CONCORD - With plans to adopt a land-use plan for 39,200 acres of unincorporated county land in August, the county is seeking a last round of input from residents on the plan.
On Tuesday, the plan was on display for public comment at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center.
A final presentation and public hearing of the plan will be held at the Aug. 18 meeting of the Cabarrus Board of County Commissioners. Then, on Aug. 22, commissioners will hold a public hearing related to the down-zoning of properties in certain sub-areas.
Wayne Cook and his daughter, Cathy Cook, have a 180-acre family cattle farm on Sapp Road, and both said they were extremely pleased that the plan retains agricultural open space for most of the area to the east of Concord. In some open space areas, the zoning allows for three homes per three acres.
“I’ve gone to the community meetings ... and I’m very pleased,” Cathy said. “The residents made it very clear that they wanted rural land to stay rural. And it does that.”
If certain open-space requirements are met, the open space areas would allow for two houses per acre.
In June, Concord and the county ended an eight-month pause on annexations and utility extension in the area through an interlocal agreement.
The agreement states that Concord will not extend utilities to developers or allow developers to tap onto utilities without the consent of commissioners.
County officials have said an agreed-upon land-use plan benefits governments and residents alike, as it answers questions for the county and cities regarding utilities and development issues and gives property owners some stability as to how land surrounding theirs will be developed.
Meg Nealon, a partner with LandDesign, the planning firm that oversaw the land-use planning process, said the most recent changes to the plan included updating it for developments that had been permitted prior to the planning process, pointing to areas along N.C. 49 between Harrisburg and Concord.
The land-use plan focuses most growth, both residential and commercial, to the area east of Harrisburg to U.S. 601. It also proposes a mixed-use and commercial area for the intersection of U.S. 601 and N.C. 49.
Generalized boundaries for the “Central Area of Cabarrus County” include Rowan County to the north; Irish Potato Road and Cold Springs Road to the east; portions of Rocky River Road to the south and southwest; and the jurisdictions of Harrisburg, Concord and Kannapolis to the west.
Those jurisdictions will also have to approve portions of the land-use plan that pertain to them, officials said Tuesday.
