Developer bringing 55+ homes to Pittsboro pledges plan for traffic, barred owls
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- Pittsboro approves Corbinton plan for 98 single-family homes on 32.7 acres.
- Developers preserve 14.3 acres, add greenway and keep some trees for owl season.
- Traffic study shows 990 daily trips; DOT coordination, turn lane and sidewalks planned.
A development plan approved Monday for Old Graham Road, northeast of the Chatham Community Library, will bring 98 more single-family homes in a 55-plus community to Pittsboro.
The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve Corbinton for a wooded 32.7-acre site between Cambridge Hills Assisted Living and Oakwood Drive. The board approved the zoning for the project last year.
Commissioner John Bonitz was absent from Monday’s meeting.
Blue Heel Development and LJA Engineering (formerly CE Group) officials will subdivide the land, creating individual lots and preserving 14.3 acres, mostly on the site’s edges. A greenway will follow a stream buffer on the eastern end of the tract.
The developer also agreed to install houses in the remaining trees out of concern for barred owls that might be nesting on the site, said attorney Nic Robinson. Nesting season runs from March to August, he said.
The approved plan shows the location of home lots and infrastructure, including utilities and roads. Town staff will ensure building plans and architectural details of the homes meet the town’s requirements.
Blue Heel’s Corbinton communities — there are three, in Hillsborough, Cary and Charlotte — are built for active adults, age 55 and older. However, only 80% of the homes must be occupied by older adults, leaving room for homeowners who are younger.
Online sales show Corbinton at Kildaire Farm homes in Cary sell for the high $400s to mid $600s.
Sidewalk, but no road improvements
Traffic remained a concern Monday, since Old Graham Road, which splits off from N.C. 87 near the library, is narrow and busy.
The development will occupy a sharp curve in the road, and it’s only going to get busier as homes in several large developments, including Parks at Meadowview, Meadow Pointe, and Riverbend Estates at Laurel Ridge, are built or occupied to the north, past fields and forests in rural Chatham County.
A traffic analysis completed for Corbinton found that it could add 990 new vehicle trips per day, just shy of the 1,000-trip threshold that triggers road improvements. That prompted some concerns at Monday’s meeting about traffic sight lines and public safety.
“There’s been numerous wrecks that’s been in that curve that have ended up in the dentist office’s yard and [the] front yard there,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jay Farrell, who sought left and right turn lanes to keep traffic moving.
Project officials will work with the N.C. Department of Transportation to iron out any issues, said Mark Ashness, with JLA Engineering. They also plan a short, right-turn lane into the subdivision, sidewalks on Old Graham Road, and to remove enough trees to give drivers a better view, he said.
Adding more driveways to that section of road should signal to drivers that they need to slow down and be cautious, Ashness said.
“And even seeing the sidewalks show up, which will start just north of the project there, near Oakwood, that should also be sort of an indicator to someone when they’re driving,” he said. “Now they have just a ditch on each side and driveways every several 100 feet. It’s moving into something that’s a little more pedestrian-oriented.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 8:13 AM with the headline "Developer bringing 55+ homes to Pittsboro pledges plan for traffic, barred owls."
