On March 12th, the Town Council received updates on the D.R. Horton Kinsley Development during an information session that was open to the public. One of the items discussed was an Amended and Restated Development Agreement recorded in April 2025, and new site plan maps recorded in December 2025.
With respect to the amended Agreement, Council had received several inquiries from residents asking if it was properly executed. Most noted that the original Development Agreement went through month of negotiations, public hearings and debate before it was finalized in January 2023, while the amended Agreement appeared to have been signed with no public notice or consideration by the planning board.
Planning Director Jose Colon addressed the issue in his opening statement to the Council, following up on discussions held with the mayor, Councilman Westmoreland and town manager several days earlier, along with more research and outreach (state statutes, town attorneys and NCDEQ).
At issue: Do the town manager and planning director have the administrative authority to sign an amended Development Agreement and site plans?
The findings appear to say “yes.”
NC statute 160D (1006e) states that major modifications to a Development Agreement shall follow the same approval process used for the original Agreement. But minor modifications may be approved administratively by staff, as long as they are “defined in the Town ordinance, constrained by clear limitations, and adhere to substantive limits (no change to use or density, for example).”
The question now becomes, did the amended Agreement constitute a minor or major modification?
The changes in the amended Agreement focus on the multi-family area (apartments and casitas), assigning oversight to a division of DR Horton that deals specifically with apartments and multi-family units. The amended Agreement also shows a decrease in the number of units in the multi-family area (from 500 to 360), which equates to a decrease in density.
The developer assigned oversight of this area to a specialized division of its company, and the change to density was a decrease instead of an increase. The modifications are “positive” as watershed and development impact, equating to what would be considered a minor modification.
And, while there’s a lot in the 2020 Randleman Watershed Rules about who can authorize watershed variances and modifications, there is nothing that would override what 160D says about changes to Development Agreements.
A watershed “variance,” however, is a different story. An application by a developer for a watershed variance (a plan modification that negatively impacts the watershed, stormwater runoff, erosion, buffers or water quality), is decided by the planning board or, in the case of a “major” variance, by the NC Division of Water Resources.
It must be noted, however, that with the changes in the amended Agreement, the new density number is 4.2 units per acre (down from 4.7 units) and the Total Built Upon percentage is 74% (down from 77%). In the Randleman Watershed, the density limit for new developments is 2 units per acre (and 24%-50% Total Built Upon area), which suggests the density numbers are still too high.
The documents are below.
DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS: The first link (below) is the January 2023 Development Agreement between D.R. Horton and the Town of Jamestown, adopted and approved by the Town Council following a Public Hearing on 1/17/2023 and recorded in the Guilford County Courthouse 1/27/2023.
The second link is an April 2025 Amended and Restated Development Agreement between D.R. Horton and the Town of Jamestown, signed April 8, 2025 and recorded in the Courthouse 4/9/2025.
The January 2023 Development Agreement (93 pages):
April 2025 Amended and Restated Agreement (95 pages):
This site map for “PHASE 1A” was recorded in the Guilford County Courthouse December 5, 2025:
This is a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and Easements for the Kinsley development, signed 11/05/2025 and recorded in the Guilford County Courthouse 11/06/2025:
MORE: