Almost 400 new apartments and townhouses could be coming to south Buncombe
ASHEVILLE — Almost 400 new apartments and townhouses included in two south Buncombe County projects are going before the county's Board of Adjustment for approval Oct. 12.
The larger project, named Hawthorne at Sheehan Road, plans to bring 260 apartments over seven structures on 28 acres, according to the project's application. The site plans also include two dog parks, one with a pavilion, a clubhouse with a pool, one grilling pavilion, two playgrounds, a bike and kayak storage building, electric car charging stations and six seven-car garages, according to plans drafted by Asheville-based Civil Design Concepts. The project developer is Hawthorne Residential Partners, a Greensboro property management company that has five other apartment complexes around Asheville, according to its website.
The project has a Fletcher mailing address but is actually located in Buncombe County on Sheehan Road, around 30 minutes from downtown Asheville and 15 minutes from Biltmore Park.
The smaller project, called Glenn Bridge Rental Units, would build 120 townhome units over 22 structures plus a clubhouse with a pool on 10 acres, according to its application. Georgia-based Trilogy Investment Company is the project's developer, which, according to its website, owns 543 lots in North Carolina, 185 of which are under construction and 358 of which are in development. Detroit-based engineering firm Wade Trim prepared the project's site plans for Trilogy.
It is located in Avery Creek on Glenn Bridge Road, around 20 minutes from downtown Asheville and 10 minutes from Biltmore Park.
None of the projects have affordability requirements listed on their applications.
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While Hawthorne at Sheehan adheres to all county requirements, Glenn Bridge Rental Units is seeking special permission to reduce the distances between buildings from the required 20 feet to 15 feet. Hawthorne at Sheehan is proposing a mixture of three-story, four-story and three/four story split buildings, while Glen Bridge is proposing two-story townhouses.
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Hawthorne at Sheehan is planning to provide a minimum of 1.7 parking spaces per apartment, while Glenn Bridge Rental Units plans to provide a one-car garage and a driveway with each townhome, in addition to 68 guest parking spaces around the project.
Traffic impact analysis reports recommend road changes for both projects in order to handle peak traffic caused by the developments. For Hawthorne at Sheehan, a report recommends splitting the Sheehan Road approach at Cane Creek Road into separate left- and right-turn lanes. Glenn Bridge Rental Units' report recommends widening the westbound approach of the Brevard Road and Glenn Bridge Road intersection to provide a shared through and left-turn lane and an exclusive right-turn lane.
Both projects are seeking special use permits on Oct. 12 from the county's Board of Adjustment, a quasi-judicial process during which board members decide how current laws apply to an application, obtain evidence and review ordinance standards. Board members may not take subjective observations or personal preferences into account when making a decision about project applications, they may only look at facts, sworn testimony and laws. The Board of Adjustment will meet at noon at 200 College St. in the Board of Commissioners Chambers.
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Nathan Pennington, director of Buncombe County Planning and Development, said county staff does not provide comment or opinions on items that go before the Board of Adjustment due the nature of the hearings.
"There are very strict rules related to ex parte communications for these projects," he said in an email.
These two projects join a 40-townhouse development near Weaverville on the Oct. 12 board meeting's agenda.
Neither Philip Payonk at Hawthorne Residential Partners nor Matt Cotton or John Boniface at Trilogy Investment Company immediately responded to multiple requests for comment.
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: South Buncombe could see 400 new apartments and townhouses
