The Sanford-Lee County Planning Department’s Technical Review Committee will consider proposals for two new housing subdivisions when the body meets later this month.
The two subdivision proposals – one on Petty Road near the intersection with Carbonton Road, and the other off Commerce Drive just west of N.C. 87 in southern Lee County – would total 161 new single family homes. Also on the agenda are a new hangar at the Raleigh Executive Jetport, an expansion at Crossroads Ministries in Broadway, and a new Blossman Gas facility on Cameron Drive in the Jonesboro area.
The Petty Road Subdivision would consist of 133 homes over two phases and be situated on 58.21 acres. The first phase would have 102 units and the second phase would have 31.
The Sky Ridge Estates Subdivision proposal would feature 28 homes on 16.5 acres, located on Eddy Drive. Eddy Drive is off Commerce Drive, which intersects N.C. 87 just north of Carolina Trace.
The TRC is comprised of local officials from various city and county government entities and meets monthly to review commercial projects and major subdivisions for compliance with the codes and policies of various local departments. TRC approval of a project – or even submission of a proposal for consideration – is not a concrete indicator that the project will happen; the TRC only looks at whether proposals meet city, county and state requirements.
The committee will also look at proposals for a new hangar at the Raleigh Executive Jetport off Farrell Road in the Deep River area, an expansion of the Crossroads Ministries church in Broadway, and a new Blossman Gas facility on Cameron Drive between Industrial Drive and Lee Avenue.
Sky ridge needs another exit besides commerce drive1
It would be unfortunate not to tie it into Lee Avenue. I can’t imagine the Fire Department is in favor of that. It would be worth it to the City to participate in the cost of the road extension and the loss of the cul de sac could be salved with two more lots.
Well it took a few moments but I think I have sussed it out. Install a traffic circle on Lee Avenue about 300 feet north of Cedarhurst’s intersection with Lee. That will help calm the speed of traffic on Lee Avenue and calm the speed entering or exiting Sky Ridge and then Commerce. I wouldn’t build it to thoroughfare specs but I would build it to allow for people to get from 87 to Woodbridge without going so far out of the way. It also prevents a Police or Fire vehicle from the City from potentially having to travel five miles to get from Woodbridge to the ABC store and vice versa in order to respond to a call. Any sort of tie from St. Andrews Church road to 87 near the Trace entrance is still years away. The City will need a Fire Station near or just past the Trace Entrance in the coming years and this is a chance to make site selection less problematic and prevent have to respond via a trip out to Swans Station.
There is a fire station maybe a half mile from the front Trace entrance. Don’t the city and county cooperate already on fire response?
If you read the most recent assessment by Lee County you find that the Trace stations is landlocked on a tiny parcel of land. It’s not physically suitable to serve the area as it grows and the station for Trace needs to be EMS/Vehicular Accident oriented. It needs to be able to support sleeping quarters and have a dining/assembly area big enough to host 80-100 indoors. It needs to be large enough to eventually house a ladder truck of at least 75 feet. Ideally it will make a good location for police substation and an emergency response marshalling area for everything south of NC 42/NC 78.
It will need to serve an urban area that runs to Swanns Station. The politics of getting more volunteers these days is tough and the politics of striking a deal between a volunteer fire department and a City are difficult because the VFD is a creature of locals and attuned to very localized needs and politics. They are like the heart of a community. A City is much colder entity and they have to do things with a contract not a handshake and a promise.
“Thanks for the advice” , as John McLean said from underneath the table at Nakatomi tower😁
Here’s a good example of why VFD’s and a City clash. When the VFD knows a local person’s kid is sick, they can whip up a fundraiser in a moments notice. They can use their money to address the need that they see. Once that goes under a City, you are tied up with the City’s polices and procedures that they have to go by so that the State of NC or their Insurance Carrier don’t come after them. They have to worry about all sorts of crap rather than just doing something that makes everyone feel good and is good. The VFD can function like a Church or a Non-Profit when it wants to while the City is always stuffed into a starched shirt, wearing a tie, and wingtip shoes worried about who will sue them, and what the media will will write or air about them being unfair to someone,
Why in the hell does the City of Sanford keep approving housing communities in Sanford knowing that we don’t have infrastructure in place. We need better roads, schools, nice restaurants, retail stores, and schools.
For the property tax revenue.
Infrastructure follows the development of housing – it does not preceed it.
Certain amenities suck in Sanford because it’s too easy to drive to Apex, Southern Pines, Cary, etc. Certain amenities are not present in Lee County because overall the population skews blue collar or middle class retired. More people have to move to Sanford, and they need to be wealthier to entice private enterprise to locate in Sanford. Cary and Apex used to be small towns with nothing happening and no amenities 55 years ago. It’s only after people started moving there than private investment followed.
Sometimes something happens (lots of new housing) that runs counter to what you assume or believe about how stuff works (we don’t have the infrastructure or schools to support it).
The thing to do when that happens is to reevaluate what you believe or assume and see if you’ve got it wrong somewhere.