ABERDEEN – The Aberdeen Town Board met Monday, Feb. 26, approving ordinance change to increase the maximum height of multi-family buildings from 35 to 45 feet to accommodate sloped roofs.
“When you’re doing a three-story multi-family building, you’re not able to get the proper slope” with the limit of 35 feet, Planning Director John Terziu told the board. Instead, architects are forced towards “a more urban style, flat roof without being able to put the pitched slope, which doesn’t really fit into our suburban population.”
NCDOT’s Rail Division was also in attendance, proposing an update to the South Street railroad crossing, including signals, landscaping improvements, parking, a sidewalk and a dedicated one-way street on Sycamore south of South Street.
Richard Mullinax, a consulting engineer working with the NCDOT Rail Division, said the project will be funded through a federal program designed to eliminate hazards at highway-rail grade crossings.
“Once a year, NCDOT ranks all public highway-rail grade crossings across North Carolina,” Mullinax said. It considers aspects like the number, volume, and speed of trains, the speed of highway traffic and the number of school buses that have to make the crossing, and more.
A public hearing on the South Street railroad crossing update will be held at a future meeting.
The board approved four appointments to town-related boards, including Jonathan Cauthen to the Downtown Aberdeen Advisory Board, and the reappointments of Dene Moon, Teressa Beavers and Chelsea Vandever to the Appearance and Beautification Commission.
The Aberdeen Town Board will next meet March 25.
