2,005 unit planned community could add 800+ school students, require new fire station, police substation
SMITHFIELD – Tuesday night, the Town of Smithfield approved the largest residential development in town history. The development is so large it will require a new fire station and potentially a new police substation.
In a 6-to-0 vote, the council approved Woodleaf, a 2,005 unit community on Mallard Road, between Brogden Road and the east side of Interstate 95. NRP Ventures LLC of Chapel Hill, NC plans to turn 491.2 acres into the massive planned development. It will include 490 single-family homes, 691 single-family townhomes, a 564 unit three-story multifamily development, and a 260 unit four-story multifamily development.
Wensman said Woodleaf would be constructed in four phases with Phase 1 getting underway in late-2023 or early-2024 with final completion of all 2,005 units sometime in 2028.
The massive subdivision would have 7 intersections and site access points onto Mallard Road. The NC DOT will likely require turn lanes based on a Traffic Impact Analysis. Due to the poor street condition of nearby Marshal Drive, the subdivision will not have a connector street to Marshal Drive, at the town’s request.
Woodleaf will include at least two 8,000 square foot club houses with fitness centers, lounges, meeting rooms, fireplaces, and community activity areas. A swimming pool will be built in one clubhouse near the apartment development area. Other amenities will include playground equipment, dog park, gazebo, decorative fencing, shade shelters and lawn sports areas. There are no public parks in the plan, only private areas for Woodleaf residents.
New Fire Station?
Wensman said the Smithfield Fire Department has indicated that with such a large community on the east side of Interstate 95, an additional fire station will be needed. A town report also said a Smithfield Police substation may also be needed. Woodleaf would have a total of about 8.3 miles of paved streets. Sidewalks will be constructed and a multi-use trail will be required on the west side of Mallard Road rather than a sidewalk.
The initial plan does not address trash and recycling but a condition was placed that multi-family apartments will require dumpster screens and HOA declarations will require trash and roll-off containers to be screened from the public right-of-way or stored in garages and rear yards.
800+ School Students
Town staff said Tuesday night they had not notified Johnston County Public Schools about the development pending its approval. Woodleaf could add about 820 students to the Johnston County school system once completed.
Councilman Travis Scott expressed concern about the smaller lot sizes as opposed to lots traditionally approved for single family homes in R-8 Zoning. Traditionally R-8 lots are 8,000 square feet. Woodleaf’s lots are closer to an average of 6,000 sq. ft. Side setbacks will be 5 feet instead of 10 feet. Rear setbacks will be 15 feet instead of 25 feet.
Under the original plan, front setbacks are 25 feet. Overflow parking for some of the development was more than 500 feet away from homes. Wensman said that was a long way for someone carrying groceries to their home. No on-street parking will be allowed.
First Vote Fails, Second Vote Passes
In a motion by Councilman Roger Wood and seconded by Sloan Stevens, the board voted in a 3-to-3 tie and denied the development, primarily over concerns about the front setbacks and distance of the overflow parking areas. (Councilman David Barbour and Mayor Andy Moore were absent Tuesday night.)
The council then called for a five minute recess. After council members huddled in a kitchen area off to the side of the council chambers they reemerged in open session. In a second vote made by Councilman Travis Scott, the board voted 6-to-0 to approve Woodleaf with the condition the front setbacks be extended from 25 to 30 feet (30 feet is the code for R-8 Zoning) and overflow parking areas be located 400 feet or less from the properties, instead of the originally proposed 500 feet.
The Woodleaf HOA will own and maintain the recreation and open spaces and amenities, landscaping and property maintenance for all residents in the development.
The 490 single family home will be a minimum of 1,600 sq ft and located on 6,000 square ft lots that are 50 ft wide. There will be a 1.5 car garage with two spaces in front of the homes for off-street parking.
The 691 attached single-family townhouses will be 20 ft wide with minimum sizes ranging from 1400-1500 sq ft ( 2 bedroom / 2 bath) to 1600 sq ft (3 bedroom / 2.5 bath). Plans call for 2 off street parking spaces per unit.
The 564 units in three-story apartments and 260 units in four-story apartments will be a minimum of 750-900 sq ft (1 bedroom / 1 bath) to 1000-2000 sq ft (2 bedroom / 2 bath). There will be 1.5 spaces for off street parking for 1 bedroom units, and 1.75 spaces for 2 bedroom units.
Planning Director Stephen Wensman said the developer would bring water and sewer to the site. A new pump station on the Woodleaf site would pump sewer directly to the treatment plant on Brogden Road.
Voluntary Annexation
Woodleaf’s developers plan to request voluntary annexation into the Smithfield Town limits.
Duke Energy has a main transmission power line that bisects the 491 acre site from east-to-west. The planning director said the developer has expressed interest in Town of Smithfield electric if it is feasable in the time frame it is needed, or they can use Duke Energy for power service, which may be easier.
The Smithfield Planning Board previously recommended approval of Woodleaf, which will greatly add to Smithfield’s tax base and annual tax revenue. The cost to taxpayers remains unknown for the additional public infrastructure required for the 2,005 unit development, the largest in Smithfield’s history and one of the largest ever in Johnston County.
So they know it needs a new fire station and police substation as well as a HUGE influx of students but they approved it with no plan in place to add the above items. Poor planning and this project should have been denied until those items were planned for and resolved. I wonder whose pocket is being lined to get this approved?
I agree and the estimate on the addition of school students is probably way off. I am all for growth, but not at the rate the town and county are going. Please slow down some.
I hope these r not cheap homes built on concrete slabs
Just wait to see how high your taxes will be
Oh honey, they will be I’m sure.
Get ready…those leaving failed cities will bring their policies and ideas with them unless they can be assimilated.
Do you have a list of these failed cities to share so we can be alert and prepared? Thanks!
NY, Baltimore, Seattle, SanFran… The list is endless and has one common theme.
Your list of failed cities should be distributed to banks, mortgage lenders and realtors so they are aware of those individuals they should refuse to do business with who wish to move to Smithfield.
Lol. Yeah, that’s not discrimination or anything.
It’s time to move forward people. It’s not 1985 anymore!!!!
Would you please clarify who “those” are? I can’t hear over your dog whistle.
Yet the town denied that 50 unit senior living apartments. The town of Smithfield Council is corrupt to the core. As it was mentioned how much money did the Council members make off this deal. Corruption at its best.
“The cost to taxpayers is unknown”…well how about deny it and let the taxpayers vote on if we want it or not. Can’t see a reason Smithfield NEEDS over 3000 new homes in the next 3 years….bc the council already approved 2 other housing communities with over 600 homes each. And isn’t against some type of rules or law to huddle in a kitchen outside of the public and then do another vote to pass it? Looks like the town of Smithfiled picks GREED.
Average size is 1/4 acre lot? And that’s excluding green space. Seems a bit snug. Nightmare incoming.
Another mass of humanity packed in like rats. Bringing, traffic,over-crowded schools, more police,fire,sewer,water,roads,crime,accidents,electric needs. I’m beginning to think city and county councils are making money off these neighborhoods. And right after yesterdays headline read “ 100 million needed for more space.” Just crazy. They should equine a $20,000 impact fee per residence.
Smithfield is trying to be like Raleigh and Charlotte that’s all. I was talking to an realtor and he said the small towns we all known for yesteryear will gone..
5 foot side setbacks!!!!!! Crazy!
What about the affordable houses for low income people
People aren’t “low income”. If you are referring to people who have a low income I would say…..buy affordable housing commensurate with their income level OR increase your income.
Is this all “low income “ housing? Strange they didn’t state that. I wonder why?
Probably for therich and wealthy.. No offence if you worked hard for what you or anyone earned.
Not those tiny lots and townhouses. Probably will be federally subsidized like terrybarns said, that’s why the Town is so hot to get it. It won’t be bringing in prosperity with that kind of housing.
Report: Nearly $100 Million Needed For Additional County Government Office Space. This is the headline from yesterdays article about how the increase in population is increasing needs. These constant massive subdivisions not only require infrastructure but adequate county and local services. They never help…..EVER. County and city politicians just don’t get it. They will bankrupt the county and then everyone will be talking about what happened?
I think the Johnston County board needs to step in and shut thus project down until all the bugs are worked out and to make sure none of the town board members are not lining their pockets because it sure looks like it with a tied vote3-3 then all of a sudden 6-0 after meeting in kitchen. Sounds like washington politics to.
I agree this sounds like a really bad idea with only 5 foot side setbacks this sounds like a cheap idea we need quality not quantity
This is one of the most ridiculous approvals by the Town of Smithfield that I’ve seen in quite some time. Who on earth thought such a massive community would be a good idea in that location, especially with all the infrastructure work that will need to be dealt with? What a stupid decision.
This is getting way out of control.
While there is certainly great concern regarding our roads being able to handle this amount of traffic and our schools having enough space to house the incoming children, is there a plan for more medical facilities? Our healthcare options are currently minimal at best and I don’t see how the local hospital could possibly take on more patients. Sadly I have seen no mention of additional healthcare facilities to accommodate an additional 10,000-25,000 people based on the currently approved subdivisions in the area.
Sad! Beginning of the end right here…..
This will be a traffic nightmare. The average home generates 10 trips per day, so that’s another 20,000 cars per day with only two ways into town. Most of it will go onto the already loaded Market St., at least until they figure out it’s quicker to go around on Brogden due to the delays on Market. Unless there’s a train.
There will have to be a traffic light added at the I-95 ramps east of the bridge. How many cars cross that bridge every day now? There will be traffic stopped on the bridge all the time waiting on the lights. There will be accidents where cars turn across the I-95 off ramp to go onto Mallard until that is redesigned. Traffic will pile up from the already busy Bright Leaf light all the way to I-95.This will increase commute times for the significant number of people using those I-95 ramps to get to work. Because of the freeway and railroad track it would be extremely expensive to increase the capacity through there, so it won’t get done …
Smithfield has barely grown in population since 2000. Other towns to the west have been booming and Smithfield has been losing those people that could live in their tax base! This is going to be great for the town! Let Smithfield GROW!
I agree with growth but i think housing should be quality and developments that increase value over the long hall.
maybe you like the idea of living where people are packed like sardines, but most here do not…these people need to go else where…
Agreed!!! Who wants to live like rats in a cage. To me this so-called growth is complete and total BS. The OG residents do not want these crappy built “developments”. The ones who agree with things like this are a bunch of conformist. They need to get out of NC & Joco.
This is going to be a once and done project that has a well thought out projection of sucking the federal government dry of thier HUD and local HAPP funds. Folks, let me with just a few strokes of my masterful and skillful finger tips paint what the Smithfield Town Council and NRP Adventures is polishing up here is the roughest looking turd to be passed off as a shining street’s of gold and a utopian society that meets the far-left Durham-Chapel Hill bench marks of a acceptable society. This is absolutely the perfect example of the proverbial trojan horse being sent into Johnston County on what has been made to look as a tax base silver platter.
Now just use your imagination and let’s compare the contrast of all the hard work, cultural and ancestral care that has gone into the Flowers Plantation that borders with Wake County that needs no new police station to protect the lives of it’s citizens. However, The Smithfield Town Council and Chapel Hills NRP Development are projecting the need for a new police station being needed for thier far-leff utopian street’s of gold new society. Folks the painting on the wall shows the Flowers Plantation actually working because of the stewardship of some of the hardest working families that call Johnston County home. The other painting is by the developers of a far-left society and the Town of Smithfield gives a vividly clear picture of needing a strong police presence even at the beginning of just blue print’s in the planning stage.
You so-called conservative Johnston County Commissioners are being tested. There is no question about that?
Taxes will be going UP
I agree with T Barns–so here’s the question. Wouldn’t this have had to go through a bunch of planning hoops to get to this point? Were all the neighbors notified and a public hearing held? It would have to be approved by NCDOT for the roads, the Smithfield planning board, the Smithfield commissioners, are the county people involved? Who is doing the utilities? The county or the city? Paid by who? I thought we had to buy our water from other places and the waste treatment plants were inadequate. From the outside, it seems like the three stooges are in charge. Where was the transparency to the community? All the more reason for each school district to be independent. Why would all the surrounding towns want to pay for new infrastructure for Smithfield school system?
This is short of nothing but horrible! Again, this is NOT needed nor WANTED in our county! However, what we do need is affordable housing, not crap built homes that cost insane amounts of money only to fall apart in five years. I truly do not understand these towns and this county selling out to these so-called developers. (Most of which are from out of state!) All you have managed to do is create a total cluster-F! STOP IT! WE THE OG NC & JOCO Folks are fed up and sick of this BS!
So is there or is there not sewer capacity at the plant? Smithfield can’t support local developers but can support the big money from Chapel Hill. Idiots run this town
Not idiots. You got outbid in “lobbying.” When the sewage becomes a problem, the taxpayers won’t have any choice but to eat it.