The Sanford City Council will vote tonight to rezone 18 acres of land along U.S. 1 (the Beechtree Drive frontage road) to pave the way for a potential 43,000-square-foot wellness center and 30,000-square-foot medical office building.
The city held a public hearing on the proposed re-zoning on Dec. 20. The tract of land — located between the N.C. 15-501 and U.S. 421 bypass exits next to New Hope Church — is currently zoned as “residential – single family.” If approved, the land will be re-zoned to include “medical and dental clinics or offices, ambulatory or outpatient care, family planning and care and blood or organ banks” as well as other institutions such as schools, libraries, hospitals, day care, fitness centers, museums and playgrounds (this doesn’t mean these are coming as well).
Site designs submitted to the city by LS3P, an architecture firm based in Raleigh, call for the two buildings to be connected by a covered walkway, with a plaza area built in between. The two buildings will be built close to Beechtree Drive to “allow for best visibility from U.S. 1,” and parking will be located in the back.
The buildings and parking lot will cover roughly half of the 18 acres of re-zoned land, currently owned by Mary A. Knipple. If approved, the buildings may be constructed with brick, stucco, concrete, stone, aluminum and glass and must be in compliance with the Sanford/Lee County 2020 Land Use Plan, “which identifies an area with a high level of design and development standards along a major transportation corridor” such as U.S. 1.
No other information has been released by the city concerning details about the wellness center and medical offices.
Sanford’s City Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. at Sanford City Hall.
