Mooresville Planning Board Backs 218-Townhome Gabriel Farms Development

The Mooresville Planning Board voted 8-0 on Tuesday night to approve recommending a 218-townhome project by Virginia-based Stanley Martin near Lake Norman. Gabriel Farms would sit on N.C. 115 near a connector highway now under construction.

Board member Michael Cole made the motion. He said Gabriel Farms fits with the town's zoning plan and what's been built next door.

"We're happy with the project," Planning Board chairman Steve Mcglothlin said.

The board serves as an advisory panel that makes recommendations to the Mooresville Board of Commissioners, which has final say and would consider the rezoning at a meeting yet to be announced.

The 50-acre site sits just south of Langtree Road and Mount Mourne Loop. It's just north of the town's East-West Connector, a four-lane divided highway under construction from Langtree Road to N.C. 115.

Davidson lawyer Lawrence Shaheen represents the Reston-based builder. He wrote to town planner Patrick Werner in December that Gabriel Farms would include market rate housing "that the teachers, firefighters, and other critical workers of Mooresville will be proud to call home," according to the Charlotte Observer.

"These units will be a perfect entry point into the community for citizens and families of the Town of Mooresville," Shaheen wrote. The company hasn't provided a price range yet.

The town faces a housing shortage, Shaheen said. Market rate housing becomes more pressing each day.

"We know that the goal of the Town of Mooresville is to provide and approve housing that meets the needs of the citizens," he wrote. "Stanley Martin is committed to working in lockstep with the Town towards this goal, working to maintain Mooresville's spot as the premier location to work and live in the region."

The project would include a pool and a clubhouse, representatives of the developer told the board Tuesday night. A traffic impact analysis has been completed, Shaheen said, and the builder stands ready to work with the town to address any impacts.

Jean Manley owns the land with her family. They planted soybeans and other crops on the acreage years ago. She considers the builder the best option.

If the rezoning passes, the developer would complete the last of the townhomes in a first phase by 2030, according to board documents.