Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2022
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Council, board give feedback on land use plan Summerfield Town Council and Planning Board members wary about language encouraging denser residential development
Jesse Day (forefront, left), Piedmont Triad Regional Council’s planning manager, talks to members of Summerfield’s Town Council and Planning Board about the town’s draft land use plan during their joint meeting on Sept. 26. Photo by Chris Burritt/NWO
by CHRIS BURRITT Welcome to our new advertisers ... 8 Bits & Pieces ....................................... 9 S’field Council meeting, Sept. 13 ...10 Heritage Day photo story .............. 14
SUMMERFIELD – Summerfield Town Council decided to remove language about subsidized housing from the draft of the town’s land use plan (LUP) that will guide development over the next two decades.
(L-R) Sandra Smith, Martha Pittman and Annette Joyce, members of the Heritage Day Planning Committee, sport big smiles as they pause for a quick photo during Oak Ridge’s annual Heritage Day on Sept. 24.
In a joint meeting this past Monday, Sept. 26, members of Summerfield’s council and the Planning Board reviewed the 70-page document prepared by Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC). Removal of the “subsidy” language reflected the skeptical reaction by some council and board members to references in the plan recommending denser, more affordable housing in Summerfield.
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The draft LUP states that “housing diversity to attract and retain ages 18-34 residents, ‘empty nesters’ and senior living will require a new vision for housing that is built with aesthetics in mind, located close to major transportation corridors, smaller lots, and connected via trails to parks and open space.”
The line that the council instructed PTRC’s staff to delete from the draft reads: “Existing single-family development does not allow middle income households to locate in Summerfield without subsidy.” More than 30 people attended the meeting in the gymnasium of Summerfield Charter Academy on U.S. 220 North. Council and board members sat behind folding tables that ran three-fourths the length of the basketball court.
The LUP has been in the works since March 2021, after the creation of a steering committee composed of town staff, council members and residents. The PTRC led the process and wrote the draft report which was posted
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