SP Council To Take Up Major Rezoning Next Month
A proposed concept plan for the Knollwood Tract, 550 acres that adjoins Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club
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Southern Pines Town Council member Chris Smithson sees "a Cadillac" when he looks at the conceptual master plan for a major development on land owned by the Bell family.
"But it could turn out to be a Yugo," Smithson said at the council's monthly work session last Monday.
Smithson said his main concern would be if the Bell family sells the 558 acres adjacent to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club to a developer who comes up with a new plan.
"I'm not doubting what you say you want," Smithson told Kelly Miller, president and CEO of Pine Needles and Mid Pines. "We have to look at the worst-case scenario."
Miller said the Bell family intends to partner with a developer and start the project within three years, if the rezoning is approved.
"That is our hope," Miller said. "The incremental master plan stage is where a lot of the project details will be discussed. The council has the opportunity at that time to weigh in because they have to approve it."
Miller added that Pine Needles shares a 10,000-linear-foot border with the proposed project.
"We're very concerned with what goes in there," he said.
Miller and Bob Koontz, director of land planning for Hobbs Upchurch Associates in Southern Pines, spent about an hour answering questions submitted by council members in the wake of a lengthy public hearing earlier this month.
Smithson said in written comments submitted to the Bell family that he agreed that a project developed within the standards of their rezoning application may be consistent with the town's Comprehensive Long Range Plan (CLRP) and may promote its objectives.
"But I do not believe that the application's parameters come close to ensuring that a project will do so," he said. "My efforts, then, will largely be focused on supporting the inherent flexibility of a PUD (Planned Unit Development) zoning while at the same time working to do whatever possible to bring the application more in line with the applicant's stated vision and the vision of the town's CLRP."
Smithson and other council members asked more than a dozen questions of the Bell family, expressing concerns about parking, open space, estimated traffic counts, proposed retail building sizes, and whether a proposed assisted living facility would be exempt from paying property taxes like Penick Village and St. Joseph of the Pines.
"I think they all ought to pay taxes," Smithson said.
The council deferred a vote on the rezoning request until its next monthly meeting Nov. 13.
The undeveloped land, known as the Knollwood Tract, is located near the intersection of U.S. 1 and N.C. 22.
It is the same tract that was the center of a major confrontation five years ago when the proposed Pine Needles Village development was defeated.
The Bell family submitted a conceptual plan on June 25. The plan was required as part of the family's application to rezone the land from Planned Development-Conditional District (PD-CD) to PUD.
The Southern Pines Planning Board recommended approval of the rezoning last month.
Earlier this year, more than 50 downtown Southern Pines merchants signed a petition asking the council for an economic impact study because the group believes such a study would determine how a large retail component on the Knollwood Tract might affect their shops.
The Knollwood Tract is currently envisioned to include a 300- to 400-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course, up to 350,000 square feet of retail space, up to 100,000 square feet of office and commercial space, as many as 300 assisted living units, and up to 300 homes.
In addition to the golf course, recreation areas would include walking trails, horse riding trails and golf practice areas.
Contact Ted Natt at (910) 693-2474 or tnatt@thepilot.com.
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Comments
TF121 6 months, 3 weeks ago
To be precise, the proposed plan will allow "up to 800" residential units, i.e. "homes." Those interested can visit the Town of Southern Pines website and view the Master Plan. The Pilot seems to consistently report a 'half-truth" in this regard, in all of its articles on the subject.
irishman 6 months, 3 weeks ago
So now Chris Smithson wants to start taxing church properties!! He clearly said it in this article, I'm sure he'll come up with some lame logic.
CSmithson 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Irishman,
Leave church out of this. You, like Mr. Mayor McNeill who indignantly scolded me for bringing up the issue, apparently have no clue as to how or why luxury resorts like Belle Meade don't have to pay local property taxes. Check NC General Statutes and get back to me. We'll talk when you understand the law. I have their NC Dept of Insurance reports and I know exactly how they claim exemptions for "community benefits"
Penick and St Joseph's account for over 6% of the total taxable base of Southern Pines. That means that every homeowner in SP averages more than $50 extra in property taxes to subsidize the operations of St Joseph's ("Resort Retirement") and Penick Village (current ads on radio talk about not having to pay taxes). SP tax losses/shifts are more than $400,000 per year. County taxes are additionally more than $600,000. That's real money and has NOTHING to do with how or where one chooses to worship (or not).
I'm pretty sure I know who you are and that we are both members of the same church. Doesn't matter. For the most part, one has to be a millionaire for open admission to either facility. Why should local tax abatement for "Resort Retirement" be legal? Why should someone who chooses or has no choice but to live at home subsidize those who choose to group together with "golf privileges" on numerous local courses? What does healthcare at all with its lobbyist -created, state-enforced exemptions to healthcare self-servitude have to do with local funding which covers things like fire, police, recreation, etc. If the paid-off politicians in Raleigh want to reward the "community benefits" of CCRC's like St Joseph or Penick, whose "community benefits" largely benefit their pre-approved-for-assets existing residents, then more power to them, but don't do it on the backs of local taxpayer funding for public safety, parks, etc. We have TRULY disadvantaged people in Southern Pines and ALL of them subsidize the mostly-millionaires in our tax-free retirement communities.
Don't get me wrong. I think our local CCRC's are great operations. My grandmother was one of the first residents of Belle Meade. My Aunt was on St Joseph's board. No problem except they don't pay property taxes.
The bottom line overall is, if luxury tax free retirement communities were not legal, the Town could afford a brand new fire truck every year or more easily pay for other things like the renovation of our parks.
The bottom line in the context of the "Knollwood Tract" is that the Bell family is asking to be able to have a facility even larger than Belle Meade that could double the unfair tax burden on SP residents.
TooHot 6 months, 3 weeks ago
This story has become nauseating and trite. What about some good ole fashioned story about somebody snagging a pie off Miss Jugdish's window sill?
geoffcutler 6 months, 3 weeks ago
This story is about our town and its future. If only more of its residents would show an interest in what will ultimately effect them. It is neither nauseating or trite...unless of course ones goal is to shut people up who are genuinely concerned about Southern Pines and its future as it relates to growth.
handyssc2 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Good one, Mr. Smithson... finally, an elected official who has the guts to tell it like it is. We live in a Romneyesque community where the benefits accrue to the "haves" and are funded by the "have nots." Everyone should pay their fair share and they are not.
And thank you, Mr.Cutler, for recognizing that we also live in a community where articles about escaped monkeys receive more publicity and reader comments than massive mixed use projects with hidden taxpayer price tags.
handyssc2 6 months, 3 weeks ago
And while we're on the subject of telling it like it is... the Pilot was very generous in its portrayal of the Council's role in questioning the application; in actuality, the "Council" didn't spend an hour quizzing the applicant about the Knollwood project, Smithson did. Hobbs Upchurch read a list of questions posed by the Council (mostly Smithson) and read the applicant's answers. There was no "discussion." The rest of the Council sat silent, just as they did at the Oct public hearing. Why should they have questions? After all, it's only a 558+ acre mixed-use project with a development program that includes up to 800 single family homes, 300 assisted living units, 700 hotel rooms, an 18-hole golf course, 100,000 sf of office space and 350,000sf of retail with a buildout of 15 years and massive infrastructure needs. I'm confident they derived everything they needed to know from the conceptual master plan rendering.
melzabeth 6 months, 3 weeks ago
It's a foregone conclusion that this will pass. My problem is Southern Pines is trying to become a mini Cary but in reality we are becoming a congested suburb of Fayeteville with all the military traffic. Many on the board have plenty to gain $$$ and will vote this through no problem.
TooHot 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Cary? Fayetteville? You gotta be kidding me. This project will certainly be approved. But so what. Does anybody think they can just 'build it and they will come' around here? This area's closeness to nothing will keep it from ever being used in the same breath of a suburb of a metro area. After 20 years this project woud probably be built up to maybe 10% of plan. The lack of an economy around here will see to that. The whole BRAC effect thing is hugely overstated. This area will always be a golf destination - period. Why there's something wrong with that I don't know.
geoffcutler 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Communities like ours do not need to be close to something larger to grow of their own accord. And it isn't about growth in and of itself, but how an area grows. The Comprehensive Long Range Plan specifically presents a road map for growth that does not include urban or business sprawl. In the early 80s' you could spit from one end of Charlotte to the next. There was no closeness between Charlotte and other large urban areas. Now, the sprawl begins at Albemarle on 24/27 and have you traveled 74 into Charlotte lately? It's stop and go congestion through traffic lights lined by fast food restaurants and big box stores for miles. As it grew, perhaps that was Charlotte's choice. Or maybe there was no considered plan like our CLRP. Who knows? But unsustainable growth happens whether we're close to other urban areas or not.
CSmithson 6 months, 3 weeks ago
On my website, I have posted my questions to and the responses from the Knollwood Tract applicant. www.ChrisSmithson.com
Click on "Local Issues"
CSmithson 6 months, 3 weeks ago
"Cary? Fayetteville? You gotta be kidding me. "
Not kidding at all. Partners in Progress, our local public-private economic development entity endorses this project in part because they want us to compete with Fayetteville as a regional shopping destination. Attracting retail development one of their new goals
In the spirit of transparency, I should note that half of the project team for the Knollwood Tract, including Kelly Miller, is on the Partners in Progress board. Also on the board are Pilot publisher Mr. Woronoff and Mayor McNeill.
theonewithsense 6 months, 3 weeks ago
As you can see in the picture, it is mostly trees and landscaped areas. The percentage of buildings and pavement is very small.
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Some of you sound like the Concerned Communist of Pinehurst. Everything must remain the same despite sound logic.
CSmithson 6 months, 3 weeks ago
"As you can see in the picture, it is mostly trees and landscaped areas. The percentage of buildings and pavement is very small."
The picture is not reflective what they are actually asking for. That's the whole point. There is a huge gulf between their stated intent (the picture) and what the application actually asks/allows for.
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Who's gonna be the first one to chain themselves to a tree??
Matt_Woodruff 6 months, 3 weeks ago
"Who's gonna be the first one to chain themselves to a tree??"
Me! When they try to cut down the gigantic oak tree in the downtown park to make way for the administration Taj Mahal!!
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Ok, I'll simplify it for ya. Take this same exact issue and spread it across the entire U.S. of A. Think. I bet you can start seeing why our manufacturing is gone, why jobs are outsourced, and why our economy is in the toilet. It's people like Chris here and their boards and comities that make everything damn near impossible to accomplish. What a man wants to do with his own private property is his choice, and not up to the vote of some usurper on a board. So there ya go, that's why we are where we are in this country.
OldPilot 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Excellent information from Mr. Smithson, good comment from Mr. Cutler. Facts trump emotion every time and thankfully Smithson understands the difference and is willing to dig out the facts, ask the hard questions, stand up and be counted.. As Cutler points out growth is inevitable but controlled growth is the sole intelligent path to progress while maintaining the quality and character of any community.
.
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Oldpilot ~ one word you just said hit the nail on the head........"controlled". It goes against everything our founders envisioned, property rights and economic liberty. Your vision of control is in direct violation to these principles. As for your "intelligent path to progress" goes, I'm failing to see where the intelligence resides.
njc17 6 months, 3 weeks ago
To all you good folks; remember, there is a high percentage of empty hotel/motel rooms in the rolls and a high percentage of empty square footage of retail space throughout Southern Moore County. As other areas, Pinehurst or the Taylortown shopping , Whispering Pines and the Airport area shopping, can the southern moore communities sustain all this added empty footage? and a serious increase of impervious soils tp pervious soils affecting the general water table? This is not to mention the high number of available single family homes [which you HOPE the military occupies].
melzabeth 6 months, 3 weeks ago
I advise people to go out to the Connecticut Avenue entrance to Fort Bragg and sit there starting at 4:30. You will be hard pressed to make a left hand turn due to the steady stream of traffic coming off post.
Like I said, a mini Cary or Nam,, emphasize the word MINI. I moved here to avoid lots of traffic and enjoy a peaceful way of life. What I moved here for is going away. Before some dumb @ss says well you can move if you don't like it that is precisely what I am in the process of doing!
And like I said, it's a foregone conclusion this PUD will pass, to many folks in Southern Pines have $$$ to gain.
InTheRough 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Hey Chris, keep up the good work. Any project of this scale should be reviewed very carefully --I only wish others on the Town Council were taking their responsibilities as seriously. Yes, there will be some "free market" advocates, but do they really mean it? Would they support a big box retailer buying the house next door and building a new Home Depot within a few yards of their house? Or a new hog farm next to the town's water supply? I seriously doubt it--the truth is almost all of us support sensible zoning and land use. The more important question is will the Town Council continue to support development regardless of the impact it will have on downtown Southern Pines? Do they truly want it to empty out, like so many historic towns across the country? If not, they should take steps to ensure that it remains vibrant and prosperous.
OldPilot 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Intelligence resides in the realization and acceptance that life and the country are today far different than in 1776. In some instances the interests of the many, the community, necessarily outweigh the interest of one, a few, a landowner, or a developer. This concept was recognized by the US Supreme court in 1926, the case name giving rise to the term Euclidean zoning, and that power is generally resides in municipal governments. This isn't to say that the decisions of municipal overnments are always correct. By way of example we're still waiting to see what if anything worthwhile ever becomes of the Tyler's Ridge development, other than half cleared land and a burned out house; this development was touted as an economic boost to Southern Pines and the community college but to date it's just an eyesore.
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Oldpilot ~ If the individual is too stupid to make the right choices, are plning boards not a collection of stupid individuals? Or are they some sort of omnipotent being from another world? This leftist idea that the world and life itself has radically transformed is asinine. In 1776 everyone still had to eat, sleep, and s$%# just the same as we do now. I know, I know, we have cell phones and cars and stuff. It still doesn't grant more power to central planners. "Smart Growth" only serves to hinder development and fair market prices. My old man once told me "son be weary of a vacant lot". Pretty simple concept.
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/the-smart-growth-scam/
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
*wary
geoffcutler 6 months, 3 weeks ago
The idea that growth is somehow related to whether you are left or right, free market or for government regulation on growth is what those who talk about sustainable growth say is the trap for communities like ours who are faced with how to grow. They say it is normal, but gets away from the fact that growth is inevitable for communities like ours, and it's just an unfortunate side effect.
Whether you want to streamline projects like the Knollwood tract, or want to take the time to seriously consider all the ramifications of such a development, all probably want what they think is best for their community. It's not a political thing. I'm as conservative as they get and believe in free market principles. especially when it comes to what people do with their own property. But the real question should be, does what I want to do with my property have the potential to adversely effect my community? Should I look at other ways to develop that may not be quite as profitable, but will do no damage, and maybe even enhance my town?
That's what sustainable growth tries to tackle. There are plenty of things that could be done with that land. Is a bigger sister Southern Pines the best idea? Is it in keeping with the CLRP? These types of questions, without the rancor and politics, are the questions we should be taking ample time over, even if it includes impact studies, or whatever else. We have quite a thing in Southern Pines and it wasn't easily built. But it's easily lost without careful consideration. And nobody will notice what's happened until after the damage is done.
OldPilot 6 months, 3 weeks ago
"packwilleat": No matter how much you protest zoning and zoning decisions in the hands of municipalities is the law of the land. If you are so enamored of the "founding fathers" then you would respect the system that they created, ie: the Supreme Court is the final word when it comes to the constitutionality of a statute or ordinance. The Supreme Court has spoken. See: Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U. S. 365, 47 S. Ct. 114 (1927). One can't pick and choose what part of the "founding fathers" plan you like and reject the balance. If you don't like the law as it stands you are welcome to file a lawsuit contesting local zoning ordinances and/or a local zoning decision, appeal it all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court and see if you can get the prior decision reversed. Good luck. Society has moved on, either get on board or be left behind.
packwilleat 6 months, 3 weeks ago
"Society has moved on" and is moving out of downtown Southern Pines "either get on board or be left behind".
irishman 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Obviously Mr. Smithson has a beef with the way the state statute has been written in regards to tax exempt property, which he should take up the issue with Jamie Boles. May be he also wishes religious affiliated hospitals be taxed, since in his eyes, the municipalities are better stewards of our money than we are.
This tax issue is just another straw man that Smithson sets up so he can tear it down, but nowhere in the UDO is the tax status of a property owner to be a consideration in the zoning process. As in your arrogant comment, check the RLUPA and get back to me. But if the tax status is a consideration, then this project should have been approved long ago, just based on the tax base it creates, since we are in such bad shape we can't afford a new fire truck.
CSmithson 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Irishman,
Mr. Boles has been asked this question and he gave an answer at our September worksession recorded on video. Bill Cochrane posted the video on his website in case you want to hear it for yourself. His reply basically suggested that I run for office and try to get it done as he did not think bringing that issue up was politically expedient. There are a lot of voters in Belle Meade, Overlook, and Penick Village. They certainly figure heavily in Town elections.
It’s funny you make accusations of "straw man” yet you are the one suggesting I want to tax church affiliated hospitals (of which I believe we have none here, by the way).
The main justification the develop-at-any-cost crowd brings up over and over is how we "need additional tax base or we'll have to raise taxes." Read the meeting minutes and the newspaper articles if you don't believe me. If the main "benefit" to the Town of a development is added tax base, a tax-free retirement resort doesn't seem to be very beneficial.
Again, RUIPA, which I have read and which allows churches to pretty much do whatever they want regardless of community wishes, has nothing to do with our tax-free "Resort Retirement" facilities in Southern Pines that are subsidized by every taxpayer in town. If they really provide that much "community benefit" then I would assume they'd have no problem knocking on the door of every home in town every year expecting every homeowner to enthusiastically write them a check for more than $50. Oh, and they’ll need to stop at every business too. Their competition over at Southern Pines Gracious Retirement Living would need to write them a check for over $3,000. Elmcroft assisted living gets off easier at under $2,000.
And yes, we can afford a new fire truck when we need one, but you can bet that it costs every TAXPAYER in town a little more because "Resort Retirement"-valued at well over $130 million- is tax free.