Reject these 660 Lake Norman homes, Mooresville Planning Board votes. What we know.

In a split vote, the Mooresville Planning Board Tuesday night advised to reject a 660-home mixed-used community on Lake Norman, citing concerns over traffic and fire-response, among others.

The board did unanimously back a smaller, $60 million development proposed by an international bagel magnate from Long Island, New York.

The Mooresville Planning Board is an advisory panel that makes recommendations on rezoning requests to the elected Mooresville Board of Commissioners.

Commissioners, who have final say, will schedule public hearings before voting on the requests at a date to be announced.

Board: Denied rezoning for 52-acre community

The board voted against a rezoning request by Cornelius developer North State Development LLC that would have allowed up to 660 homes and at least 10,000 square feet of commercial space in the 400 block of Alcove Road at the lake.

Narrow, two-lane Alcove Road connects Interstate 77 Langtree Road exit 31 with Mooresville exit 33 to the north.

Homes would include 340 apartments and 150 town homes, and 170 active-adult units in a building for ages 55 and above, Cindy Reid of Cornelius-based Irvin Law Group told the Planning Board Tuesday night.

A dog park, clubhouse, swimming pool and walking trails are also part of the developer’s plans, according to Mooresville Planning Department documents reviewed by The Charlotte Observer.

The developer did not release the cost of the project.

The 52.2 acres are west of the longtime lakefront Templeton Bay subdivision.

No affordable housing is proposed, town planner Erika Martin told the board.

Regarding fire response, “the fire department’s been looking around, but there’s not a site under consideration at this time,” Martin said in reply to a question from Planning Board Chairman Steve McGlothlin.

The development would tie into a planned state road over I-77 known as the Fairview Flyover, so called by the town and the state Department of Transportation because the road would connect Alcove Road on one side of I-77 with Fairview Road on the other side of the interstate.

Fairview Road leads to the national headquarters of home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. Inc. and Lake Norman Regional Medical Center.

Proposed decades ago, the flyover is intended to improve east-west access in traffic-clogged Mooresville, the Observer reported in 2014.

Construction of the flyover, scheduled for 2025, “will significantly impact” the proposed development, Martin said.

The state has fully funded the road, and right-of-way acquisition has begun, she said.

The developer has committed to either dedicating right-of-way needed for the Fairview Flyover or providing proof to the town that NCDOT has secured the right-of-way, according to the documents.

Existing zoning allows for even more homes and buildings on the land, but the Planning Board voted 4-to-3 against the plan.

The vote followed a petition presented to the board signed by 96.3% of Templeton Bay homeowners opposing the project.

Planning Board member Rosalind Campbell made the motion recommending town commissioners deny the rezoning.

She cited the lack of affordable housing, concerns about fire response and plopping so many homes on an area where subdivisions have far fewer homes on more acreage per lot.

Board recommends Exit 36 community

Also Tuesday, the board unanimously backed New York bagel magnate Anthony Pariti’s zoning request for a 13.43-acre mixed-used development at the traffic-clogged intersection of West Plaza Drive and Talbert Road off I-77 Exit 36.

Pariti’s Joseph John North Carolina Realty LLC made the rezoning request.

Pariti and brother Dennis sold their chain of bagel stores in 2004, The New York Times reported.

Anthony Pariti founded the Always Bagels chain in Long Island in 1985, according to its history on LinkedIn.

The chain eventually expanded to grocery stores from Canada to Texas, Pariti’s Mooresville lawyer, Cliff Homesley, told the Planning Board.

Pariti learned of the parcel from his brother, who operates a business across West Plaza Drive from the property near auto magnate Randy Marion’s headquarters, Homesley said.

Pariti proposes 266 multi-family homes and 18,332 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant space.

Businesses attracted to the development would be in a building at the intersection, town planning documents show. Homes would be in four buildings, four stories tall on the southern part of the property.

No affordable-housing units are planned. The developer proposes compensating for that by paying the town at least $300,000 to put into its affordable housing fund.

The developer hasn’t shared how much units will cost.

At a July 19 neighborhood meeting called by the developer, six residents said they were concerned about traffic and suggested a traffic light be installed.

A traffic study by a Winston-Salem consultant for the developer is ongoing, but one right-way only access to the development from Talbert Road and a right-way only turn from N.C. 150 is planned, town officials said.

The developer also proposes a public art display at the corner of Talbert Road and N.C. 150 and a walkway from the display to the rest of the development and the neighboring Revere at Mooresville luxury apartments community.

“This will be a kind of welcoming node for our community,” Homesley said. “This project will create an inviting centerpiece for the town of Mooresville.”

No residents spoke at the public hearing before the Planning Board’s unanimous vote in favor of the project.