HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Citing a desperate shortage of affordable housing options for lower-income seniors, the Hendersonville City Council on Thursday went against a recommendation from the city’s Planning Board and approved a 60-unit senior apartment project at Greenville Highway at Chadwick Avenue.
By voice vote, the council approved a Conditional Zoning District change that allows the project, now known as The Lofts at Chadwick, to move forward. The project is seeking Low Income Housing Tax Credits overseen by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. All the units must be handicapped-accessible and affordable to those earning less than 80 percent of the area’s median household income.
During a live-streamed meeting on Thursday night, several council members spoke of the urgent need for affordable housing, particularly for lower-income seniors. They said that need over-rode concerns public speakers raised at the meeting and at a Planning Board session in March, when that panel voted 4-2 to recommend denial of the petition.
In its recommendation for denial, the Planning Board said they did not find the proposal to be “reasonable and in the public interest.” They cited the plan to remove 48 mature trees and maintain only 12, and said the project was not providing enough buffer to a “blueline stream” at the site.
During the public discussions, speakers also questioned the amount of traffic the project might bring, whether emergency vehicle access was sufficient and other issues.
Developers pointed out that the zoning change being sought actually was a reduction in building size, from 70 units to 60, from a plan that previously won conditional zoning approval but never came to fruition.
During the discussion, City Council members acknowledged the concerns raised and the Planning Board’s denial recommendation before deciding that the need for affordable senior housing should take precedent.
Tree canopy protection approved
In other action Thursday, the Hendersonville City Council approved a Tree Canopy Preservation & Enhancement zoning text amendment, which will require developers to preserve at least 20 percent of the tree canopy on sites greater than one acre that are being developed. An earlier proposal would have exempted sites smaller than two acres, but that was among the concerns raised by the city’s Tree Board.
As reported earlier this week, some Tree Board members said they liked the limits on how many trees may be removed, but they were concerned that the new regulations will eliminate their panel’s formal advisory role in reviewing conditional zoning requests. They also questioned the amount of payments developers will be allowed to pay in lieu of preserving an additional 10 percent of trees on development sites.
