PITTSBORO — Pittsboro’s board of commissioners unanimously approved a preliminary set of plans for a new subdivision development in Chatham Park on Monday.
The subdivision would be located in Chatham Park west of Chatham Park Way and south of Wendover Parkway. The residential plot would be over 24 acres and would include 55 lots. Each of the lots will contain single-family detached homes, and the subdivision will be connected to public sewer and water.
“The preliminary plat was reviewed by the planning board on Feb. 7,” Pittsboro Senior Planner Victoria Bailiff said on Monday. “Upon review by staff, there were some outstanding items noted by staff prior to the planning board, and we did not wish to add an additional month to the review process, so the applicant was allowed to proceed to the planning board as they agreed to address the remaining items.”
Town planning staff told Chatham Park Investors they had to address five items on its preliminary plan to move on with the approval process. Fixes included creating sidewalks on both sides of Beacon Drive, adding additional buffers between the sidewalks and the road, and adding roadway cross-sections.
Once Chatham Park Investors made these changes to the plans, the changes went to commissioners for approval. But before approving the plans, some board members expressed concerns with the new development’s entrances and exits design.
Commissioner Pamela Baldwin said she wanted to see two exit and entry points in the new subdivision, something she said the board asked for long ago when they voted to change an ordinance requiring subdivisions to have two access points.
“That is something we really worked hard for,” she said. “Whatever the wishes of the board (are), I will go with, but I just wanted to remind everyone that was something we really wanted.”
Mayor Cindy Perry echoed similar concerns, saying she believed having multiple entrances and exits to the subdivision would be crucial to the safety of the neighborhood.
“We struggled with that on the county planning board for years, and it is unilaterally important for the safety of the subdivision,” Perry said. “This becomes an issue for school buses, sanitary collection, and if a great, big tree falls across the entrance way, it certainly is a major safety issue.”
One exception to the ordinance allows the county’s fire marshal to weigh in on whether two entrances or exits are necessary. In the case of this subdivision, the fire marshal said one access point would be acceptable.
Commissioner Jay Farrell agreed with Perry and Baldwin regarding the two entrances and exits, but also noted he trusts the opinion of William Judson, the fire marshal.
“I was in support of this years ago when we discussed this, but I have to say I have a lot of trust in our fire marshal and our chief,” he said. “I’m not too crazy about this because I know the situations we have been in, but hopefully we can speak with them [Chatham Park] down the road and see if we can work this out.”
Commissioner Kyle Shipp also said he wants to rely on the fire marshal’s opinion on the safe number of entrance ways and exits in the new development.
“Ultimately, I think our goal was to give the fire marshal more of an ability to have a say in these situations with this ordinance,” Shipp said. “I would defer to him in this case.”
The board went on to approve the preliminary plans. The next step will be considering the final plans, which will be brought to the planning board before coming to the town for approval.
Reporter Taylor Heeden can be reached at theeden@chathamnr.com.