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HUNTERSVILLE – After months of negotiations, the Board of Commissioners on Monday night approved a rezoning and sketch plan for Epcon Communities’ age-restricted subdivision, the Courtyards at Kinnamon.
Epcon hopes to start construction on the 94-lot subdivision by early fall, according to Rich Heareth, vice president of operations for Epcon Carolinas.
The 30-acre site sits along the east side of Kinnamon Drive and is just west of the Huntersville Business Park.
Epcon has been modifying its design since December meetings with the Planning Board, which raised concerns that resulted in tweaks to the site plan in order to comply with the town’s zoning ordinance and building design standards.
The planning department and Planning Board’s biggest concern was that the homes’ garages did not meet the town’s 10-foot recess requirement. Since that concern was raised in December, the town’s zoning ordinance was amended to allow “prominent front porches,” as opposed to the face of houses, to be used as the primary plane from which garage recession depth is measured. Epcon changed the porch designs to meet that requirement, which defined prominent front porches as having a depth greater than 6 feet and covering at least 55 percent of a building’s width.
Heareth said after the meeting that Epcon changed the designs to comply with the town’s standards because Epcon believes there’s a “great need in the town of Huntersville for active adult housing” and wanted to provide that.
The board also issued two waivers for Epcon’s plans. The first was for a buffer reduction on the site’s northeastern boundary. The second was to allow parking spaces to be built next to the clubhouse and adjacent to a public street; in return, Epcon agreed to put additional planting around the parking spaces that will act as a buffer.
The project will be constructed in three phases, each phase consisting of 31 or 32 homes, and the entire subdivision will be completed over the next three to four years. The first phase of development, which is scheduled to be completed in first quarter 2016, will include homes on the northeast corner of the site and the subdivision’s clubhouse, according to Heareth.
Homes will range from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet with an average price of $375,000, and will feature stone façades and wood exteriors, landscaping, granite countertops and hardwood flooring. In addition to the clubhouse, the Courtyards at Kinnamon’s residents will have access to a lap pool, a fitness center, a community garden, “parkettes,” and bocce and pickleball courts.
