Avon Village cluster home project moves forward

Despite concerns from local residents and trepidation from the members of the Dare County Board of Commissioners (BOC) themselves, the BOC approved a special use permit (SUP) and a draft site plan at their August 7 meeting for the construction of seven single-family dwellings on a 1.58-acre property in Avon Village.

The 1.58-acre parcel is currently vacant, and encompasses a strip of land that is situated between Avlona Drive and Kiddy Lane in Avon. The special use permit application was submitted by Buxton resident William David Stowe, and the project entails seven two-bedroom homes of 900 square feet each, for the intended purpose of long-term housing.

The proposal was sent to the Board after it was initially reviewed by the Dare County Planning Department on July 6, and Monday’s regular BOC meeting included the special public hearing on the proposal, as dictated by state law.

“Under the law in North Carolina, a special use permit is a quasi-judicial hearing,” said County Manager Bobby Outten at Monday’s meeting, making it clear that opinion couldn’t be factored into the eventual decision. “That means that the applicant is required to put on evidence to show the Board that all the conditions of the code of ordinances have been met. If he can prove that, then the Board is required to issue the permit. If he cannot, then they’re required by law to deny the permit.”

The Avon village property is zoned R2-A, which permitted cluster housing as a special use when the application was submitted on May 17. That same day, the BOC voted to remove cluster housing from the county’s 22 R2-A zones, with a provision that an applicant prior to the decision date could choose which version of the development regulation to apply to the project. In this case, Stowe chose the original cluster home ordinance.

A cluster home development is defined in Section 22-2 of the Dare County Zoning Ordinance as “a residential group development project consisting of more than one residential dwelling on a single parcel of land whereby the dwellings are occupied on a long-term basis.”

Section 22-31.1 of the ordinance allows for lot coverage of 30% of the total lot area, and states that any dwelling constructed as part of the cluster home development shall not exceed 1,200 square feet of heated/conditioned space. The proposed Avon development meets these requirements, with 900-square-foot homes that will take up approximately 20,640 square feet (29.93%) of the allotted 20,689 square feet (30%) area.

There are other restrictions as well when it comes to parking, emergency vehicle access, wastewater, and additional permitting. For the proposed Avon development, wastewater will be provided by seven septic systems, with permits that will need to be acquired through Dare County Environmental Health. Per the cluster home ordinance, there also needs to be at least two parking spaces for each home, a 30’ right-of-way with 20 feet of paved improvements, and all supplemental State and Federal permits that need to be secured before construction can begin.

All of these requirements were outlined at Monday’s public hearing and BOC meeting, which began with public comments from five Avon residents who were concerned about the project.

“It’s very hard to stand here because I’ve never been one to say what people can do with their property,” said one Avon resident, Chris Hanburger, during the public comment period of the meeting. “But when it does look to have such an effect on those around the property… it seems like you do need to say something.”

“The present development plan does seem to be excessive for that property – How narrow it is, and the elevation is a concern… You start adding additional height around it, and your neighbors are going to flood.”

These sentiments were echoed by the Avon commenters in attendance. There was concern about the increased potential for flooding, the new influx of traffic and vehicles in a small section of Avon Village, and a change in the overall character of a village that had been more or less consistent for decades.

“I really value Kinnakeet,” said Hanburger. “I think it’s a very special place to live. And I want to see it continue to grow, and to make room for everyone that needs a place to live, but just do it in a sensible way.”

Several Avon residents stated during the public comments period that more locals wanted to attend, but couldn’t because of full work schedules and other commitments, but a 10-page packet of signatures was presented to demonstrate a crowd of concerns.

The public hearing itself lasted roughly an hour, with Outer Banks-area attorneys representing both sides of the argument, and it featured comments from a number of local stakeholders, including Stowe.

The Board had a number of questions that aligned with the public comment concerns, but also aimed to clarify whether the proposed site plan had met all requirements for the new development to be built.

Vegetative buffers, parking, and stormwater runoff were all major concerns for the Board, as well as the use of the homes in the future.

“My question to you is, rather than short-term [31-day] rentals, would you consider extending that to one year as a rental requirement on your property?” asked Chairman Bob Woodard. “We’ve asked other developers that have done something similar, and they have agreed to do that.”

“My experience with having rental homes is that, obviously, it’d be better for the long term. I don’t want someone going in and out every 30 days – the longer they can stay, the better,” said Stowe. “So yes.”

“The spirit of the [cluster home ordinance], when we were developing it, was making things available for law enforcement, for medical professionals, and for schoolteachers,” said Commissioner Danny Couch. “Is it your intent to provide essential housing for people in the labor force?”

“Yes, absolutely,” said Stowe, noting that rental prices for individual homes would run around $1,500 per month.

Potential flooding was another concern that was shared by both the Board and local residents. According to the existing plan, a right-of-way will be created starting at Old Main Road in Avon to access the seven properties. The grading and elevation required for such a project – homes and road – could potentially cause neighboring properties at lower elevations to be flooded, per local concerns.

“We are providing buffers,” said Mark Bissell, an engineer representing Stowe. “We’re collecting [storm]water from the homes and from the from the roadway, and running it to a proposed infiltration basin on the east end of the site, which will be more than adequate to meet the requirements for stormwater management for the site.”

The vegetation surrounding the property also caused some concerns, simply because while there needs to be a five-foot-wide vegetative buffer per current regulations, there is little guidance as to the height. As such, a line of rose bushes as opposed to local Russian Olive bushes would do little to give neighbors a natural barrier of privacy.

The other issue that was heavily discussed by all parties involved was parking. While each home has three parking spaces planned, any influx of weekend or summertime visitors could easily cause vehicles to park alongside the road. In this instance, however, the plan met the specified requirements under the cluster housing ordinance, so hypothetical issues, (even if they were probable), could not be addressed under the law.

Lot coverage was also a concern, particularly when it came to a canal that bordered the back of the property, and how it may affect the total square footage. Without indisputable evidence that the lot coverage was inaccurate, it was noted that any discrepancies would also be addressed in future permitting requirements, by the state and the county, before building could commence.

“The [future] permits are already conditioned on [the developer] meeting those lot requirements,” said Outten. “That’s already required of them.”

In the end, and after an hour of discussion, it was determined that the evidence showed that all requirements were met.

A motion to draft a SUP and site plan concerning the new cluster home development was passed unanimously by the Board, with a couple of caveats added to the originally proposed motion. One was to ensure that tall and view-blocking Russian Olives would be used to create a buffer on the northern and southern borders of the property, and another was to ensure that an electricity-providing power pole on the site would not be impacted. The final condition was extending the lease period from 31 days to one year.

As the BOC noted at Monday’s meeting, this is likely the last time that a cluster home project within an R2-A zone in Dare County – which is the primary zone in Avon Village – will be debated.

“We don’t have any [other] foreseeable close-to-home cluster projects?” asked Couch, to which the answer was no. “OK, this is the end.”

To watch the meeting in its entirety, visit the Dare County YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZWc-ly4MZo&feature=youtu.be/. The public comments section begins at roughly 26 minutes into the meeting’s video. The public hearing for the Avon Development project begins at roughly 46 minutes into the video.

To view the documentation related to the SUP and site plan approved by the BOC, click here. The Avon project documentation begins at page 8.