Sketch plan review on proposed new 29-homesite Mars Hill subdivision set for July 19

MARS HILL - The town continues to tackle growth.

"Mars Hill's got a lot to think about in the future - what they want to be," said Planning and Zoning Director Terrey Dolan in reference to a proposed subdivision set to go before the planning board for a sketch plan review July 17.

The project, Long Ridge Heights, proposes 29 single-family homesites, located at 1309 Long Ridge Road in Mars Hill. 

According to Dolan, the proposed subdivision consists of two adjoining parcels, a 35.4-acre tract owned by Donald Walters, and a separate 8-acre piece at the very northern end tip, which is owned by Roy Ledford.

The proposed subdivision would be located on the westerly side of I-26 northbound, where Long Ridge Road and Forks of Ivy Road split off. 

As the tracts are zoned R/A, the minimum lot size for each site is 1 acre, per the Madison County Land Use Ordinance. 

"Everybody will have their own portable well, and everybody will have their own septic," Dolan said. 

The proposed tract sits outside the Mars Hill town limits in the unincorporated county but is subject to the Subdivision Control Ordinance. 

Dolan said the project is the third of five subdivisions proposed for the county since May.

In its May 17 meeting, the planning board approved two subdivisions. The first was a 34-unit subdivision along Morlin Acres Drive in Marshall. The board also OK'd a 13-homesite single-family home subdivision, North Side Estates, in Mars Hill, located along the north side of U.S. 19, east of Upper Bailey Branch Road.

Another two projects are set to come before the board in August, the planning and zoning director said.

The Long Ridge Heights sketch plan review is the first step in a two-part process, according to Dolan.

"This is just the initial sketch plan review, which is supposed to be a very short exchange between the board members and the applicant, and the applicant's engineer," Dolan said. "It has to go to the planning board, and then in the next meeting, (the developers) would potentially get their preliminary plat approved. If they get their preliminary plat approved, they then get to start doing work on the property."

Gid Flynn Road vacation rental project

Also in the meeting, the board will vote on whether to issue a special use permit to a vacation rental cabin project for eight cabins, located at 183 Gid Flynn Road in Marshall.

As the applicant was in the process of applying for the permit before the county issued its six-month commercial assembly moratorium June 28, the project was grandfathered in and will be voted on July 19.

"This applicant's application was in process before the whole moratorium came up," Dolan said.

Commercial assembly moratorium input

According to the agenda, the board will also receive updates from John Noor, the county land use attorney, on the town's 2030 Comprehensive Plan, as well as the assembly hall moratorium and the County Land Use Ordinance's enforcement.

"There are certain land uses that tend to draw fire - assembly halls," Dolan said. "We do not have 'wedding venues' as a permitted use or as a separate use that you can go and get a special use permit for. I think, at the end of the day, it will probably be covered in one category or another in each zoning district."

According to Dolan, in the future, the county's Board of Adjustment may potentially be tasked with voting on special use permit applications, rather than the planning board.

"(The planning board) is supposed to be doing legislative actions, and anything like a condition/special use (permit) is supposed to be covered by a board of adjustment," Dolan said. "It's the planning board's responsibility to review changes to the Land Use Ordinance, even if it affects their future evaluations of projects. They're supposed to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners, who then vote on something. So, we're trying to clean up the Land Use Ordinance also, and get the right review board to review the right type of project."

The Madison County Planning Board will meet July 19 at 6:30 p.m., at the Madison County Library system's Marshall location, located at 1335 N. Main Street in Marshall. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: New Mars Hill subdivision proposed; Sketch plan review set for July 17