SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council approved the annexation of an approximately 28-acre property on Sells Road that would allow for a proposed $30 million, 94-home development.

The annexation request concerned two properties located in the 600 and 700 blocks of Sells Road, both owned by the Zumbrunnen family.

Hannah Jacobson, community planning director for the city, presented the staff report on the request and said that the annexation was being requested so that a housing development, called Chatham Creek, could be constructed and serviced by the city utilities and departments. She added that because of the location of the property, which borders the city limits and is in Salisbury’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, the annexation would be unlikely to be problematic for the city’s ability to deliver effective service to the area. Jacobson said that Salisbury-Rowan Utilities would already be expected to service the property regardless of whether it was annexed or not and the police and fire departments already provide service to the area as well.

“The property owner has also met the requirements to petition the city for annexation in order to receive the water and sewer services already. So, really what it comes down to, annexation will determine if the subdivision receives other city services from other departments, such as public works for trash and recycling or transportation and engineering and code enforcement,” said Jacobson.

The development would be serviced by roads that would be built by the developer under city standards, at which point they would become city roads and the maintenance would be performed by the city. The roads would have two access points on Sells Road and at least one accessing into the Country Club Hills neighborhood, with the current preliminary plat plan drawings showing one road accessing Glendower Drive and one accessing Kingsbridge Road.

The 94-home subdivision would be allowed regardless of whether the annexation was approved or not, said Jacobson, as the property is currently zoned General Residential 6, which allows for single-family residential homes to be built at six units per acre.

“We went through this beforehand with pursuing a rezoning case, but we met with community members and ultimately decided to pull back on that and go for the by-right option. Currently, we’re at about 3.39 dwelling units per acre even though that could be six,” said Austin Pope, a project manager for engineering firm Kimley-Horn working on the development.

Council Member Harry McLaughlin asked if there were any plans to improve Sells Road, which is a state-maintained road, in that area, adding that he knew it could be busy during school days due to the nearby North Hills Christian School. Jacobson said that there were no plans to improve the roadway to her knowledge and Pope said that they were uncertain if anything needed to be done as neither the N.C. Department of Transportation or the city required a traffic study.

As it was presented at the meeting, the completed and annexed development would represent an increase of $30 million in property value for the city, increasing its annual tax revenue by approximately $190,000. 

After the discussion, the city council members voted unanimously to approve the annexation.