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CLEMMONS — One minute, the opponents of the Harper Road Townhomes project were cheering loudly, thinking that the 154-unit development on 21.62 acres at the northeast corner of the intersection at S. Peace Haven Road had been rejected, only to quickly learn Mayor Mike Rogers’ first deciding vote in a 2-2 council split was against the original motion for denial.

“I will vote against the motion that was presented so the motion fails 3-2,” Rogers said as the full house in attendance for last Tuesday night’s Clemmons Village Council meeting erupted in delight. However, the mayor came back in response: “Do we have another motion? I voted against the motion to deny.”

The crowd then started to chatter in a negative tone about that outcome before the attorney chimed in to clarify: “The motion was to deny, and it was 2-2. The mayor broke the vote by also voting against the denial. And so now another motion will be entertained, but that motion was defeated.”

Rogers then said he would request another motion from the council, which Mike Combest made for approval and was seconded by Mary Cameron. Michelle Barson, who made the earlier motion to deny the project, voted in opposition along with Randy Wooden.

Rogers, who stated it was upon the mayor to break the tie during voting, said he would vote in favor with the motion passing to approve the 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).

In the previous council meeting on May 12, there was a lengthy public hearing where opponents of the project marched to the podium to voice their concerns, but the ultimate decision was to defer taking action until the next meeting.

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 Michelle Barson agreed to table and defer it to the May 27 meeting.

So the public hearing was closed and deferred until the night after Memorial Day with Rogers reading the action item and saying: “The public hearing has been closed. It is now time for council to have discussion and a vote.”

That was followed by a lengthy silence before Cameron stated that while she was unable to attend the public hearing at the last meeting due to a medical issue, she had read all of the information related to the case and was fully prepared to discuss and vote.

Another quiet stretch came before Rogers asked, “No motion?” Eventually, Barson broke the silence by making a motion to deny the zoning map amendment with Wooden giving a second. Combest and Cameron followed by voting against the denial, creating a 2-2 tie. Before Rogers’ vote against the motion that caused it to fail 3-2, Combest said that he had met with the petitioners and traffic engineers, expressing his concern about their numbers, but said that the traffic counts were legitimate.

“They’re raw numbers, they’re calculated numbers, and their counts that underpin their traffic impact analysis are legitimate and accurate,” Combest said. “They are fully scoped, and these are using NCDOT (tracking and accounting) accounts. This project accordingly complies with all requirements established in our UDO (United Development Ordinance). It just does. Accordingly, I would vote to approve the project.”

And that turned out to be the final outcome, much to the chagrin of the crowd, which let the council know its feelings before filing out of the town hall chambers.

“We are all voters,” one said. “Vote them out.”

“Cowards,” another yelled.

“It’s all about money,” was another reply.

“What about the residents?” another shouted.

“Too many cars,” said another.

In the previous meeting, when the residents had their turn to speak, Gene Lowder of the 2300 block of Harper Road made comments that seemed to resonate with the sentiment of the crowd, most of whom were raised in an area that has been engulfed by massive growth.

“There are roughly 300 signatures here in opposition to this rezoning,” Lowder said. “The question really gets down to the density. That’s what the challenge is here. The best use for this property is residential. 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.”

In other business from last Tuesday night’s meeting, the council called for a public hearing for a Zoning Map Amendment for Nova Triad Partners for property owned by William Anthony Smith from RS-15 (Residential, Single-Family) to RM-8-S (Residential, Multifamily – Special) for property located at 2590 Old Glory Road, approximately 1,000 feet west of the intersection of Old Glory Road and Lewisville-Clemmons Road, consisting of 13.86 acres.

In the manager’s report, Mike Gunnell provided an update on an offer of $600,000 for property owned by the village on Harper Road that was discussed in the previous meeting. The update included going through the upset bid advertising process and stating that no additional offers were received by the May 27 deadline.

Gunnell said he wanted to request adopting a resolution that will allow the sale of the property and authorize the mayor and clerk to execute the contract after terms are agreed to. He said attorney Al Benshoff has reviewed the offer and would like to negotiate a couple of items in a counteroffer. 

The village purchased the property, which is located at 2848 Harper Road, years ago but never found an adequate use for it. It is 14.7 acres and located just north of the roundabout at Peace Haven Road.

In other highlights from last Tuesday night’s meeting, the council:

• Heard from Gunnell regarding the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025-26 of $12,812,240 for the General Fund and $1,843,880 for the Stormwater Enterprise Fund. The property tax rate is calculated at 15 cents per $100 valuation, and the stormwater utility fund is reflected at $90 per year. A call for a public hearing was set for Monday, June 9, at 6 p.m. to adopt the budget and set the stormwater fee.
• Heard from Nancy Miller, 7500 block of Maidwood Court, who expressed a concern that there are way too many cars, and requested a review by the council of the ordinances regarding the parking of cars in the streets and putting some restrictions in place. Later in the meeting in council comments, Barson said that many efforts have been made in the past to address this problem, but that it may be worth taking another look.
• Heard from Matt Sin, 600 block of Friar Tuck Road in Winston-Salem, who said he is happy with how Clemmons has kept its identity but the village needs to be concerned about the zoning bills proposed by the state legislators. He also voiced concerns about unpaid lunch debt at the end of the school year that has to be paid by the schools, calling it unfair and to contact representatives about the cutting of programs.