Plans for the Creekside development at Richmond Hill Plantation moved forward Tuesday after the Richmond Hill City Council approved several items regarding the project.
The council approved 2-1 a pair of requests from the developer, Simcoe Investment Group, owned by John and Meagan Mowry, for a master plan revision and preliminary plat approval of Creekside. Council member John Fesperman cast the nay vote and council member Russ Carpenter was absent.
The council also approved 3-0 a tree plan for the development.
The master plan revision request of Richmond Hill Plantation was to eliminate the 3.5 acres of the 75.15-acre property designated as commercial/proposed hotel/vacation cottage/rentals in the original master plan and re-designate the entire parcel to future single-family/multifamily development.
The preliminary plat request for 208 single-family homes and 52 multifamily or townhomes was approved but included several conditions.
Those conditions:
- Require the developer to obtain written permission from the county to use Brisbon Road to access the future community.
- Reach an agreement to finish a traffic study.
- Resubmit a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) report for the entire planned-unit development (PUD).
According to City Manager Chris Lovell, the Mowrys’ applied for a DRI report with the Coastal Regional Commission, but the recommending body found their development not to be in the best interest of the region because the 262 units planned for Creekside would put the entire PUD over its 750 limit since other homes have already been built in other areas of Richmond Hill Plantation.
“All of (Creekside) is 262 units and (the Mowrys’) submitted a DRI for their (development),” Lovell said. “It was rejected, and council voted to not go with the recommendation of the CRC and go against it and give them the preliminary plat for this particular piece of property. We’re requiring them, as part of the conditions, to submit another DRI on behalf of the PUD.”

Read more in the Dec. 26 edition of the News.