Asheville planning boards to review 95-unit Haw Creek project. What does it look like?
ASHEVILLE - A new 95-unit development, dubbed "The Meadows at Haw Creek," has been officially proposed, setting the first city developer date for a Feb. 5 Technical Review Committee meeting. Public comment is not allowed at Technical Review Committee meetings.
Site plans indicate 60 single-family homes will be constructed on the eastern section of the property, while 35 townhomes will be constructed on the western portion. A majority of the single-family lots — 52 of them — are currently sized to be 4,860 square feet. The 767 New Haw Creek Road parcel is 26.23 acres, according to Buncombe County tax records.
Existing wetlands running through the property will remain, with a new greenway to run from the single-family homes over a bridge and toward New Haw Creek Road. The greenway will run adjacent to New Haw Creek Road.
Other aspects of the proposal include proposed bike parking at the townhomes and 4 acres of open space near the wetland.
Meadows at Haw Creek is seeking a conditional zoning review to rezone the area to Residential Expansion, which will require a vote from City Council. Before visiting City Council, the project will be seen by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Public comment will be accepted at both.
Residential Expansion zoning allows 20 units an acre. The parcel's current zoning is Residential Single-Family Medium Density District, or RS-4, which requires lot sizes of 8,000 square feet for development. Housing on the development is set to be "market rate," according to Warren Sugg, who spoke during the Nov. 28 neighborhood meeting on the development.
The development has been proposed by L B Jackson and Co., an Asheville-based family developer. The developer has placed the property, which was most recently listed on Zillow for $3.4 million, under contract.
The Jacksons have worked in the area for nearly 100 years, where 28-year-old developer Lynwood Baldwin Jackson built the 13-story Jackson building in 1924. At the time, it was the tallest skyscraper in North Carolina.
The Citizen Times could not reach Kevin Jackson, the primary applicant listed from L B Jackson, for comment.
Community funded traffic analysis incoming?
The city submittal comes after the development received intense feedback during a November neighborhood meeting, during which developer Kevin Jackson faced questions on affordability, traffic and density of housing.
Not long after the meeting, the Haw Creek Community Association announced that it publicly opposes the development set for 767 New Haw Creek, where the HCCA website states the proposal would "transform the bucolic pasture and hardwood forest into high-density housing that exceeds current zoning standards."
A recent HCCA newsletter post announced funding had been set aside by a "neighbor who wishes to be anonymous" for an independent traffic impact analysis study. The study would examine possible increased traffic on New Haw Creek Road and Old Haw Creek Road during peak school hours, where the proposed development sits close to Evergreen Community Charter School and Haw Creek Elementary School.
In a Jan. 12 email, HCCA President Chris Pelly told the Citizen Times that "residents recognize this is a complex issue with many facets."
"We recognize Asheville needs housing of all types in all locations, including Haw Creek, which has welcomed significant in-fill development in recent years," Pelly wrote. "That said, there is no denying this is a gut punch to residents who have long enjoyed the natural beauty of this landmark property which, until recently, was in the same family since the 1800s."
Additional concerns included the loss of tree canopy and animal habitat from the project, where Pelly said the organization would be requesting a conservation easement on the "largest stand of trees on the east end of the property."
Meadows at Haw Creek by willhofmann2
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville planning board reviews 95-unit Meadows at Haw Creek
