Summerfield Farms Villages Move Forward

(Left to right) Attorney Tom Terrell, designer Victor Dover, Stephanie Quayle and David Couch

SUMMER FIELD – While the Summerfield City Council considers legal action to reverse the legal deannexation of developer David Couch’s nearly 1,000 acres, he said he is moving forward with planning for his mixed-use Villages of Summerfield Farms.

Even if the city were to sue, Couch’s attorney, Tom Terrell, said the developer would not hit the pause button, arguing that the city has no legal basis to reverse the deannexation.

“Our legal path would be to proceed,” Terrell said in an interview Friday, attended by Couch, Couch’s wife, Stephanie Quayle, and Victor Dover, lead designer for the proposed mixed-use development that includes Summerfield’s first apartments.

The month after the state General Assembly annexed Couch’s properties, the City Council tasked City Attorney Jim Hoffman with evaluating the city’s legal options to challenge the legislative move.

Terrell said he believes Summerfield’s legal options are blocked by the Legislature’s broad authority over municipalities in North Carolina — from incorporating as cities to severing properties and revoking their charters.

“Municipalities are creatures of the legislature,” Terrell said. “The legislature is sovereign.”

The deannexation of Summerfield took effect on June 30, bringing Couch’s property from Summerfield Road to Interstate 73 under the jurisdiction of Guilford County.

Terrell said state law gives the county 60 days starting June 28 to determine the original zoning of Couch’s property. Much of the rolling meadows and woodlands were zoned for agriculture and residential use under Summerfield’s jurisdiction, Couch said. Commercial zoning applied to fewer acres, including the site of the proposed Saunders Village retail and commercial center, at N.C. 150 and I-73.

While the county determines how to zoning the site, Couch said his team is working to update the feasibility study for developing the land. The update will reflect how major economic developments, such as new factories for Boom Supersonic passenger jets and Toyota electric vehicle batteries, will shape demand for residential and commercial development — and the ultimate zoning of Couch’s project.

“That’s all happened in the same time frame that we’re struggling with this land-use issue locally,” he said, referring to his efforts in recent years to convince Summerfield’s council to accommodate his plans for higher-density housing. After being rebuffed twice by the council, Couch sought the support of State Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-District 26) to deannex his property a year and a half ago.

While the timing is not yet set, Couch said he expects the feasibility study update to be completed by the end of this year. It’s possible, he said, that construction on the first phase of his 20-plus-year project could begin in late 2025.

“I want to emphasize that there are so many factors associated with that launch that are beyond our control: zoning, water, sewer, the economy and the feasibility study update,” Couch said.

What’s clear at this point, said designer Dover, is that “the fundamentals of the plan (for the Summerfield Farms villages) are still completely intact.” Preserving open space is still a priority, as part of the development of 11 residential villages with small businesses such as coffee shops that cater to residents, he said.

“None of that has gone away,” Dover stressed. He added, however, that Couch’s team “has an obligation to reexamine all the details and recount the numbers and rethink them. It’s a new day in that sense, but it’s the same project with the same fundamentals.”

Couch said he has not yet locked in a provider of water and sewer services for his development. However, he pointed to the city of Greensboro or Rockingham or Forsyth County as “the three logical places” for those services.

According to Couch, getting water and sewer from Greensboro would not require annexation by the city. When asked, he said he can’t imagine a scenario in which he would ever try to get annexed by Summerfield again.

“I honestly don’t see the benefit of the services that Summerfield does provide,” Couch said. “One service that they have provided is land use regulation, and they and I just don’t see eye to eye on how that should be applied.”

Looking beyond deannexation, Couch said, “Invisible borders don’t define a city or a community. And an invisible border doesn’t automatically make me a bad developer, an angry developer, a mean developer. That’s not in my nature.”

Couch said he and his wife, owners of Summerfield Farms, “have invested deeply in our community and we plan to continue to do so.”