Controversial Pittsboro development to undergo new review
PITTSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- A project that would raise the population of the Town of Pittsboro from 4,000 to more than 60,000 is up for debate again.
In June, the Pittsboro Town Board approved rezoning 7,000 acres for the Chatham Park project that would be built on the outskirts of the town, close to Jordan Lake.
Developers have said they hope to set aside more than 1,300 of the acres for open spaces.
However, the mixed-use planned development similar to Research Triangle Park has been met with protest.
In August, a Chatham County group filed a lawsuit challenging the approved master plan and rezoning, calling it "inconsistent with the town's recently adopted land use plan, a specific requirement of North Carolina law."
Click here to read the lawsuit (.pdf)
"This is the single largest master plan development in the history of North Carolina," said Pittsboro Matters board member Amanda Robertson. "You don't take that with a promise, you get it in writing. So that's the big message .. we've got a lot of issues on the table. We hope that they go back and tell Chatham Park to get it in writing and get it in the plan."
The group that filed the lawsuit claims it pushed the town to go back to the drawing board, but the developer says seeking a completely new rezoning authorization is just a routine way to tweak plans. The new set of reviews get underway with a meeting Monday evening.
