40 townhouse development in Weaverville heads to county Board of Adjustment

A new townhouse development with sidewalks, two-car garages and a playground planned in Weaverville on Reems Creek goes to the Buncombe County Board of Adjustment Oct. 12.

The development, which is located at 9 Pleasant Grove Road and aptly named "9 Pleasant Grove" on its application, will make available 40 two-story townhome units across 10 buildings on 6.7 acres of land. Reems Creek runs across the north end of the property away from any planned construction, and a floodplain sits on the south end, according to site plans.

"The proposed residential project is a residential planned community act development, similar to much of the area surrounding the project," the project application says. "As such, this proposed project will have a similar use and not adversely affect the surrounding properties via on-going noise, vibration, odor or glare. The project will maintain as much vegetation as possible surrounding the newly constructed structures to sustain the existing natural setting and act as a natural buffering of noise, vibration, odor and glare."

The development is seeking a special use permit that would allow the interior setbacks of structures to property lines to be waived, minimum lot sizes to be reduced from 6,000 square feet per lot to 1,989 square feet per lot and the 20-foot distance between buildings requirement to be removed, according to a county staff report.

Although the site is located about five minutes from downtown Weaverville, the town's Planning Director James Eller said it is not within the corporate limits of the town, despite having a town mailing address.

Meeting planned:The Bluffs former Woodfin site under proposal for 672-apartment project

Project fully funded:Woodfin's Riverside Park, Whitewater Wave project fully funded, 90% designed

54-unit expansion:Asheville City Council OKs 54-unit expansion of 100% affordable Shiloh senior housing

Entrance to the development is planned on Pleasant Grove Road and may include an identifying monument sign. Structure heights will be less than the 35-foot allowed height, which makes the proposed buildings similar to existing building types throughout the market, according to the application.

Asheville Engineering firm Civil Design Concepts is planning the project and is listed on the application as the project's authorized representative.

"The proposed project will have a playground area and various open space areas in several locations of the project along with access to maintained natural areas along the development. Final mix of active and passive (green space) recreation items will be determined by HOA," the application says.

The proposed development is located in the R-3 Zoning District, which has a standard density of 12 units per acre. The current project plan proposes half that at six units per acre.

The land is being developed by Pleasant Grove of WNC LLC based out of Fletcher, which entered a contract to buy the land on July 21 for $725,000. The land was appraised by the county at $322,400 in 2021, with the land being valued at $163,800, the house currently on the land valued at $148,500 and other features of the land being valued at $10,100. The site plans involve the demolition of the housing currently sitting on the property.

"Pleasant Grove of WNC, LLC is currently under contract to buy the property from the owner and will close on the property/start construction once approved and permitted," the application says.

None of the townhouses are listed as having any affordability requirement.

David Luck of Pleasant Grove of WNC LLC said Oct. 4 he was not at liberty to discuss the project. Nathan Pennington, Planning Director for Buncombe County, said he could not provide more information than what was provided on the county's website due to the quasi-judicial nature of the Board of Adjustment.

Board of Adjustment meetings are quasi-judicial, meaning the board decides how the current law applies to an application, obtains evidence and review ordinance standards to make determinations and follows established rules to protect the constitutional rights of parties. Board members do not take personal opinion, subjective observations or personal preferences into account, they only look at facts, sworn testimony and laws. The Board of Adjustment will meet at noon Oct. 12 at 200 College St. in the Board of Commissioners Chambers.

Christian Smith is the general assignment reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Questions or Comments? Contact him at RCSmith@gannett.com or (828) 274-2222.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Townhome project in Weaverville heads to county Board of Adjustment