Developers have submitted plans for construction of a commercial and residential project on 200 acres along the planned Henley Street Extension that runs between Morganton Road and U.S. 15-501.

Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) of Beechwood, Ohio, has applied for amendments to the Southern Pines zoning ordinance governing Mixed -Use Districts, which the property is already zoned, along with a new road design for Henley Street Extension.

The Southern Pines Planning Board will hold a public hearing Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in Douglass Community Center on the proposed amendments to the Mixed-Use Overlay District zoning ordinance, which has governed the undeveloped property for the almost two decades.

DDR has also submitted an improved road design for the Henley Street extension, Town Manager Reagan Parsons said.

The new design, developed by LandDesign Associates of Southern Pines, shows the existing Henley Street extending across Morganton to the new development at the same location as the original plan. But instead of running in a straight line to U.S. 15-501, the road curves slightly northward, where it splits. One segment runs north back toward Morganton Road. The other branch runs southward to U.S. 15-501 connection.

The entrance points on Morganton were in the original town layout approved years ago, with Short Road being extended from the south to link with Henley and on to Brucewood, which runs from U.S. 15-501 in front of the old Kmart and Sandhills Cinemas to Morganton Road.

The revised design also shows a roundabout, as was the case in the original plan, where the road splits.

"The key is that the overlay zoning is already in place," Parsons in an interview this week. "This is a good example of Southern Pines being progressive and looking ahead. It ties directly back to the vision and goals set forth in the town's previous land-use plan."

The Southern Pines council adopted a "land-development plan" in 1988.

A smaller scale Mixed-Use Overlay area development was proposed by several different business people on another tract on the northeastern side of Morganton Road behind Pinecrest Plaza a few years ago, with buildings close to the street frontage and discreet signage. It included a gas station, car wash, convenience store, restaurant and ice cream parlor with a drive-up window. Creston Commons apartments were also built there as part of the mixed-use development concept.

The tract of undeveloped land between Morganton Road and U.S. 15-501 in the Mixed Use Overlay District has been sold and resold. Various development plans have been rumored for several years, among that a Home Depot would be built there. The development has finally come a step closer to reality.

An article in The Pilot published in September 2006 reported on proposed development plans going back and forth for months between town officials and representatives of DDR.

With one developer handling the entire package, Parsons said, the project should run efficiently and smoothly.

The Morganton Road Area development standards written years ago covers a total of 500 acres (some of it since developed) on both sides of Morganton Road from Fire Lane Road west to the intersection of Pinecrest School Road. The Town Council knew that land in that area would be under increasing development pressure when Morganton Road was widened from two to four lanes, with a landscaped median that the town paid for.

The goal of the ordinance is to promote a more traditional infrastructure and land-use pattern similar to the downtown area of Southern Pines and surrounding residential neighborhoods, with sidewalks, on-street parking, parks and public facilities, and associated multi-family and single family residential land uses with a commercial core.

The amendments proposed by the developers include:

n Maintain the superblock concept but allow variations in the eight to 30-acre size range, to allow more than one building on the entire superblock frontage along Henley Street. Additional buildings would have 35 percent of the frontage and stand no more than five feet from the frontage.

The present ordinance allows only one primary building per superblock frontage with one entrance, and all other businesses on the block to be accessed through it, like a mall.

n Allow exceptions to parking requirements, with 70 percent be behind the building and 30 percent in front, with parking limited to three sides, to permit more parking.

n Allow dumpsters and service equipment at different sites but buffered from public view. The current ordinance requires a central location.

The internal roads with sidewalks and curbs and gutters and all other infrastructure will be entirely built by the developer, Parsons said.

Roads and sidewalks will be turned over to Southern Pines once completed for maintenance, he confirmed.

Residential developments must have 10 percent of the property kept as open space, and commercial developments must designate five percent of its land area for open space.

Any buffering from adjacent properties would not be used to meet that open space requirement.

The ordinance requires other buildings be developed in the grid/block pattern with a minimum of 4.5 acres and a maximum of 12 acres per block, in the Morganton Rod corridor.

Sara Lindau can be reached at 693-2473 or by e-mail at slindau@thepilot.com.