560 new houses and townhouses planned near Durham, Raleigh line
More development may be coming to a once rural area along the Durham and Wake County line.
A proposed 562-home neighborhood could be built off Olive Branch Road, which connects N.C. 98 with Leesville Road in southeast Durham.
The Durham Planning Commission voted 9-2 to recommend rezoning the land for the development. The City Council still needs to approve it.
Durham’s housing supply cannot keep up with demand, The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun have previously reported.
Mungo Homes, which has other developments in the Triangle, wants to build about 145 townhouses and 414 detached houses — up to 562 homes — ranging from $250,000 to $400,000.
Planning Commissioner Carmen Williams said she drives that route to get to the Brier Creek shopping area in Raleigh from N.C. 98.
“Development does need to happen in this area in order to create more livable space in this area,” she said.
But Commissioner Nathaniel Baker called it “leapfrog sprawl” on the outskirts of Durham.
“Is it sprawl if our current plan says this is what we’re supposed to be doing?” asked Commissioner Tom Miller. He said it is unreasonable to expect people who own large tracts of land to just sit on them.
However Miller noted that Durham doesn’t have much farmland left. There are a few farms near the planned development, including a horse farm near the intersection of Leesville Road and U.S. 70.
Other new developments
Carolina Arbors and Fendol Farms, both single-family home neighborhoods for older adults, opened in the past few years, and Fendol Farms is still under construction. The Courtyards at Andrews Chapel, a 125-home neighborhood also marketed to older adults, is under construction. Those houses are selling for $347,000 to $415,000.
Those are all new neighborhoods along Leesville Road, which connects Durham and Raleigh. The developments have been annexed into the city to get utilities, and the Olive Branch development is next in line. On Monday night, the Durham City Council approved a new agreement with the city of Raleigh about boundaries for annexations along the county line.
Planning Commissioner Cedric Johnson said a 251-single family house development could be built by right now. The rezoning, and needed annexation by the city, would double the amount of housing on the property.
Commissioner Chair Brian Buzby said the plan for the large development with single-family homes and townhouses is better than what could be built now by right.
Mayor Steve Schewel has said Durham needs more density throughout the city, including missing middle housing. The City Council approved a townhouse neighborhood on Wake Forest Highway last year.
Neighborhoods around downtown are being gentrified, The Herald-Sun has previously reported.
The rezoning recommended by the Planning Commission will come before the City Council sometime after April 1.