Taco Bell, apartment complex top Planning Board’s agenda

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 1, 2009

By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
A new Taco Bell and a 48-unit apartment complex are among items the Salisbury Planning Board will discuss Tuesday.
John Leatherman is looking to reclassify the southeast corner of Jake Alexander Boulevard and N.C. 150 to allow for construction of a Taco Bell restaurant.
Leatherman owns two parcels ó a combined 2.4 acres ó at the corner, and the new 2,755-square-foot restaurant and its parking would lie on about half that site, which has been cleared, graded and partially paved.
A Pizza Hut takeout and delivery location and some vacant retail space are on the developed portion of the entire 2.4 acres.
Leatherman is not proposing that the Highway Business zoning change, but he is asking that the city repeal old “special district” ordinances from 2001 and adopt a new Conditional District ordinance.
The Planning Board meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 217 S. Main St.
In another matter, the Planning Board will review a rezoning request for roughly 10 acres and establish a Conditional District to permit a 48-unit apartment complex behind Salisbury Mall.
The apartments, called Westridge Village, would be located between the skating rink and the existing Westridge Place apartments.
The existing zoning is Highway Business. The requested zoning is Residential Mixed-Use (RMX).
The RMX district allows a maximum density of 18 units per acre.
The developers’ zoning application says the new apartments would be “income-based housing similar to the adjacent first phase,” named Westridge Place.
The developer proposes six two-story buildings and a single-story resident computer center and recreational open space.
The 10-acre tract is currently undeveloped, sloping away from the mall property toward a creek.
The Planning Board also will consider Tuesday a request from the Looking Glass Art Collective at 405 N. Lee St.
The group seeks a special-use permit to allow on-site consumption of alcohol, which will be associated with an art and theater gallery.