TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Jodi Phelps - Assistant City Manager
Dr. Gerald Newton, AICP - Development Services Director
FROM: Thomas Cohen - Planner I
Craig Harmon, CZO - Senior Planner
DATE: April 27, 2026
RE:Title
Approve P26-06: A request to rezone properties at 533, 537, 545, & 607 Pritchett Rd (0407252027000, 0407242818000, 0407252339000, 0407252226000) consisting of 1.76 acres and owned by WILLIAMS, CLARKE A;WILLIAMS, FLORENCE M , from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5).
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COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
7 - Brenda McNair
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal I: Safe & Secure Community
• Objective 1.2 - To ensure traffic and pedestrian safety
The site plan provided for townhome development includes a lot length driveway for the residents to have ample room to safely access and exit the property. Parking spaces are not attached to Pritchett Road reducing the likelihood of accidents.
Goal II: Responsive City Government Supporting a Diverse & Viable Economy
• Objective 2.1 - To ensure a diverse City tax base.
The proposal broadens the city tax base by enabling the construction of more units per acre as Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) than as Single Family 10 (SF-10) on already serviced land - increasing the tax value per acre and increasing land and utility utilization.
Goal III: City Invested in Today & Tomorrow
• Objective 3.2 - To manage the City's future growth and strategic land use.
The proposal aligns with the Future Land Use Plan’s intentions of increasing density while also increasing infill development. These properties are empty but not undeveloped land and surrounded by existing residential development.
Goal IV: Desirable place to live, work, and recreate
• Objective 4.5 - To ensure a place for people to live in great neighborhoods
The proposal would provide access to multifamily housing as part of infill development, allowing for more affordable housing costs than if the land remained Single Family 10. A neighborhood with diverse housing opportunities with access to residential and school services is a desirable place to be with positive opportunities generated from additional residents.
Executive Summary:
P26-06 is a request to rezone approximately 1.76 acres across four parcels located at 545 (±0.65ac), 607 (±0.29ac), 533 (±0.41ac), and 537 (±0.42ac) Pritchett Road from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5). The sites at 545, 607, and 537 are vacant lots while site 533 contains a manufactured home and accessory building.
This is a straight rezoning, and these properties have not been the subject of a rezoning application within the last five years.
The sites are surrounded by a mixture of undeveloped, developed, and empty parcels. The undeveloped land is directly west of each site. The developed parcels are detached, single-family homes to the North, East, and South of the sites while a manufacture home park is located to the Southwest. In addition, 541 Pritchett Road is a developed and detached single-family home residing between sites 545 and 537 Pritchett Road.
On March 10 of 2026 the request achieved a unanimous (5-0) recommendation of approval by the Zoning Commission. The motion to approve was made by Zaccheaus Eley and was seconded by Robert Hight. There were two speakers in favor and one in opposition.
Background:
Rezoning Request: From Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5)
Parcel Identification Number (PIN):
• 545 Pritchett Road: 0407252027000
• 607 Pritchett Road: 0407242818000
• 533 Pritchett Road: 0407252339000
• 537 Pritchett Road: 0407252226000
Site Size:
• 545 Pritchett Road: ± 0.65 acres
• 607 Pritchett Road: ± 0.29 acres
• 533 Pritchett Road: ± 0.41 acres
• 537 Pritchett Road: ± 0.42 acres
• Collective Total: ± 1.76 acres
Existing Site Conditions: Each site is a vacant lot
Utilities: Each subject parcel has access to public sewage and water
Applicant Narrative (Summary): Applicant states the intention to build ADA-accessible, multifamily, housing that will abide by local character by rezoning the subject lots into MR-5 as part of infill development based around expanding on the existing mix of SF-10 and MR-5 housing.
Public Notice: Notification letters were sent to property owners within 1,000 feet of the subject site equating to 173 notices sent.
Issues/Analysis:
Case P26-06 is a request to rezone four parcels located at 533, 537, 545, and 607 Pritchett Road from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5). Per NCGS-160D, general rezoning would entitle the landowner to the full range of uses specified for that designation but bounded by the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The MR-5 district is intended to meet diverse housing needs by allowing a variety of residential housing options ranging from moderate to high densities of up to 20 units per acre with potential for zero lite line development. The zone also allows for centrally located open spaces, complementary institutional uses (Religious institutions, post offices, police sub-stations, day care, and small-scale convenience retail) as accessory uses. The density allowance increased to 24 units per acre if the site abuts an arterial, collector, or major street so street classification matters.
Immediately surrounding the subject properties are detached single-family homes, the Cliffdale Church Complex, an undeveloped segment on land, and a manufactured home park. Beyond the immediate are apartments and residentially oriented services such as a bus stop, post office, elementary school, rec center, convenience store, and a daycare center. While the abutting street is a local street, the intersection a quarter mile North is Cliffdale Road, a minor arterial. However, this does not enable the higher density allowance for MR-5 but shows the area is of mixed, neighborly, use.
The Future Land Use Plan 2040 (FLUP) designations are central to policy analysis affixed by local contexts, reasonableness of the request, and service to the public good. Per the FLUP the subjects located at 533, 537, and 545 Pritchett Road are designated to be High Density Residential (HDR) while the subject located at 607 Pritchett Road is to be Medium Density Residential (MDR).
HDR is defined as being town homes and apartments in 3-5 story buildings with some very small single-family lots possible at a density of 5-16 dwellings per acre. MDR is defined as primarily single-family residential neighborhoods with small lots at 3-6 dwellings per acre with interspersed duplexes and town homes.
In relation to density, the maximum density achievable by the current SF-10 zoning district is limited but can achieve a density consistent with the lower spectrum of the moderate density residential category. While MR-5 represents a significant range of use cases and potential densities, the physical dimensions of the lots, even if combined, would achieve the lower to middle spectrum of the high-density residential category. With the addition of transitional standards and other requirements that potential is pushed toward the lower end of that spectrum.
The applicant has also given documented intention of building townhomes by combining the northern two lots together and the southern two lots together. While MR-5 has a high theoretical maximum number of dwellings per acre when physical reality is combined with the intention of townhomes the use intensity is brought down to the middle area of the HDR spectrum.
The request is consistent with the FLUP as MR-5 provides the range of housing options that meet the medium-to-high density residential designation indicated for all four subjects. In relation to local contexts, the request is reasonable as the area can support greater density via the presence of underutilized land and housing type variety both in the immediate and outlaying.
Noted is the presence of a single floor, single family, home between 537 and 545 Pritchett Road and similar type homes abutting 533 and 607 Pritchett Road. The UDO does have, in Section 30-5K, transitional standards that would potentially limit intensity and require the potential use of buffers, height adjustments, and other standards outlined by the UDO.
The request serves to enable infill development, appropriate resource utilization, as well as an increase to the diversity of housing stock which raises the tax base of the area which has direct impacts on local services such as the nearby school and postal office. It also has the potential to have an impact on the abutting properties which are of a much lower intensity use case
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Budget Impact:
Approval or denial of the requested rezoning does not create immediate and direct impacts on the budget other than the budget allocated operating cost of relevant staff. Any indirect budget impact via utility extensions, enhancements, or other such costs are not triggered by the map amendment itself and will be evaluated through other processes.
Options:
1. Approval (Recommended Action):
Recommend approval of the zoning map amendment from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) for the subject parcels - find the request consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and reasonable to the local context as demonstrated by the attached consistency and reasonability statement.
2. Approval to a More Restrictive District:
Recommend approval of the zoning map amendment from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to a more restrictive zoning district - one more consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and reasonable to the local context with an amended consistency statement.
3. Denial of Map Amendment:
Recommends denial of the proposed map amendment - find that the request is inconsistent with the Future Land Use Plan and unreasonable to the local context.
4. Table the Case:
The commission could table the case and allow the applicant to reapply to MR-5 with conditions - requiring enforceable commitments to address land use and/or transitional concerns
Recommended Action::Recommended Action
The Zoning Commission and Professional Planning Staff recommends that the City Council move to APPROVE of the proposed map amendment from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) for the approximately 1.76 acres located at 545, 607, 533, and 537 Pritchett Road.
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Attachments:
1. Application
2. Aerial Map
3. Zoning Map
4. Future Land Use Map
5. Site Pictures
6. Surrounding Area Pictures
7. Consistency and Reasonableness Statement