Smithfield’s Planning Commission gave an informal nod to developer Vincent Carollo’s conceptual plan for just over an acre at Washington, James and Clay streets that calls for a slightly higher density than the land’s former owner, Joseph Luter IV, had proposed three years ago.

Carollo, who bought eight lots in September that had been created from Luter’s 2021 purchase and subdivision of the formerly town-owned land, has applied for a text amendment to the downtown neighborhood residential zoning district that would allow Carollo to seek a special use permit waiving the 5-unit-per-acre maximum density to allow for four attached single-family homes under condominium-style ownership and three duplex buildings, each with two units, for a total of 10 homes. Carollo proposes calling the development “James Parc at Smithfield.”

The Planning Commission, by consensus on Dec. 10, gave Carollo its blessing to proceed with his application, which will have to be put to a public hearing before the commission can vote to issue a formal recommendation to Smithfield’s Town Council. The council will then have to hold its own hearing before taking a final vote.

The text amendment, if approved, would allow Carollo to separately apply for the density waiver via special use permit.

Luter had proposed four single-family houses and one less duplex for a total of eight homes. According to Community Development and Planning Director Tammie Clary, the reason Luter didn’t need a density waiver – but Carollo does – is the land hadn’t been subdivided at the time of Luter’s rezoning request, which had allowed him to count the entire 2.6 acres, including two buildings the town leases to Smithfield’s Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter and to The Children’s Center, in his density calculations. This equated to 4.6 units per acre with 20% of the land devoted to the extension of the formerly dead-end Clay Street, Clary said. Now that the land has been subdivided and the council has accepted the Clay Street extension as a town-maintained road, there’s less buildable land to work with and thus a higher density per acre.

Carollo highlighted his proposed development’s location in the heart of downtown Smithfield adjacent to the Smithfield branch of Blackwater Regional Library, the Luter Family YMCA and Riverview Park.

“We’ve put together a product that complements that,” Carollo said.

At the time of Luter’s rezoning approval, the Town Council had attached as a condition a preservation easement intended to protect two trees planted along James Street in the 1940s from being cut down. John Hopke, an architect retained by Carollo, said Luter’s plan had posed a “practical problem” as to who would own and be responsible for maintaining the trees — one of the factors that had led Carollo to desire a revised conceptual plan.

Under Carollo’s plan, the two trees would be located in a common area owned by a homeowners association. Another key difference between Carollo’s and Luter’s plans is the elimination of most of the individual driveways Luter had proposed in favor of a shared driveway that would connect the extended Clay Street with Washington.

Hopke, despite asserting it was “premature” to discuss the potential sale price of the 10 homes, said the slightly higher density could allow Carollo to “achieve a lower price point” than the $450,000 to $550,000 range Luter had proposed as of 2022.

“These houses are on a scale of what’s in the community,” said Planning Commissioner Thomas Pope, adding he’d spoken with area residents in support of the project.

“I also have encountered some friends in the neighborhood that like this project, think it is an improvement over what was previously approved, and so I think community support is there for it,” Planning Commission Chairwoman Julia Hillegass said.