Feb. 9 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

as reported by PATTI STOKES

Mayor Mike Crawford called the monthly meeting to order at 7 p.m.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Councilman Tim Jones offered the opening prayer. The agenda was then adopted after removing one discussion item and adding three other items.  5  0 (in three separate votes) to approve minutes from the May 5, 2022 special called budget workshop and minutes from the Oct. 13, 2022 and Jan. 12, 2023 closed sessions.

Public Safety

Stokesdale Fire Chief Todd Gauldin reported the department responded to 74 calls for service in January; of those, 47 were medical-related, seven were fire-related and 20 were miscellaneous.

As a safety tip, Gauldin encouraged residents to test their smoke detectors, and also, to make sure children and elderly adults living in the home know what the smoke detectors sound like when they go off. District 1 sheriff’s office. A corporal with District 1 sheriff’s office reported that officers ran 216 calls for service in Stokesdale last month, which resulted in 13 formal case reports. Officers are still actively investigating a Jan. 10 shooting in the 7900 block of Lester Road; on Jan. 9, officers responded to a domestic aggravated assault in the 8000 block of Oak Creek Drive, which resulted in an arrest.

Citizens were reminded to lock their cars, and to remove valuables.

Public Hearing

Justin Snyder, town planner, presented a request submitted by High Point-based RS Parker Homes to rezone 10.16 acres at 7577 Happy Hill Road from AG to RS-40.

Snyder noted the request is not for a subdivision plan approval, rather “this is a legislative hearing on whether this is worthy of RS-40, and consistent with the town’s Future Land Use Plan.”

The property is within the Stokesdale Fire Protection District, and the applicant plans to connect homes built on the property to Stokesdale’s water system. The surrounding properties are primarily rural residential and/or undeveloped.

Proposed road improvements would be subject to NCDOT driveway requirements, Snyder noted, adding that about 500 cars per day travel on

Happy Hill Road, and development of the property would bring one to five extra students to Stokesdale Elementary, and Northwest middle and high schools.

Snyder said staff recommended approval, based on the requested rezoning being consistent with the town’s Future Land Use Plan and being adjacent to other residential uses in the area.

Proponents

„ Greg Garrett with RS Parker Homes in High Point explained this rezoning would give his company roadway access to 94 other homes on property that has already been rezoned for residential use by Forsyth County. He plans to build six more homes on the 10.16acre tract, which lies within Stokesdale’s town limits, and the existing singlefamily home on it will remain, bringing the combined number of homes in the subdivision to 101.

Garrett emphasized that rezoning this property will improve access to the other 94 homes on land that has already been rezoned by Forsyth County. Should this property within Stokesdale’s limits be rezoned, he said his company plans to extend Stokesdale’s water line down Happy Hill Road by about 2,700 feet.

“To clarify, will the development (of the 94 homes) move on anyway, since you have access already approved?” Councilman Jimmy Landreth asked, to which Garrett answered, “yes.”

Opponents

„ Shenea Carroll said she and her husband live on land adjacent to this property on Happy Hill Road and expressed concerns about traffic.

“We live at the top of the hill,” she said. “You can’t see cars coming up.”

Carroll also expressed concerns about encroachment, saying “there isn’t enough land to safely put a road in there.”

„ Darrell Watkins, another Happy Hill Road resident, said he was a lifetime resident of Stokesdale and would be one of the property owners most adversely affected by this rezoning if it were approved.

Watkins echoed Carroll’s concerns about the traffic on Happy Hill Road, sight distance and about encroachment, questioning whether there was enough right of way for utilities and a water line.

“Every house on Happy Hill Road has some sort of rock that needs blasting – this company coming in, they are going to jeopardize our homes with this,” Watkins continued. “If they mess up our foundations on our homes, who is going to repair it?”

At this point in the public hearing, Councilman Tim Jones suggested the time for speakers be extended so that everyone who wished to speak could do so.

 5  0 to allow up to 10 minutes each for anyone wishing to speak during the Public Comment period of the public hearing.

„ Realizing he had not invited anyone else to speak in favor of the rezoning, Mayor Crawford then allowed Norris Clayton, an engineer with Hugh Creed Associates, to speak; Clayton said the right of way that fronts this property would allow enough room for an 8-inch water line.

„ Dwayne Dalton spoke on behalf of the area’s wildlife.

“The Town of Stokesdale is being sucked in and animals don’t have anywhere to go,” he said. “The animals can’t speak… You shouldn’t have to go to the zoo to see a deer, or a raccoon or a skunk … but that’s what’s going to happen.”

„ Gerard Carter of Happy Hill Road reminded council that this rezoning wasn’t just about the one existing and six new homes that would be built on this property.

“We’re talking about 101 homes … they’ll come through there (the proposed new access) because it will be easier to get out to U.S. 158. There will be some accidents there.”

„ Albert Schneyer said pulling out of Happy Hill Road onto U.S. 158 is already tough, and asked who would fund a traffic signal there. He also asked, if this AG property were rezoned, would the town council preserve open space elsewhere in the town.

„ Reese Curry of Van Hoy Road asked to clarify whether this rezoning was about the entrance on Happy Hill Road. Councilman Derek Foy confirmed this public hearing was about rezoning 10 acres on Happy Hill Road

– the property adjoining this tract, where 94 homes are planned, has been approved by Forsyth County.

REBUTTAL, Proponents

„ Garrett, the developer, admitted making a mistake earlier with regard to a 60-foot access having been already rezoned; in fact, the previous town attorney had stated the access point did not have to be rezoned.

Garrett explained why he hoped to gain a new access to the 94 acres he plans to develop (mainly because of the topography). As for concerns about rock, he said a lot of geologic work had been done on the property and there was no indication that rock would be a problem. Should that occur, however, he said a seismologist

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STOKESDALE TOWN COUNCIL ...continued from p. 13 would be called in.

REBUTTAL, Opponents

„ Margaret King of Happy Hill Road said everyone on the road had run into rock issues when building their homes.

“I don’t know who is doing his (the developer’s) survey, but he might want to get a refund,” King said.

„ Adam Meylor said he owns 22 acres on Happy Hill Road and had to dig 18 holes to get his property to perk for one home.

Garrett said he was a hands-on developer and was on the property when the rock studies were done.

“I spent four or five days out there … we strategically chose where we would have to do some excavating,” he said.

After closing the public hearing, council members discussed concerns about the rezoning request, including whether there was enough room for the entrance road without encroaching on neighbors’ property.

Landreth said he had driven out to the property earlier in the day and confirmed “it’s a terrible place right there (regarding traffic and sight distance) … My concern is that that (access) road could possibly serve all those houses (the 94 already planned, plus seven more on this 10.16-acre tract). It could happen.”

Foy asked about the path of the water main before Jones motioned to deny the request to rezone the property and Foy seconded.

Jones said he had observed the previous council approve a rezoning on Coldwater Road, which lies within Forsyth County and the town limits of Stokesdale. The mayor at that time had promised water to the developer, but wasn’t authorized to do so, Jones said; the council had subsequently voted to provide water to the subdivision without a plan to review.

Jones said Stokesdale’s cap on the amount of water it purchases from Winston-Salem is currently 300,000 gallons a day. Furthermore, he said he grew up in Stokesdale and is very familiar with Happy Hill Road.

“God made that corner of town a little rougher than the rest of Stokesdale … it is rocky over there. I am concerned about getting water lines installed there,” he said. “If this was just about seven lots, I wouldn’t see much of a problem. I generally vote for rezonings … in this case I have done a lot of pondering, and examined this several times. Common sense can’t be defined, but this project goes against common sense and my judgment.”

Regarding safety, Foy said he couldn’t imagine significantly increasing the number of cars on

Happy Hill Road, “especially as you’re coming from 158.”

Furthermore, Foy said there was no binding document between the town and the developer to have this property connect to the town’s water system. And, he said he was concerned about two neighboring property owners and whether there was enough room for easements for the utilities.

Councilman Jim Rigsbee echoed concerns about the impact of easements for the utilities on the two neighboring property owners.

“The other concern I have is that it’s not consistent to put a couple of smaller houses in the middle of that large tract,” Rigsbee said.

“This is tough,” Landreth said. “… I look at that hill (at the highest point on Happy Hill Road) today – once we rezone this – if we did – we’d have to rely on DOT and it would be out of our hands. How many houses are built there? That’s out of our hands. It’s a tough one for me.”

 5  0 to deny the rezoning.

 4  1 (Landreth opposed) to draft a resolution stating the town objects to Forsyth County removing an internal road connection to this development, which would result in water lines being run through three property owners’ backyards.

Following a 10-minute recess, the council reconvened at 9:36 p.m.

 5  0 to approve a revised internal controls and separation of duties policy.

IT contract. Council discussed proposals it received from GeekBox IT and Total Computer Solutions (TCS), the town’s current IT provider, for remote IT support, monitoring, managing antivirus and security.

 5  0 to enter into a one-year contract with TCS for IT services at $677.84 per month, effective April 1.

 5  0 establish the speed limit on a designated portion of Athens Road at 25 mph.

Field maintenance. After discussing the service provided by the town’s lawn/field maintenance company, council asked staff to request the company provide a proposal for services for the remainder of this year.

 5  0 to schedule budget workshops on Thursdays, March 2, April 6 and May 4, at 7 p.m.

 5  0 to have staff send RFPs to audit firms on a list provided by Finance Officer Kim Thacker.

 5  0 Reappoint Michael Threatt, an alternate on the Planning Board, for another two-year term

 5  0 to approve an updated Rules and Procedures document for the Planning Board, effective Feb. 9.

 5  0 to approve the contract between the county and the town which establishes terms and conditions for the $3.1 million the county allocated to Stokesdale for water system infrastructure, and authorize the mayor to sign it.

 5  0 to adopt the job description for a part-time administrative assistant.

 5  0 to increase the fee for the town’s engineer firm to review water main plans and inspect the water main for new subdivisions. The fee increases from $500 to $1,500 for plan review and $1 a square foot for water main inspection; the new fees are effective Feb. 9 for all new applicants.

Council Comments

„ Foy said he was still frustrated that Stokesdale and Oak Ridge are without representation on the School Board, “which is, in my opinion, illegal.”

„ Jones echoed Foy’s concerns about lack of representation, which he said “demonstrates a lack of respect” for those in northwest Guilford County. Closed Session. Council recessed at 11:05 p.m. for a closed session meeting to consult with the attorney on a legal matter; after reconvening about 20 minutes later, the meeting was adjourned.

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