Newberry’s Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of an amendment to future land use that would convert almost 1,300 acres from agriculture to a planned development over the next 50 years. The recommendation is scheduled to come before the city commission on Dec. 11 for a first reading. 

The total project site is a little more than two square miles, which is 1,293.23 acres, all within the city’s newly updated urban services area boundary. The developers propose to build 4,500 homes over the next 50 years, averaging 3.48 homes per acre. That is less than the standard for low-density residential zoning, which is four development units per acre. 

Because of the master plan nature of the planned development, portions of the land would have higher density housing, including attached homes, an apartment complex and an assisted living facility. 

E.D. “Tripp” Norfleet said his vision for the project is that it would contain many different types of homes at different price points, so the homes are accessible to many financial statuses, ages and stages in life. He said he wants to provide amenities ranging from you-pick fruit trees and stables to pools and pickleball courts. 

The master plan, spread over decades with a clear direction, would also help the city plan infrastructure and other impacts the development would have, according to Bryan Thomas, director of planning, building and economic development. Thomas presented the staff’s preliminary findings showing where the city would need to adjust and where the developer would need to help invest in the adjustments, including traffic, schools, fire and emergency services, parks, conservation and water/wastewater capacity. 

The planned development includes 800,000 square feet for commercial use in a “Town Center” form, which allows residents to live above the restaurants, shops and other commercial structures. Norfleet said he wants to create a way for Newberrians to grow up, graduate, go to college and be able to come home to a city that has job opportunities for them. 

The plan would add an average of 100 homes per year, increasing the population by an estimated 12,555 potential new residents over the next 50 years. 

“This is not about building a carpet of houses,” Gerry Dedenbach, executive vice president and principal planner at CHW, told the board. “This is not about building sprawl. This is about building a community slowly over time.” 

Dedenbach said CHW has been working with city staff for most of the year to come up with a manageable, predictable program that will not overwhelm the city with a sudden influx of growth, which is why the project is planned for 50 years instead of 30. The master plan fits with Newberry’s current pace of development, according to Thomas, and at any point, if a construction project overflowed Newberry’s capacity, the city could deny any building permit. 

Norfleet and his family run Norfleet Homes, creating housing developments in Newberry, including Woods of Alchrist and CountryWay Townsquare. In January, they and CHW Professional Consultants began meeting with Newberry staff to create an application for what Mayor Jordan Marlowe called “the largest and most complicated application the City has ever reviewed” in a Facebook post calling citizens to attend the Planning and Zoning Board meeting to voice their opinions.  

The citizens heard and answered, overflowing the commission chambers to a point where many were left standing in the lobby just outside the chambers for lack of space. Throughout the three-hour meeting, some trickled out, but others stayed to make public comment or simply hear the end of the meeting. 

“This is a big, big project… I like to hear the intent, the intent’s fantastic,” a citizen named Steve Baker told the commission. “However, intent’s not guaranteed. It’s not always like you intended it to come out.” 

Baker and other citizens expressed concerns about “unbridled development” and builders that proceeded in their developments at a faster speed than originally planned because the houses were selling well. 

Board member Naim Erched asked if there was a way to guarantee Norfleet would not change his mind halfway through the project, or that his children would not sell out halfway through when they take over. 

Marlowe said that if someone chose to sell out to a national developer at any point after the plan was approved with the city, that developer would still be bound by the original plan unless the city approved a change. 

Norfleet said he has lived in Newberry his whole life. For 34 years he has been building houses in Newberry, hiring local subcontractors and employees. Part of his application promises that the developer will check in with the city every two years throughout the process to make sure the plans still align with the city’s goals and capabilities. 

“Our deal is to try to make it a legacy,” Norfleet told the board. “If we want to retire, we could retire, but the whole idea was to kind of make it a legacy for the Norfleet family, and the city of Newberry.” 

Several citizens said Newberry will add housing, and that they would rather have that responsibility in the hands of a local who has committed to a 50-year plan that grows with the city, instead of a national builder that would speedily put in “cookie-cutter houses” and leave. 

“Everybody talks about ‘let’s spend money locally,” citizen Allen Tyler said. “Here’s your opportunity.” 

Editor’s note: Zoning was taken out of the lede sentence and headline.