ASHEVILLE, N.C (828newsNOW) — Contentious development issues will take center stage later this month, when Asheville City Council must balance the need for new residential housing with the sentiments of existing residents.
A blockbuster council meeting is shaping up for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, at the banquet hall of Harrah’s Cherokee Center, with the controversial, 95-unit “Meadows at New Haw Creek” project scheduled for a public hearing.
The tentative agenda, subject to change, also is expected to include public hearings on proposals to revise cottage development and flag lot standards, and a public hearing on the proposal to create a downtown Business Improvement District.
Based on recent history, it could be a standing-room only crowd.
Last month, hundreds of New Haw Creek area residents turned out to a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to voice concerns before the panel voted 4-3 in favor of the “Meadows” project, moving it forward to the City Council for a public hearing and final decision.
Located at 767 New Haw Creek Road, the project is seeking conditional zoning approval, changing from an RS-4 Single-Family Medium Density zoning to Residential Expansion-Conditional Zone, for the construction of 60 single-family homes and 35 townhomes on a 20 acres of a 27-acre site.
City planners had recommended that the commission approve the project, with the addition of sidewalks throughout the project. A staff report that the proposal was compatible with the Living Asheville Comprehensive plan, fit the site’s Future Land Use designation as a residential neighborhood and was compatible with surrounding uses.
They said the project supported the comprehensive plan’s goal to “Increase and Diversify the Housing Supply” by adding the mix of housing types at 3.51 units per acre.
However, concerns from existing area residents have persisted and a prominent wooden sign in the 900 block of Tunnel Road still urges: “SAY NO TO RE-ZONING. PROTECT HAW CREEK VALLEY.”
The Haw Creek Community Association, which has been spearheading an online campaign and petition drive about the project, has billed the upcoming council meeting as “the most critical moment” of the six-month effort.
The group’s web site, hawcreekavl.com, asserts that the project “would transform the bucolic pasture and hardwood forest into high-density housing that exceeds current zoning standards.”
“Concerns include loss of tree canopy and animal habitat, increased traffic and safety considerations on New Haw Creek Road, and density that’s out of scale and character with the surrounding neighborhood,” it states.
Through the site, the association has been urging members to send messages to council members urging them to condition any approval on significant improvement in the number of trees being preserved, traffic safety improvements on nearby roads, and other issues important to the community.
The association’s online talking points state: “Haw Creek residents recognize Asheville is growing and will continue to grow. We recognize new housing is needed in all areas including Haw Creek. With this understanding should be a commitment to balancing new development with improvements to maintain and enhance the physical community.”
Preservation of the tree canopy is among the contentious issues being cited. The development plan calls for including 9.2 acres of open space. The applicant, Warren Sugg of Civil Design Concepts for owner Margaret B. King, has proposed meeting the 17 percent tree canopy protection requirement by preserving 12 percent of existing canopy and planting 5 percent of new canopy trees.
Critics want the developer to preserve more mature trees, preserve wildlife habitat and take measures to reduce water runoff from pervious surfaces into flood-prone areas along Haw Creek.
Those types of development discussions alone could make for a busy meeting, but the April 23 session also is expected to include the public hearing on the proposed downtown Business Improvement District, or BID. That proposal is to create an entity that would collect assessments within the downtown area to finance cleanliness, hospitality and public safety efforts, including the hiring of downtown “ambassadors” to keep an eye out for issues, communicate with the public and make reports to city departments as necessary.
Even before an official agenda is released, the April 23 council meeting already is shaping up to be a banner night for the city’s public engagement.