Council covers regular business

The Jamestown Town Council had other business on its agenda that did not relate to the D.S. Horton development, but these items took up considerably less of their time — less than 30 minutes total.

Several years ago, the Town Council changed the procedure for funding local non-profit organizations, essentially turning them into contractors, rather than giving grants.

As part of the Consent Agenda, the Council approved amendments to the contracts of the His-

By CAR ol BR ook S freela N ce writer cab1hp@gmail.com S ee B u S ine SS,

toric Jamestown Society and the Jamestown Public Library.

HJS would like to use the $10,500 allotted for facilities maintenance.

“The use of our Town funding for protecting and repairing our facilities is more urgent than the originally intended use for historical markers,” wrote HJS President Julia Ebel. “Current and timely needs for water mitigation, tree maintenance (including historic walnut trees), painting, and wood repairs are critical for preservation of our historic structures.

Management of facilities the LDO — created June 2020 — applied only to small subdivisions, not the 1,500-unit development D.R. Horton proposed on the approximately 467 acres. Part 1, Article VIII, Sec. 8.3 of the LDO was changed to read, “The Planned Unit Development (PUD) district recognizes that some projects on large tracts require much greater flexibility to enable applicants to create higher-quality projects than are otherwise possible under the strict applications of the LDO … .”

Councilmember Martha Wolfe suggested an amendment to the text amendment that would allow a PUD applicant the “flexibility,” rather than “freedom,” to create its own development standards … (Part 1. Article Viii, Section 8.3 Description of Zoning Districts).

Terrell, who presented the amendment, agreed, as did the Council, which found the amendment consistent with the LDO.

It took the Town Council less than 30 minutes to make its decision.

Several members of the standing-room-only audience took issue with this process but amendments can be done at any time and become effective immediately.

During public comment, Robert Frederick remarked that since this amendment changed the PUD, Council could not legally vote on D.R. Horton’s plan since it was constructed using earlier PUD specifications.

Others opined that D.R. Horton is telling the town what to do.

Brent Ayers said the text amendment gives the devel- oper more flexibility and wiggle room and less flexibility to the Town.

Nicki Stewart asked why the Town is bending over backwards to get the same development Diamondback Investment Group proposed. She quoted reasons from previous Town Council minutes as to why Diamondback was denied, citing these were the same reasons D.R. Horton has asked to be accepted.

Annexation

The Council took over one hour to hear information regarding annexation of the former Johnson Farm property before making their unanimous positive decision.

Introducing the public hearing for annexation, Town Manager Matthew Johnson pointed out that rather than four parcels of land, the property is now eight after Guilford County re-assigned parcel numbers but this did not change any of D.R. Horton’s requests or the amount of acreage under consideration. He added the property has been part of the Town’s Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction for nearly 40 years.

D.R. Horton proposes to “develop a high quality, master-planned community including numerous housing types, site features and uses not permitted in the agricultural district,” according to Johnson.

In answer to Councilmember Lawrence Straughn’s question, Terrell said the original commercial portion has been removed, thus lowering the potential traffic in the area for those residents