Stapleton, Planner 29 Pam Scaggs, Recording Secretary 30 31 CALL TO ORDER 32 Chair Puckett called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. 33 34 ROLL CALL AND RECOGNITION OF QUORUM 35 Recording Secretary Pam Scaggs called the roll. The presence of a quorum was recognized. 36 37 APPROVAL OF AGENDA 38 Vice-Chair Litaker made the motion to approve the agenda, second by Mr. French, and the motion 39 was unanimously approved. 40 41 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 42 Chair Puckett asked for a motion regarding the August 20, 2024, minutes. Mr. Ensley made the 43 motion to approve, second by Vice-Chair Litaker, and the motion was unanimously approved. 44 45 PLANNING DIRECTOR UPDATE 46 Kannapolis Development Ordinance (KDO) Text Amendments 1 Planning Director Richard Smith mentioned that staff will be reviewing several text amendments to 2 the Kannapolis Development Ordinance (KDO) and asked that the Commission contemplate which 3 amendments they want to present to City Council. Mr. Smith stated that staff will formalize the 4 amendments and present those at the Commissions' January or February meeting. 5 6 Assistant Planning Director Elizabeth McCarty mentioned previous amendments to the KDO 7 beginning in September 2022 through November 2024 and stated that staff has identified twenty- 8 two proposed amendments which mainly include "clean-up" items, clarifications and standards for 9 specific uses. She reiterated that staff would present the proposed amendments at either the January 10 or February Commission meeting and introduced Planner Kathryn Stapleton who discussed the 11 below proposed amendments: 12 13 1. Amend Article 2.5.B(2)d.1(C)3 and 2.5.B.(3)e.1(C)3 to remove the requirement for 14 developers to provide a reproducible mylar copy of a recorded plat. 15 16 2. Amend Article 2.5.A(5)b.6(b) to extend the expiration date of an SUP past 2 years if there 17 are sewer allocation delays. She noted that currently a SUP expires after 2 years if the 18 authorized use has not obtained building permits or construction has not started. 19 20 3. Amend the Principal Use Table 4.2.B(5) to allow single-family attached dwelling units in 21 thel Mixed-Use Neighborhood (MU-N) zoning district. (Mrs. Stapleton noted that townhomes 22 are already permitted by right.) 23 24 4. Amend the Dimensional and Intensity Standards to include a decreased lot width requirement 25 for single-family attached and townhome units. The proposal includes varying lot widths for 26 townhouses, duplexes, and triplexes, with the addition of side yard setbacks. The proposed lot 27 widths of 18 feet for townhomes and 90 feet for duplexes/triplexes follows the standards of the 28 Residential 18 (R18) zoning district. 29 30 Mrs. Stein asked about the current width requirements for a duplex or triplex. Mrs. Stapleton clarified 31 that it is currently 90 feet, and that in the MU-N district it also would be 90 feet. She further explained 32 the differences between a duplex, triplex, single-family attached dwelling, and a townhome, noting 33 that lot width requirements vary depending on the type of unit. 34 35 Vice-Chair Litaker then asked ift there is a height limit for the structures. Mrs. Stapleton confirmed 36 that the current height restriction is 35 feet and staffi is not proposing any changes to this restriction. 37 She continued with the proposed amendments: 38 39 5. Amend Article 3.8.H(3)a regarding buffer requirements for the River/Stream Overlay (RSO) 40 District to remove redundancy and provide clarity. 41 42 Mrs. Stapleton added that staff recognize the need for an update to the Watershed Protection Overlay 43 District and are working with the City's consulting engineer Wes Webb with Alley Williams Carmen 44 & King to update those requirements. Mr. Smith added that the KDO currently has two variations 45 ofwatershed provisions, which may be overly stringent and that the goal is to simplify the standards. 46 47 Mrs. Stapleton continued with the proposed amendments: City ofKannapolis 2 Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2024 1 I 2 6. Amend the Principal Use Table 4.2.B(5) to regulate the proximity of tobacco and vape shops 3 to both schools, churches and other similar stores as well as to address signage and lighting 4 for the same use. 5 6 Dr. Litaker noted that the waste generated by tobacco and vape shops is toxic and stated that staff 7 should look at adding regulations for disposing of that waste. Mrs. Stapleton responded that staff 8 would reach out to the Cabarrus Health Alliance and talk to the Fire Department regarding standards 9 for disposing oftoxic waste. She then introduced Senior Planner Ben Barcroft to discuss additional 10 amendments. 11 12 Mr. Barcroft talked about the following proposed amendments: 13 14 7. Amend the Principal Use Table 4.2.B(5): 15 a. Allow Commercial vehicle sales and rentals in the Light Industrial (LI) zoning 16 district; and 17 b. Allow a single-family attached dwelling as a permitted use in the MU-N zoning 18 district. 19 20 8. Amend Specific Use Standards (4.2.D) 21 a. Correct the reference to the standards for Commercial Vehicle Service and Repair in 22 the General Commercial (GC) zoning district when it is not aj permitted use in the GC 23 District; and 24 b. Update references to First Street, which is now Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. 25 26 9. Amend Accessory Use/Structure Table 4.3.B3: 27 a. Allow accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in the MU-N zoning district; 28 b. Correct the MU-N label in the head ofthe table; and 29 C. Change the "L" to a "P" for storage buildings in the Planned Development (PD) 30 zoning district 31 32 10. Amend the Temporary Use/Structure Table 4.4.B: 33 a. Add mobile/modular classrooms and use-specific standards related to location and 34 materials; and 35 b. Add camping as a temporary use in zoning districts that allow or have residential uses 36 but disallowing in commercial zoning districts. 37 38 Mr. McClain asked how staff will prevent homeowners from allowing others to camp on their 39 property. Mr. Smith stated that staff will add language to allow the use by the homeowner only. He 40 added that City Council is aware of the homelessness issue and is addressing the use on public 41 property and asked that staff address the use on private property. 42 43 Mr. Barcroft continued with the proposed amendments: 44 45 11. Amend Table 5.3.B regarding upfits and change of use applications for businesses that are 46 non-conforming regarding landscaping and buffering. City ofKannapolis 3 Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2024 1 I 2 12. Amend Article 5.9 regarding sign standards: 3 a. Allow A-frame (sandwich) board signs downtown; and 4 b. Add a maximum sign area requirement for curbside pickup signs. 5 6 Mrs. McCarty wrapped up the proposed amendments with the following: 7 8 13.. Amend Table 5.2.E(1)a Minimum Number of Off-street Parking Spaces: 9 a. Add parking standard for Event Center use; 10 b. Require guest parking for townhome developments; and 11 C. Clarify single-family attached parking requirements 12 13 Several Commission members expressed concern regarding the width of streets and parking issues 14 in current developments and agreed that standards need to be added and/or increased. Mrs. McCarty 15 continued: 16 17 14. Correct Table 5.1.C(6)b.2: Minimum Subdivision access Points to align with state 18 requirements. 19 20 Mrs. McCarty added that the current standard does not require a second access point until a 21 development has 100 or more units but that this was not captured in the current table and that the 22 table generally needs to be "cleaned-up.") Mr. Trott asked the purpose oflowering the standard. Mr. 23 Smith responded that the state changed the requirement and that it will match fire code for 24 consistency. Mrs. McCarty continued: 25 26 15. Amend Multifamily Design standards 5.7.D. to remoye the application of certain design 27 standards to townhomes and triplexes including: 28 a. Style type of exterior cladding material; 29 b. Style or materials of roof structures or porches; 30 C. Exterior nonstructural architectural ornamentation; 31 d. Location or architectural styling of windows and doors, including garage doors; 32 e. Number and types of rooms; and 33 f. Interior layout of rooms. 34 35 Chair) Puckett asked ifoverlays addressing design standards could be added like Kannapolis Parkway 36 or Center City. Mrs. McCarty responded that there was another state statute change that will impact 37 overlays but deferred discussion on that because the law may likely be repealed. She concluded with 38 the proposed amendments: 39 40 16. Review the definition of Electronic Gaming Operation. 41 42 17. Correct headings of Table A-2 Landscaping requirements to remove subtitles. 43 44 There was additional discussion regarding the proposed state statute changes mentioned earlier and 45 how that could impact the City of Kannapolis. Chair Puckett expressed concern regarding future 46 development of the remaining downtown properties. City of Kannapolis 4 Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2024 2 Cannon Boulevard Update 3 Mrs. McCarty provided an update regarding the Cannon Boulevard Plan and gave a comprehensive 4 review of the process and information that will be included in the final report. She talked about the 5 challenges of implementing the changes but that initial changes could include pedestrian and 6 landscaping improvements as well as facade improvements. She concluded by stating that a final 7 report should be available for the Commission's review at their February, or soon after, meeting and 8 will include a plan to begin the work. 9 10 Mr. Ensley asked if Assistant City Manager Wilmer Melton is still looking into micro-transit options 11 for the City. Mr. Smith responded that Mr. Melton is reviewing the possibility and is talking with 12 surrounding municipalities. 13 14 Development Map 15 Mr. Smith provided updates on the 4th quarter Permit Report stating that there was a slight decrease 16 in residential permits due to it being a major election year and the year end. He noted that the online 17 development map has been updated to make it easier to navigate. Mr. Smith stated that state statute 18 changes will not allow sewer allocation scoring for residential projects and that Exhibit A for the 19 Allocation Policy will be updated. He talked about development areas within Kannapolis which 20 included the downtown area, northeast Kannapolis (Overlook 85), the Concord Lake Road area 21 (Coldwater Ridge, Loop Yard, Emerson Hills and Hedgecliff Townhomes), Afton Ridge (85 22 Exchange, Gateway Business Park) and Kannapolis Parkway (Panda Express, the new library and 23 Redwood Living). 24 25 OTHER BUSINESS 26 Mr. Smith responded to Commission members' questions regarding various citywide development 27 projects and sewer allocation. 28 29 ADJOURN 30 There being no further business, questions, or comments, Chair Puckett made the motion to adjourn, 31 second by Mr. Ensley and the meeting adjourned at 7:15 PM on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. 32 33 34 Clv Puchio 35 Chris Puckett, Chair 36 Planning and Zoning Commission 37 1 - 38 On 39 Recording Secretary Ss City ofKannapolis 5 Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2024