Government, Local/County, Pittsboro

Enbridge fight, 238-home subdivision and future county campus top Chatham commissioners’ agenda

By Chatham Journal staff

Pittsboro, NC – Chatham County commissioners are set to confront a crowded slate of decisions Monday that reaches from the route of a proposed natural-gas pipeline to the shape of a future government campus – with hundreds of new homes, more than $1 million for farmland preservation and a countywide rewrite of several zoning rules in between.

The Sept. 21 meeting is scheduled in two parts at the Historic Courthouse Courtroom in Pittsboro: a 1 p.m. work session followed by the regular session at 6 p.m. The final agenda, dated Friday, Sept. 18, puts the county’s opposition to Enbridge Inc.’s proposed pipeline at the center of the evening session. Commissioners are scheduled to receive an Agriculture Advisory Board report and then vote on a resolution formally opposing the project.

That vote would carry political weight, but it would not itself stop the pipeline. The draft resolution would authorize the county to oppose permits where legally and factually justified, coordinate with community groups, educate affected landowners and pursue other lawful resistance. A separate zoning amendment on the same agenda would require a special-use permit for certain natural-gas and liquid-fuel lines in the county’s three principal residential districts. An attorney for Enbridge has challenged the county’s authority to impose that rule.

The board also is scheduled to decide whether to approve Whispering Creek, a 238-lot conservation subdivision on 288.6 acres off Bynum Ridge Road; whether to accept a long-range master plan for a government campus on more than 270 county-owned acres near U.S. 64 West and Renaissance Drive; and whether to keep funding an early-learning initiative after a six-month pilot.

A pipeline dispute arrives at the commissioners’ table

The proposed resolution opposing Enbridge’s “Gasline” is the agenda’s clearest declaration of policy. The Enbridge pipeline project is a 12-inch natural-gas pipeline running about 28 miles from Siler City to Moncure. The route would cross the Haw River and other waterways while affecting forests, wetlands and agricultural land. Easements could be obtained through condemnation if voluntary agreements cannot be reached.

The Agriculture Advisory Board’s report gives commissioners a record of the opposition voiced at an Aug. 18 public hearing. Thirteen participants in the county’s Voluntary Agricultural District program spoke against the project, along with 28 other members of the public. About 100 people attended and 23 enrolled farms could be directly or adjacently affected.

The advisory board focused on the risk to working farms, forests and prime soils. Its report also reflects a wider anxiety in rural Chatham: that landowners could bear the disruption and long-term land-use constraints of a linear utility project serving growth elsewhere.

The commissioners’ proposed resolution would direct the county to “resist development of the Pipeline” through measures that are lawful, reasonable and supported by the facts. It contemplates participation in regulatory proceedings, coordination with residents and advocacy before agencies and the public.

The practical limits matter. North Carolina and federal agencies, not the county alone, control key permits and utility decisions. The resolution would establish an official county position and a playbook for intervention; it would not amount to a permit denial or a local veto.

That legal tension also appears in the proposed zoning amendments. County staff recommends creating definitions for public utilities, liquid-fuel lines and natural-gas lines, then requiring pipelines in R-5, R-2 and R-1 residential districts to obtain a special-use permit under a new Section 17.9. The use would remain permitted by right in other districts.

In a letter included with the agenda materials, Enbridge attorney Matt Rhoad argued that the county lacks authority to regulate the pipeline in that fashion and said the company would comply with applicable state requirements and decisions of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Commissioners will therefore vote with notice that the local-control question is disputed and could become a legal issue beyond Monday night.

Zoning rewrite reaches far beyond Enbridge

The pipeline provision is only one piece of a larger ordinance package prompted in part by legislation enacted by the General Assembly this year.

One of the most visible changes would remove the county’s minimum off-street parking requirements. Session Law 2026-39, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, generally bars local governments from requiring a minimum number of parking spaces for a development or structure. Chatham’s proposed amendment would delete the standards in Section 14 and reserve that section for future use.

That does not mean parking lots would disappear. Developers could still provide parking, and other rules governing access, stormwater, fire safety and accessibility would remain. The immediate change is that the county could no longer mandate a minimum space count under the affected provision.

Other amendments would update the definition of a bona fide farm to encompass certain products derived from animal waste, including fertilizer and biogas; allow family cemeteries and community gardens in all zoning districts; permit commercial breweries and distilleries by special-use permit in the Neighborhood Commercial, Community Business and Regional Business districts; and remove a waiting period for resubmitting some applications after denial or withdrawal.

The Planning Board voted unanimously Sept. 1 to recommend the package. Commissioners can approve, reject or revise the amendments Monday.

Whispering Creek would add 238 homes near Bynum Ridge Road

The most consequential development vote is a first-plat application from Meritage Homes for Whispering Creek, a 238-lot subdivision on 288.6 acres off Bynum Ridge Road.

The property is zoned R-1. Plans call for public water from TriRiver Water and a privately operated wastewater treatment system using subsurface drip dispersal. The proposal follows Chatham’s conservation-subdivision rules, which require at least 40% of the adjusted site area to be preserved, with most of that land retained in a natural condition.

Staff calculated about 92.9 acres of required conservation land after subtracting regulated buffers and floodplain areas from the gross tract. Plans show public streets, two entrances and roughly eight stormwater-control devices. The permanent open space would be held and managed through a homeowners association and protected by recorded restrictions.

The project’s scale makes traffic a central concern. The application estimates about 2,243 daily vehicle trips, including 170 in the morning peak hour and 219 in the evening peak. A traffic analysis cited by staff projects roughly 3,400 daily vehicles on the relevant road segment after development, compared with a typical planning capacity of about 10,000 vehicles per day. Those generalized capacity figures do not eliminate concerns about speed, turning movements, school traffic or the experience of residents on a two-lane rural road.

The Planning Board recommended approval 7-2, with one member recused, and produced a minority report. During the review, the board sought a lower speed limit on Bynum Ridge Road; the North Carolina Department of Transportation subsequently confirmed a reduction from 55 mph to 45 mph.

Environmental reviews identified streams, possible wetlands, floodplain and a Piedmont alluvial forest community, along with a rare plant identified in state records as Buttercup covillei. The plans apply county stream buffers of varying widths, and the proposed wastewater system is designed without storage ponds, staff said.

Recommended conditions include county-attorney review of conservation documents, a financial guarantee for required improvements and deadlines for recording final plats. Phase one would need to be recorded by Jan. 1, 2029, and phase two by Jan. 1, 2031.

A first-plat decision is not the same as rezoning the property. The land already carries residential zoning, and the board’s task is to determine whether the submitted subdivision plan satisfies the applicable ordinance standards. If commissioners approve it, later engineering, permitting and final-plat reviews would remain.

A 20-year map for county government

In the afternoon work session, commissioners will consider a master plan intended to guide county facilities for at least two decades.

Hobbs Architects and The Wooten Company developed the plan around county-owned land near U.S. 64 West and Renaissance Drive. The presentation depicts a phased campus connected to existing county facilities, with internal roads extending toward Renaissance Drive and a new entrance from the U.S. 64 side. A pump station and a traffic-impact analysis are among the supporting infrastructure needs identified.

The first phase places administration and public-services functions near the highway. Conceptual figures list an approximately 30,000-square-foot, two-story administration building and an approximately 40,000-square-foot, two-story public-services building. The phase-one site plan allows for as much as roughly 140,000 gross square feet if additional buildings are needed.

The plan would keep the Historic Courthouse, Justice Center and Performance Building in the downtown government footprint. It anticipates vacating or repurposing other aging or underused space, including the Courthouse Annex, the former Agricultural Building, the substantially vacant Dunlap Building and former Tax Collection and information-technology offices on West Street. County materials say core downtown property could be redeveloped as departments move.

Streams, buffers and Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain shape the conceptual campus. The land is zoned R-1, where impervious or built-upon area is capped at 24%, according to the presentation. Wetlands had not been delineated at the time of the study.

Approving the master plan would not appropriate money for construction. It would endorse a framework for more detailed design, engineering, traffic analysis, utility planning and future capital budgets. The decision Monday is about where and how government might grow, not authorization to break ground on a 140,000-square-foot complex.

Early-learning pilot seeks a full-year commitment

Commissioners also will decide whether to continue the Chatham County Early Learning Initiative, a six-month pilot launched from January through June.

The adopted fiscal 2027 budget contains $799,002 for the initiative, but staff is seeking direction before continuing the work for a full year. The pilot combined preschool access, teacher support, transportation help and family resources rather than relying on a single program.

County materials report funding for 121 NC Pre-K slots through Chatham County Schools; 20 new wraparound-care opportunities at North Chatham, Chatham Grove and Pittsboro elementary schools through the YMCA; 250 transit fare cards and 25 child-safety harnesses; and a compensation pilot involving five early educators. Twelve educators received $1,000 professional-development stipends tied to one-year retention commitments.

The initiative also recognized 115 educators, supplied self-care resources to 309 workers, supported 14 people attending a professional conference and expanded LENA Grow language-development training to 15 additional educators. Family Resource Center activities reached more than 100 children through distributed materials, while workshops and other direct contacts served dozens of families.

The county’s presentation places those efforts against a target early-educator living wage of $22.74 an hour. The pilot did not solve the sector’s workforce problem, but staff argues that it built an operating structure that can now be sustained and expanded. A vote to continue would commit the already budgeted money to that next phase.

Farmland, mobile care and opioid response

The work session contains three other spending and service decisions with countywide reach.

First, staff recommends allocating $1,130,266.68 from the county’s unallocated farmland-preservation fund. The package would support five Triangle Land Conservancy projects totaling about 288 acres, a Dry Creek project adjustment and $75,000 for organizational support. Taken together with the adjusted acreage, the motion describes protection of about 342 acres.

The five new projects include two purchased easements – a 73.28-acre Silk Hope property and a 76.9-acre Staley property – plus a 55-acre multigenerational farm in Silk Hope and two donated-easement projects totaling about 82 acres. County money would be combined with federal, state, landowner or philanthropic support, depending on the property.

The presentation shows a package total of $1,154,866.68, while the new allocation in the recommended motion is $1,130,266.68. The $24,600 difference is a Dry Creek adjustment commissioners already approved in July, so it is included in the project presentation but not requested again Monday.

Conservation easements would leave the properties in private ownership. They would not create public access; instead, they would permanently restrict incompatible development and be monitored annually.

Second, commissioners will consider spending up to $250,000 for a mobile health clinic trailer from Tesco Specialty Vehicles and authorizing the county manager to negotiate the purchase. Public Health officials say a 2024 community assessment identified access to care as one of Chatham’s three leading health priorities, with more than one-third of surveyed households calling for additional attention.

The proposed trailer would contain one or two exam rooms, a laboratory area, intake space, a restroom and accessibility features. Initial services could include well-child visits, vaccinations, flu clinics, testing for sexually transmitted infections, behavioral-health services and health education. Staff has identified more than 34 possible deployment sites and at least 10 potential partners. The opening plan calls for monthly service during the first six months, intending to move to twice-monthly visits.

County officials favor a towable clinic because the trailer could remain in service if the towing vehicle needed repair. Agenda materials say used mobile units were priced around $350,000 and new motorized clinics from $600,000 to $1 million. Grants are expected to offset the purchase, with previously allocated county funds covering the balance; staff is not requesting a new General Fund appropriation for the transaction.

Third, Public Health staff will update commissioners on Chatham’s use of national opioid-settlement money. The county began receiving a projected total of more than $5 million in 2022, with installments extending through 2038. Its approved 2026-28 strategies include treatment, recovery support, recovery housing, early intervention and naloxone distribution. Four organizations hold contracts in two strategy areas, and the Health Department is expanding naloxone access. The item is an update rather than a new appropriation vote.

Budget changes are substantial even on consent

The consent agenda contains financial actions that could pass in a single vote unless a commissioner asks to separate one for discussion.

The largest is a fiscal 2027 budget-amendment package increasing the General Fund by about $6.62 million. It would use approximately $5.59 million in appropriated fund balance and $228,000 from contingency, alongside grants and other revenue.

Nearly $5 million would establish a project ordinance for school roof work identified in the county’s 2027-33 capital plan, financed from the Capital Reserve. Other adjustments include library and Council on Aging carry-forwards and grants, $196,000 for a state-required law-enforcement bonus, sustainability funding from energy tax credits and a federal block grant, and a Solid Waste fund increase supported by its own fund balance.

The consent list also includes a $249,140 roll-off truck for Solid Waste and Recycling, site work at collection centers, an interlocal agreement for the Triangle Region Solid Waste Consortium, tax releases and refunds, and the write-off of certain 2016 taxes.

Planning-related consent items include extending the first-plat deadline for the 22-lot New Hope Overlook subdivision to Nov. 18, 2027; rezoning 4.089 acres at 82 Bonlee Bennett Road from Neighborhood Business to R-1 Residential; and revising county design guidelines, including suggested and invasive plant lists for commercial and industrial properties.

Four public hearings, then a procedural test in Bear Creek

The evening agenda includes four legislative public hearings. One concerns a federal Section 5310 transportation grant for services to older adults and people with disabilities. The county would authorize a local match of $37,500 or 10%, subject to the grant terms.

The other three hearings concern land-use rules and rezonings: 13.145 acres near U.S. 64 West and Ridge View Road from R-1 Residential to Regional Business; property at 3756 Corinth Road in Moncure from R-5 Residential to R-1; and an RTP Gardens request to change land off Bob Horton Road and U.S. 64 from R-1 to a conditional Regional Business district for multiple uses. Commissioners also will hear comments on amendments intended to align Chatham’s special-use-permit process with state law.

Those hearings begin the formal review; the rezoning and ordinance matters are slated for referral to the Planning Board rather than final action Monday.

The night’s most procedurally delicate decision comes later. John Ruth, an adjoining property owner, has asked commissioners to reopen the evidentiary record for Lockley Holdings’ special-use-permit application at 1656 Campbell Road in Bear Creek. Lockley seeks to use 3.9 acres of a 10.02-acre tract as a contractor storage yard and staging area for Bear Creek Fabrications.

Ruth argues that post-hearing research uncovered material information and witnesses not available when commissioners held the evidentiary hearing June 15. His filing challenges the accuracy and completeness of the applicant’s case and contends that the proposal conflicts with the county land-use plan. Those are Ruth’s allegations; the board has not made findings on them.

The applicant says the request is far narrower than a heavy-industrial rezoning it withdrew last year. The tract would remain R-1, and only the 3.9-acre laydown area would be covered by the special-use permit. Plans include a 20-foot Type A buffer, a landscaped berm, no new entrance on Campbell Road and directional signs intended to steer trucks to the existing industrial driveway.

Five residents opposed the permit at the June hearing, raising concerns about truck traffic, noise, speeding and a nearby school-bus stop. Applicant witnesses testified that the permit would not materially increase traffic or harm surrounding property values. Staff concluded that the ordinance’s five required findings were met, and the Planning Board recommended approval 7-2 with a minority report.

Because this is a quasi-judicial case, commissioners must base their final decision on competent, material and substantial evidence in the record, not on the broader policy preferences that can guide a legislative rezoning. The first vote Monday is whether to reopen that record. If the board declines, the permit decision remains on the agenda for action under the existing evidence. If it agrees, commissioners will need to determine how and when the additional sworn evidence will be received without compromising the due-process rights of either side.

What to watch Monday

The Sept. 21 agenda is unusual less for any single item than for the number of long-term choices compressed into one day. Commissioners will be asked to define how aggressively the county should oppose a contested pipeline, decide whether a 238-home subdivision meets adopted standards, sketch the physical future of county government and direct money toward children, farms, health care and public facilities.

Several votes also test the boundary between local preference and outside authority. State law is forcing the county to abandon minimum parking mandates. State utility law is at the heart of Enbridge’s objection. NCDOT controls many of the road questions surrounding new development. Federal and state grants shape how much local money can leverage.

The board will begin with ceremonial proclamations and the recognition of retiring Social Services employee Patty Fox. It is scheduled to end, after the evening business, with reports and a closed session covering attorney-client matters and the pending case ECO TIP West LLC v. Chatham County.

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