Townhomes project deferred to next meeting: Harper Road residents voice concerns over proposed 154-unit complex near roundabout
Published 12:08 am Thursday, May 15, 2025
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By Jim Buice
For the Clemmons Courier
CLEMMONS — Following a lengthy public hearing, where opponents of the Harper Road Townhomes project marched to the podium to voice their concerns in Monday night’s Clemmons Village Council meeting, the ultimate decision was to defer taking action until the next meeting.
Council member Mike Combest said that after reading a traffic analysis involving the property at the intersection of Peace Haven Road and Harper Road, he wanted more time to make an informed decision, and council member Michelle Barson agreed to table and defer it to the next council meeting on Tuesday, May 27, at 6 p.m.
The public hearing was called for a zoning map amendment for Crescent Acquisitions LLC for property owned by WW Properties & Rentals from RM-18-S (Residential Multifamily — Special) to RM-8-S (Residential, Multifamily — Special) for property located on the northeast corner of the intersection at S. Peace Haven Road and Harper Road, consisting of 21.62 acres (Zoning Docket SZMA-25-1).
Prior to the public hearing, planner Doug Moore provided a quick review of the project, which includes 154 units, saying that it is consistent with the town’s Comprehensive Plan and does fit with the future land use plan, which calls for neighborhood residential.
Moore added that the town worked with the applicant on conditions and that the recommendation from staff was approval with the conditions in the staff report.
However, the recommendation from the Planning Board in its last meeting was denial in a 4-2 vote, but Moore said that the board basically adopted the inconsistency statement that was provided to them.
Nick Blackwood, who was representing Crescent Communities, which he said was an experienced developer based out of Charlotte with a resume of many high-quality projects, spoke first in the public hearing.
In his overview, he said that the project originally called for 180 apartment units compared to what is now a 154-unit townhome development with the majority of the units having two-car garages.
“So it’s really a downzoning from a density unit,” said Blackwood, who talked about maintaining a significant undisturbed area with natural tree buffers, including those around the two streams on the property, along with adequate parking on the streets, a reduction in building heights to 40 feet and emergency access.
Although 19 people signed up on the list in opposition to the projects, only part of them spoke, led off by Gene Lowder of Harper Road.
“I’ve not seen a plan like this in the Clemmons area,” said Lowder, who added that most of those in attendance were raised here and have been here most of their lives. “And the question really gets down to the density. That’s what the challenge is here. The best use for this property is residential. The question comes in to what density will be allowed by the town.
“If you look back at the previous rezoning, yes this is a downzoning. You went from 8.5 units to about 7.12 units per acre on this plan. What is not mentioned is that the impervious surface went up 50 percent from the previous plan. Now we’ve lived in Clemmons, and we’ve all dealt with this stormwater issue here.
“There are roughly 300 signatures here in opposition to this rezoning. Today’s the day to make a change and make a statement. Have you considered the impact to the schools? The bottom line is we’re adding 500 cars and 500 people on 21 acres of land, and that’s where we have the heartburn. You’re looking at a traffic nightmare. There are too many houses, and it doesn’t work. Consider what the community wants.”
Kermit Wrights, who lives on Wrights Lake Drive, which is adjacent to the proposed development, stated that his family has lived here for about 250 years and always enjoys privacy and quiet, but those days are long gone.
“I know the land is going to be developed somewhere someway, and that’s fine, but why does it have to be 150-some houses,” Wrights said. “Why can’t they just build a nice neighborhood, a place where people can live there but not overcrowd Clemmons?
“There’s just too much traffic. Sometimes I have to sit 10 minutes at the end of my driveway just to get out. The roads can’t handle it. And the schools. Where’s it going to stop? I say just build 30 or 40 nice homes.”
Wyatt Kmen, who lives on Harper Road, said there are about 100 homes along the entire stretch between Styers Ferry Road and Peace Haven Road, “and now we’re adding 150 here.”
After the comments and rebuttals, including hearing from Jon Schick, traffic engineer for Crescent Communities, the item went before council, with Combest the first to speak.
“I want to go straight to the issue of traffic,” Combest said. “First of all, I read the traffic impact analysis, and it was top notch. Having said that, as I read your traffic analysis, it seems to disqualify this project.”
Combest pointed out that the nearby major intersection of Peace Haven Road and Lewisville-Clemmons Road received a level of service that was unacceptable to the Clemmons Unified Development Ordinance and also to the Forsyth County UDO.
“As I read it, I don’t know how I can support it,” Combest said. “Something that drives an intersection of that importance by this population, 75 percent of the traffic coming out of this development will go to that intersection as I read your TIA (traffic impact analysis). That’s 900 vehicles a day, etc. etc. I just need to get some extra time to sit down and grind through this thing so I can really understand the impact of it.”
Barson quickly agreed, and after further discussion and closing the public hearing, the vote was deferred to the next council meeting.
Later during council comments, Barson said, “I wanted to take note that there were a lot of incorrect statements made today by the public, and I just think that should be acknowledged in some way, and that not everything that you heard was true, and that I wish there was a way to conduct a fact check here to clarify.”
In other highlights from Monday night’s meeting, the council:
- Heard from Gunnell that a project for improving school traffic flow by rerouting internally at West Forsyth that would be paid for by NCDOT has been approved. He said it will go back in front of the NCDOT board in June for funding, adding that it would be followed by plans and construction. “It’s not as quick as we had hoped, but it’s moving forward,” Gunnell said.
- Approved Resolution-R-04 authorizing the advertisement for the sale of a certain municipal property utilizing the upset bid process after receiving a bid on the property. The village purchased the property, which is located at 2848 Harper Road, for $593,000 in 2006 but never found an adequate use for it over the years. It is 14.7 acres and located just north of the roundabout at Peace Haven Road and could be on the agenda for the next council meeting on Tuesday, May 27, if no upset bids are received.
- Approved the renewal of the attorney’s contract with Al Benshoff (The Brough Law Firm PLLC) through June 30, 2027.
- Accepted Tanglewood Forest Drive, which is located off of Clinard Road, into its network of streets in the village.