100% affordable, 60-unit development approved off East Asheville's Tunnel Road
ASHEVILLE - A 60-unit, 100% affordable development off Tunnel Road in East Asheville secured City Council approval April 25, targeting residents who make 30% to 60% of the area's median income, which ranges from $16,900 to $33,750 for one-person households.
Approximately 20% of the units, or 10-12 units, are designated for youth aging out of foster care.
This was the first of several rezoning considerations heard by City Council that evening at a marathon, five-hour meeting, and while not all clinched unanimous votes, all were approved.
The property owner and developer of the 60-unit proposal is Mountain Housing Opportunities, an Asheville-based nonprofit community development corporation whose mission is to build and improve homes with a focus on affordability.
Previous coverage: What's next for 2 100% affordable development requests? Asheville council has final say
More: 100% affordable, 60-unit development proposed off East Asheville's Tunnel Road
"I'm glad Mountain Housing is once again stepping up with a fantastic project, and it's an interesting component to this to have 20% set aside for folks coming out of the foster care system, which we've learned in our country is fairly devastating for people who reach the age of adulthood," said Mayor Esther Manheimer.
During the Point in Time count, a single January night snapshot of homelessness in Asheville, where she and other council members volunteered, Manheimer said she spoke with someone experiencing homelessness who had come out of the foster care system, "and bounced around without any foundation. So I see this need, and I know it's complicated ... But if we can work on the housing piece, that's one piece of the puzzle."
The 1.3-acre site is at 16 Restaurant Court, just behind the Mountaineer Inn. Site plans show residential units in a four-story, 58,000-square-foot building.
Also proposed for the property is a detached office/leasing building of about 1,500 square feet, a playground, covered picnic area, new sidewalks and 28 parking spaces, eight of which are accessible spaces.
As described in the staff report, the site is an open vacant lot with trees along the boundaries, and access to be provided by a new proposed driveway on Restaurant Court.
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100% affordable development on Sweeten Creek Road sees tweaks
What: A project approved by City Council in summer 2022 returned to the commission April 25, and was unanimously approved despite some consternation surrounding a 38-foot retaining wall and lack of bike lanes. Changes to the proposed project, a 77-unit, 100% affordable apartment complex on Sweeten Creek Road, were enough to require amendments to its prior conditional zoning.
Where: Located at 3124/3130 Sweeten Creek Road in South Asheville, the project sits near the intersection of Mills Gap and Sweeten Creek roads, between the existing developments of Pine Ridge and Kensington Place apartments.
More project details:
Three multifamily buildings and a clubhouse
New driveway on Sweeten Creek Road
135 parking spaces
Two properties totaling 7.68 acres
Targeting residents at 60% AMI
Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation: Ultimately, the commission approved the project in a 3-2 vote, but only after the developer consented to add a condition to require a traffic study for the proposed project area, plus implementation of any of the study's recommendations and consideration of crosswalks for the congested corridor.
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Long Shoals Road rezoning
What: In a 6-1 vote, City Council approved rezoning three properties along Long Shoals Road from residential single-family, low density to highway business.
Where: 35 Long Shoals Road. One property is used as a single-family dwelling, the other two are wooded and vacant. The 5.24 acres are beside Lake Julian in South Asheville. Adjacent to the property to the east and southeast are single-family dwellings, with commercial businesses and industrial to the west and south.
Allowed land uses in the highway business district: Residential, institutional (schools, public services), recreational, food/beverage/entertainment, lodging, office, retail, industrial (light uses, wholesale sales, crematories) and other (agriculture, storage, parking lots, drive-thru)
Comments from Principal Planner Will Palmquist: "This is a straight rezoning, there are no development plans or other conditions submitted with this application."
Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation: Approved in a 4-1 vote April 5. "The main concern expressed by the one dissenting commissioner was regarding that array of permitted uses in the highway business district, including drive-thru facilities, which they felt was not the right character for this corridor," Palmquist said.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Council OKs 2 100% affordable developments
