GREENE COUNTY
Bulldozers, concrete trucks, land-clearing equipment, and more continue to break up the red clay of Greene County. Angst to some residents and the success to builders approaching the county have resulted from two approvals by the county for two major subdivisions.
Cary Station Road is a main corridor for the county, and concerns have surfaced about the traffic impact for residents along that artery as Greene County continues to grow.
Two new developments approved and ready for groundbreaking will add a total of 534 new single-family dwellings.
The Bluffs at Carey Station will be situated on 137.16 acres. It will consist of 344 new single-family homes. New building permits have been issued, but no groundbreaking date has been confirmed, per Chuck Wooley of Greene County’s Building Inspection Division.
Another development on Carey Station Road, Oakdale Forest, will consist of 186 single-family homes on 78.3 acres.
Wooley shared that an investor approached the county with a preliminary plan to introduce new affordable housing to the area, which is needed. The home concept would range in the $200,000 to $400,000 price range and would address what the county has needed for its residents. The investor has been advised to put a plan together for review to the county.
Earlier in 2022, the county moved on to addressing resident concerns of high-density home sites in the county and enacted new ordinances. This was reflective of its new strategic plan to address the rapid growth the county is experiencing. Both The Bluffs at Carey Station and Oakdale fell under the old ordinances, which allowed more homes per acre.
The old ordinance consisted only of one planned unit development (PUD) zoning district with a minimum of 50 contiguous acres.
The new ordinance created two PUD districts consisting of a major and minor PUD. A major PUD had a minimum of 2,000 contiguous acres and a minor PUD had a minimum of 200 contiguous acres. The all-important density under the old ordinance was a maximum of four dwellings per acre. The new ordinance allows only two dwellings for both a minor and major PUD.
Additionally, it requires a 30-percent open space buffer.
The lot size has changed to a minimum of 15,000 square feet for a major PUD and 1,000 square feet of heated space for a minor PUD.
Setback requirements now call for 16-foot setbacks for a minor PUD and include exceptions relative to fire protection, which comply with an International Residential and International building code.
“The changes were necessitated due to the obvious growth of the county,” Wooley said. “We have grown so fast, we need to determine the probable impact on the area, such as road layouts. If we discover problems, we will rapidly address them and slow the growth down a bit.”
Airabella, Greensboro’s first “live, work, play” community off Linger Longer Road broke ground last October with the presale of its first townhome phase underway. Calls to Red Clay, the developer, have not been returned for progress updates as of press time.