New Ingles on Patton Avenue, affordable housing move forward

ASHEVILLE - A proposed new Ingles grocery store on Patton Avenue cleared another hurdle May 4, meaning it will now go before Asheville City Council for final approval, probably this month.

The city's Planning & Zoning Commission approved a requested rezoning for the project on a 5-1 vote, with board Chair Joe Archibald casting the only no vote. While Archibald said the project "certainly is revitalizing a place that needs to be revitalized," he said he would like to get more community involvement in the project, as well as more assurances about diversity in tenants in retail space that will be built alongside the Ingles.

Wyatt Stevens, an attorney representing Ingles, said he appreciated Archibald's concerns and those of other commission members, but he also noted that "Perfection is the enemy of good." The project has been in the works for years, he added.

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"Is it exactly what everyone would want? No,” Stevens said. “But it is what the community wants, the immediate neighborhood community. It’s what Ingles is willing to spend its capital to build. It will be a lot better than what’s there. We are ready to go forward.”

The new 88,584-square-foot store, which will include multiple attached retail stores and a detached gas station, passed the city's Technical Review Committee in January. City Council will be the last hurdle.

The vote approved a conditional use permit change from highway business to commercial expansion. The commission did add conditions that Ingles will work with the city and the NCDOT to place a bus stop in the parking area, and that Ingles' leasing representative, John Spake, will continue to work with the community to ensure a diversity of businesses wanted by that community are represented in the retail spaces.

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Commission member Kelsey Simmons pushed hard for diversity among tenants, saying she appreciates the rejuvenation of the area the project will bring.

"My only concern is the diversity of the project," she said.

The new project, if approved by City Council, will involve demolishing the existing former Kmart store and an outbuilding that was previously an automotive shop, as well as regrading the parking lot to make it more level.

Kmart building problematic, pastor says

Just two people spoke during public comments on the project, Pastor Patrick Creed of Temple Baptist Church, and Ingrid Johnson, who is with the Emma Neighborhood Council.

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Creed said his church is "really excited about Ingles coming," in part because it will revitalize the site and provide jobs, but also for safety reasons. Temple Baptist also operates a school on site, and it's very close to the abandoned Kmart.

"This year, we had a man on our property following a little girl to her classroom," Creed said. "He was a registered sex offender, and he was living in Kmart. He’s now in jail."

Several other people have been arrested around the old Kmart because of drug activity, he said.

“The best choice for safety is, let’s move forward and get this done," Creed said.

Johnson read a letter from the Emma Neighborhood Council expressing support for Ingles.

"Ingles has been extremely communicative and accessible throughout the zoning process,” Johnson said. “Their services as a grocery store, as well as other retail businesses that will be brought to our area, are vital to our community.”

She also said the Ingles project is "much more in line” with the Emma community than the previous plans for an "urban center" that would've included housing.

Affordable housing in East Asheville moves ahead, too

The commission also approved a 70-unit affordable housing development for seniors on Swannanoa River Road across from the East Asheville Walmart. The 2.5-acre site, to be called Redwood Commons, will comprise 16 two-bedroom and 54 one-bedroom apartments renting at an average of 60% of the Area Median Income.

All 70 units will be designated "affordable" for a minimum of 30 years, and they will also accept vouchers from the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, developers said. The site is just to the west of the Aldi grocery store, near the intersection with Governor's View Road.

The commission voted 5-1 to approve conditional rezoning from "river" to "residential expansion." Commission member Brenton Faircloth cast the only "no" vote, after raising concerns about the project requesting not to pay "fee in lieu" monies totaling about $70,000, for reducing tree plantings.

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An engineer for the project, Thomas Mannino with McGill Associates, told the commission the site conditions "are pretty staggering," as they include a stream rerouting and a lot of fill material to raise it out of the floodway. The stream mitigation alone will come to $200,000, Mannino said, a considerable sum for an affordable housing project.

Neighbor Sue McConnell was the only member of the public to speak. A homeowner, McConnell said the project's traffic impact could "affect the safety of the community," as Governor's View Road is narrow and has a blind curve in the area. Also, the intersection of Governor's View and Swannanoa River Road are prone to flooding, she said, and that could be dangerous for drivers.

Other commission members expressed concerns about the aesthetics of the building, saying it looked "too institutional" and "like a hotel," but the developer, Steve Sceranka, assured the board tweaks could be made. He also said the appearance changes came from suggestions from the city's Technical Review Committee, which approved the project previously.

Sceranka is director of real estate development southeast for Buckeye Community Hope Foundation’s Housing Division, which builds only affordable housing. It owns or manages more than 4,000 units in 11 states.

The need for housing in the Asheville area is critical, with extremely low vacancy rates for apartments. According to the US Census Bureau, 18.1% of Asheville's estimated 2020 population of 94,589, or roughly 17,120 people, are 65 and older.

Commission member Geoffrey Barton said affordable housing is "desperately" needed in Asheville, noting that some 7,500 local households spend 50% of their income on rent alone. He then asked Sceranka, "Are we doing enough to make life easier for developers like you?"

Sceranka said, "The rezoning is the challenge," along with "the challenge of NIMBYism," or "Not In My Back Yard" attitudes.

Commission member Jenifer Bubenik raised concerns about resident parking, as well as a crosswalk across Swannanoa River Road, which she noted has a quick timer that senior citizens might struggle to make. As part of the approval, the developer agreed to reach out to the NCDOT about the crosswalk and its timing.

This project will also proceed to City Council for a final vote.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: New Ingles on Patton Avenue, affordable housing move forward