By Mark Wineka Salisbury Post Salisbury City Councilman William "Pete" Kennedy said a major mixed-used development off Jake Alexander Boulevard has three things going for it. Salisbury Village Center will provide job opportunities, lead to additional tax revenue for the city and represent a good example of controlled growth, Kennedy said Tuesday. The council voted 3-0 for a group development site plan that should pave the way for the 26-acre Salisbury Village Center. Developer Lane Yates proposes a mix of apartments, offices and retail establishments in what he says could be a $45 million to $50 million investment when it's complete. The city could some day realize $600,000 to $625,000 in tax revenues from the development, Yates added. He believes it also will lead to more commercial growth. "Developers follow developers," Yates said. As it was presented, the council approved a section set aside for eight, 24-unit apartment buildings, a clubhouse and swimming pool as a group development. The rest of the 26 acres, now mostly wooded, will be divided into outparcels. With the group development approval Tuesday, Yates can start trying to sell the outparcels. Four outparcels will be available along Jake Alexander Boulevard, and two outparcels will border N.C. 150 -- one on each side of a N.C. 150 entrance. In the middle of the tract will be room for three more buildings devoted to office and/or retail concerns, according to a master plan. City Councilmen Bill Burgin and Mark Lewis excused themselves from discussion and voting on Salisbury Village Center because of conflicts of interest with the project. Burgin's architectural firm developed the conceptual plans for the center, and Lewis' bank is providing financing. Long hours of discussion among Yates, city staffers, Salisbury Planning Board members and neighbors to the project preceded the council's approval Tuesday. Mayor Susan Kluttz praised the efforts of all the parties, as did Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson, who added that he was impressed with the site plan. Yates has agreed to provide for two ponds at the rear of the development to help catch water draining from the apartments toward Sunset Drive. Sunset Drive residents historically have faced flooding because of development to their east. Yates also agreed to move the apartment's clubhouse and cut its size by about half. He will provide 35 feet of buffering between the apartment units and existing homes in the Castlewood subdivision to the south. Yates will be expanding the entrance on Castlewood Drive so that it becomes two lanes in and two lanes out with a median. That expansion will require him to replace the Castlewood entrance sign and provide totally new landscaping between Castlewood Drive and the backs of homes in Castlewood. The city is requiring that the landscaping completely screen the road from the homes within three years of its installation. The expanded entrance road will wipe out an existing berm and landscaping. Once that existing berm is disturbed, the developer has 90 days to install the new landscaping. Castlewood residents met with Yates, city staff and Planning Board members at least five times in the past month to reach many of the compromises. "I'm satisfied with the process," Kennedy said. Yates said he generously exceeded many of the city requirements to be sensitive to the neighbors. He said the project could serve as a model for expediting future developments. Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.
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