Hillsborough gets its first look at developer’s plan for former Daniel Boone Village
There could be new places to live, work and shop near the corner of South Churton Street and Interstate 85 in the future, pending the outcome of a developer’s talks with the town.
Criterion Development owns the Collins Ridge residential site now under construction and the now-vacant Daniel Boone Village, which is the focus of a new draft plan. The developer will seek the Town Board’s feedback about the Daniel Boone Village plan and potential changes to the Collins Ridge development Monday night.
The board is not expected to make any decisions at the meeting, which will be a work session.
A draft redevelopment plan for Daniel Boone Village shows 16 four-story buildings with a total of 224,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space — nearly three times what is there now — structured parking on the second floor and two upper stories with either 384 apartments or condominiums.
Five outparcels also are shown, including roughly 6 acres designated for two hotels. A new road could connect the Collins Ridge development behind Daniel Boone Village with South Churton Street beside the Autorific Car Wash, and three more driveways onto South Churton Street are possible.
Monday’s meeting will give the board an opportunity to more clearly understand what’s being proposed and to give the developer feedback for deciding what to do next, Hillsborough Mayor Jennifer Weaver said Sunday.
“I am really waiting for the presentation because I think the board is just going to have a lot of questions about this, and it is very kind of high-level, conceptual, so what tomorrow night is really going to be about is getting a better idea of what exactly they envision,” she said.
From amusement park to shopping center
The village, built in the 1960s, once offered a pioneer-themed amusement park, train rides, a skating rink and camping. Over half of the 55-acre site remains wooded; the rest is dotted with one- and two-story, mostly wood-frame buildings.
The most recent tenants — antique stores, restaurants, shops and the Orange County Republican Party headquarters — have closed or moved since the village was sold to the Collins Ridge partners in 2018. The village was sold to its current owner DBC54 LLC in October.
The 23-acre Boone Square shopping center, which used to be a part of the village, has different owners and is not included in the Daniel Boone Village plan.
Town staff have raised several questions ahead of the board’s meeting Monday, including whether the developer could fill the commercial spaces with small, local businesses, and if the development would include green or public gathering spaces.
The lone, undeveloped outparcel with South Churton Street frontage will be critical, especially to give the development more visibility to passing motorists, staff noted, as will additional streets linking the site to Boone Square and Collins Ridge.
Collins Ridge expansion
The board also will get an update Monday on the 138-acre Collins Ridge development. The first phase of the project was approved in 2017 for 672 homes, townhomes and apartments, and 200 homes and townhomes are under construction now.
Another 364 homes, parks and more green space could be built in a future phase, including 88 affordable-housing units. A representative of the nonprofit housing provider CASA is expected to attend Monday’s meeting.
The developer is seeking a change, however, that would replace a 326-unit apartment complex in the first phase of construction with 183 more townhomes, either as part of Collins Ridge or the Daniel Boone Village project.
The change, if approved, would increase the number of single-family homes to 269 — roughly 1.5 times what is in the original plan. It would increase the total number of homes, townhomes and apartments to more than 1,200.
The loss of the apartments would be significant, since “current market trends and industry sources recommend a move away from single-family detached housing,” according to a town document.
The developer also wants to talk with the board about annexation and potential development of another 12.85 acres south of Interstate 85. That area could be linked to Collins Ridge in the future with a bike and pedestrian crossing.
Weaver said the board will want more details about the Collins Ridge changes, especially about the potential effect on the town’s infrastructure, street and pedestrian connections, and the number and types of housing planned.
“I think you can expect a lot of questions about that,” she said.
Churton Street, Amtrak projects
On the eastern side of the Collins Ridge site, the state’s plan to straighten a curve in the railroad tracks between Collins Ridge and U.S. 70-A is casting doubt on plans for another 15 homes. Also unknown is when an Amtrak station will be built on an adjacent, 20-acre lot.
The town still is planning for the $8.1 million Amtrak station and the possibility of additional civic, commercial and residential development, including police and fire stations. That includes wrapping up an agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation and other partners for the Amtrak station, Weaver said.
The train station would be built with a mix of state money, Orange County transit funding and town revenues.
Also still unclear is when South Churton Street, which connects the commercial strip to the historic downtown, might be expanded to four lanes with sidewalks and bike lanes. The future project is not expected to solve the Eno River Bridge bottleneck or traffic backups through the historic downtown, planners have said, but it could be critical to easing some of the congestion on South Churton Street.
NCDOT funding for the road project was delayed last year, Weaver said, but planning work is continuing. The state also has plan in motion to upgrade the Interstate 85 interchange at South Churton Street.
Another important project that has been sidelined, at least temporarily, by town questions is the extension of Orange Grove Road to create an alternative exit from the Collins Ridge subdivision.
The town is still looking at its options for that connection and for a proposal that could realign Eno Mountain Road to connect with Mayo Street and the Collins Ridge entrance across the street.
What’s next
The Hillsborough Town Board will meet for a work session at 7 p.m. Monday in the Town Hall Annex board room at 105 E. Corbin St.
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 3:44 PM.
