The New Bern Board of Adjustment will hold a public hearing on Feb. 22 to consider a special use permit application for a proposed high-density, multifamily housing project off N.C. Highway 43 in the Lake Tyler community.
The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 300 Pollock St.
Stars & Stripes 4F, LLC asked for the land to be rezoned from R10A to R8, but the request was denied by the New Bern Board of Aldermen on July 11. The rezoning would have allowed the developer to increase the number of units per square feet.
In November, a special use permit application was submitted to allow the applicant to “establish a multifamily residence use” in the Lake Tyler community.
A SUP authorizes a property owner to use the land for something other than what’s allowed by-right in a zoning district. Uses are identified in the City of New Bern’s Table of Permissible Uses.
The two properties are located on 20.44 acres of land in a R-10A residential district. The parcels are identified as Craven County 8-223-003 and 8-223-004. One parcel is at the corner of Washington Post Road and Gracie Farms Road and the other is separated by Thomas Sugg Drive, which is also known as Olivia Road.
General information and the preliminary plan are included in the Feb. 22 Board of Adjustment meeting packet here.
The proposed plan is to develop 24 buildings with 145 multifamily units. It also shows a new stormwater retention plan.
The Staff Report for the upcoming hearing states, “The applicant has completed a Traffic Impact Analysis assessment. This is included in the provided materials.”
A traffic impact assessment is not included in the packet that is published on the city’s website.
In September 2006, a traffic impact assessment report was prepared for the Proposed Lake Tyler Residential Development.
New Bern Now asked NCDOT if there was an updated TIA. Yesterday, Lauren Haviland, the communications officer for Division 2 and 3, wrote, “An updated TIA has been requested and should be available in the next couple of weeks.”
We reached out to the City of New Bern for comment and have not received a response.
NBN asked Tyler Johnson, the vice president of development for St. Bourke for a copy of the TIA. He replied, “We have completed an updated Traffic Impact Analysis in recent months, and we look forward to discussing the results of that study as well as our re-envisioned plans for the portion of Tyler, Home on the Lake that is subject to the Special Use Permit, at the Board of Adjustment’s meeting on February 22. The TIA is currently under New Bern & NCDOT review and will soon become public record.”
According to the city’s website, eight members of the Board of Adjustment are appointed by the New Bern Board of Aldermen, and one is appointed by the Craven County Board of Commissioners.
The New Bern Board of Aldermen adopt, amend and repeal the city’s land use plans.
Learn about Special Use Permits in North Carolina Zoning in an article by David W. Owens, Gladys Hall Coates Professor of Public Law and Government published on the UNC School of Government’s website.
By Wendy Card, Editor. Send an email with questions or comments.
Correction – Tyler Johnson is the vice president of development St. Bourke, not St. Croix.
Editor’s note: Full disclosure, Card lives in the area.
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