The Aberdeen Planning Board reviewed a rezoning request and heard details about a proposed 305-home development known as Ten Pines on Thursday evening.
According to the plans, the development would span 122 acres near N.C. Highway 5 and Olivia Lane. The land sits at the northern edge of Aberdeen, bordering the Country Club of North Carolina and the community of Jackson Hamlet. Across Highway 5, the site faces a shopping center anchored by Food Lion and Sandhills Bowling Center.
Planning Director Pamela Graham said the request falls under a Planned Development district, which allows projects to use more flexible design standards than conventional zoning. A previous proposal for the same parcel outlined 370 homes and 120,000 square feet of retail and office space, but this plan never came to fruition even though it had been approved.
The current plan reduces the number of units and eliminates commercial space in favor of single-family homes, duplexes, and a site for a church.
Sean Davis of Morris & Ritchie Associates told the board that the change amounts to a downzoning, with more open space and fewer impacts on traffic and infrastructure. Prior to presenting his plan to the Planning Board, Davis consulted with area fire officials, the Moore County Board of Education, the Country Club of North Carolina (CCNC) (where Davis resides), the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Company.
The Plan
According to Davis, the development will include three different home types, with prices ranging from the high $300,000s to the high $500,000s. The duplexes will be age-targeted with master suites and bathrooms on the first floor to accommodate all ages and abilities.
Plans tentatively call for pocket parks, a putting green, pickleball courts, and other recreation areas. Roughly 80 acres are reserved for housing, while the rest will remain open space and buffer space.
The project will connect to public water and sewer, with the developer offering to dedicate an acre for a new town well.
The proposal also features a 50-foot-wide preserved green zone running along most of the property’s perimeter, along with close to 40 acres designated for both leisure and recreational use. During a September gathering attended by 45 local residents, Davis outlined a series of optional commitments that emerged from the discussion, including limiting light pollution even more than required, extending pavement on Olivia Lane up to Cherry Hill Drive from its revised origin point, and working closely with CCNC during the planning process.
A sample of the proposed home designs.
Board members and public comments alike raised questions about the impact of traffic on an already busy road. However, the developers had already conducted traffic studies and pointed to the current improvements being made to Highway 5, including the addition of a stoplight at Linden Road, a turning lane, and the highway’s widening.
Traffic studies indicate the highway currently generates about 2,800 daily trips, under the state’s 3,000-trip threshold that triggers additional requirements.
Throughout the meeting, board member Adriana M. Janker repeatedly asked about the impact on area schools.
Davis said he personally consulted with Jenny Purvis, assistant superintendent for Operations with Moore County Schools.
Purvis reported that elementary and middle schools in the district could accommodate new students. Pinecrest High School, however, is already over capacity and has been for a while.
Davis added that he does not expect the duplexes to add any additional school-aged children, as those homes will be age-targeted.
Janker asked if Davis took into consideration other subdivisions being built simultaneously. David replied that he did ask Purvis about this, but she was unable to provide an estimate. The school board relies on annual studies from N.C. State University rather than conducting its own projections, which limits how precisely it can estimate the number of students generated by new subdivisions.
As public comments opened, several residents spoke about traffic, runoff, and school capacity.
Neighbors told the board that they worried a new stormwater pond would exacerbate preexisting flooding in nearby communities, citing past problems in the Cherry Hill area.
The project’s engineer took the time to explain that water from the Ten Pines property drains in a different direction and would not flow toward Cherry Hill. He clarified, in layman’s terms, that stormwater would be released through defined channels, that the retention ponds were actually well over the suggested size, and that the developers will take every step required by state and town standards to control runoff.
Davis stated that he and his family reside in the CCNC, located just behind the proposed development, and that he would not bring forward a plan that would harm the surrounding neighborhoods. Knowing the area well, Davis added that the proposed property is not in the same watershed as the area experiencing issues with flooding.
“There are two large assisted living facilities that drain directly into [the affected] watershed,” he explained. “There is a lot of existing impervious surface within that watershed. We personally have voluntarily gone above and beyond by trying to evaluate that problem so we can bring it up to Pinehurst and say ‘here are some potential solutions.’”
The board and engineer both reiterated to the public that the developers cannot simply dump their water on neighboring properties and will have proper measures put in place—and that the planning board simply makes a recommendation to the town commissioners. The plan must still undergo technical review to ensure compliance with town requirements.
Further, a recent, in-depth study presented by Town Manager Paul Sabiston delineated the extent to which Aberdeen—and all of Moore County—is sorely in need of housing.
“Ribera Development has taken steps to ensure that any adverse impacts to neighbors, the environment, the roadway system, public infrastructure such as sewer, water, police, Fire/EMS, and parks that serves this site will be mitigated to the fullest extent possible so that there is no diminution in value for our neighbors,” writes Davis in his official proposal. “We believe the Ten Pines community is a reasonable and responsible use of this valuable land in and of itself.”
The Vote
The Planning Board voted separately on two required findings. On the first motion, which determined the rezoning is consistent with Aberdeen’s long-term plans, members Janet Peele, Brooks Pomeranz, Roger Bone, Diane Innes, and Raymond Lee voted in favor, while Adriana M. Janker and Tim Marcham opposed. On the second motion, which found the request to be reasonable and in the public interest, the same five members voted in favor, with Janker and Marcham again dissenting.
Janker explained the reason for her dissenting vote. “I’m not opposed to growth,” started Janker. “I’m realistic that we have open spaces out here, but … my concern about adding another 300 homes is the schooling, adding more traffic to Highway 5, and I don’t particularly like the entry points to the subdivision, but I know those determinations came from the railroad.”
“I understand; I sympathize with everything you’re saying,” Peele told her. “However, I think they’ve done a beautiful job with their layout considering what times are. It was originally commercial, apartments, more homes, more traffic. For me, this new plan is a better compromise. I sympathize with these people, and I have all the faith and confidence that the water issue can be mitigated with engineers and the smart people who will make sure that doesn’t happen. They simply can’t do that.”
The rezoning proposal will now go before the Aberdeen Commissioners on Oct. 27 at 6 p.m.
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~ Article written by Sandhills Sentinel Assistant Editor Abegail Murphy. Images and graphics courtesy the Aberdeen Planning Board.
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