October 25, 2025
Planning Board Rejects 1,147-Lot Bellamy Subdivision
SMITHFIELD — The Smithfield Planning Board has voted unanimously against a proposed 1,147-lot residential development, raising concerns about traffic, land use compatibility, and the impact on nearby rural infrastructure.
At its September 4 meeting, the board reviewed a request from Rock Towers Partners LLC for conditional zoning approval for Bellamy, a major subdivision planned for 498 acres near Wilson’s Mills Road, Turnage Road, and Lee-Youngblood Road—all within Smithfield’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and not far from the Wilson’s Mills town limits.
The proposed development included 870 single-family detached homes and 277 townhomes, along with a central private amenity complex featuring a clubhouse, pool, two sports courts, and playground. Developers also proposed nine pocket parks, each at least 0.5 acres, with three including active playground equipment.
Access to the site would include one entrance on Wilson’s Mills Road and four access points on Lee-Youngblood Road.
The subdivision layout called for four different lot sizes: 277 townhome lots (22’ x 120’), 125 single-family lots (70’ x 120’), 72 single-family lots (60’ x 120’), and 673 single-family lots (50’ x 120’). All detached homes would be one- or two-story, built on slab foundations.
Despite the project’s scale and amenities, Planning Board members voted to recommend denial, citing inconsistency with the town’s Future Land Use Plan and concerns about compatibility with the surrounding rural area. Several members also expressed apprehension over the impact on traffic, particularly for farm trucks that use Lee-Youngblood Road, which could be affected by the proposed street realignments.
Although the Planning Board’s vote was unanimous, it serves only as a recommendation. The final decision will rest with the Smithfield Town Council, which is expected to take up the matter during the September 16 regularly scheduled meeting.
The proposal comes just weeks after the town council unanimously approved Mallard Crossing, a separate 1,327-home development on Mallard Road, just east of Interstate 95.
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11 Comments
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More of this please!
WOW! IF ONLY ALL TOWNS WOULD DO THIS!!! we could get back to some kind of normal
The idea of a non-elected board making recommendations what private land owners can do with their own land is about as UN-American as you can get! #MAGA
Good! We do not need any more subdivisions.
Don’t build anymore house in joco so the Yankees stop coming
That comment is as dumb as those Yankees are coming back because they won.
Stupid right?!
Wow! Nothing is safe greed anymore. The country way of life is quickly being chiseled away, one or two farms at a time. Graves. soon we won’t recognize the place we grew up in, and they’ll eventually build homes on our ancestors’ graves. Developers will eventually get what they want after the right pockets are filled.
Don’t worry, the town council will approve it anyway. And don’t forget the new high school just the other side of I-42 in Wilsons Mills. The traffic will be epic.
Townhome lots 22’x 120’ (2640 sq ft ) Butttt to put a single wide mobile home on you’re required one acre (43560 sq ft ) .🤔🤔🤔🤔 Just read that two or three times….. 2640sq ft of 1 acre is 0.061 . So if you want to put a single wide mobile home on your land for your kid you have to use a full acre butttt you can put em in a developers townhouse for a mere fraction. Your land their rules
A step in the right direction! Praying the Town Council will understand we can NOT afford to lose our farmers. Especially the ones that have helped build and support this county and town. There are enough subdivisions in the works, we do not need more. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS!!!
One reason these large developments are so bad for traffic is they dont include space for stores and restaurants so people can get basics in walking distance and not have to drive across town