Business

Developer pitches scaled back plan on First Avenue

A developer has proposed a 12-unit condo project behind the two-story white house in the 300 block of First Avenue West.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 28, 2024

A developer whose proposal for three-story condos was shot down by the Hendersonville City Council three weeks ago is pitching a scaled back version on the same half-acre lot in the 300 block of First Avenue West.

Property owner Rafique Charania of ARY Development LLC and architect Sarah McCormick of Peacock Architects have applied for a rezoning from CMU CZD Central Mixed Use Conditional Zoning District, to UR CZD Urban Residential Conditional Zoning for the construction of a two-story 12-unit multi-family development. 

The revised plan cuts out one floor and eliminates four units from the proposal Charania brought to the council on Nov. 7 and is in line with what at least two council members signaled they could support. In a 4-1 vote, council members denied the previous request, agreeing with neighbors’ objections based on scale, density, parking and neighborhood compatibility. The council’s vote came despite support for the change in a planning staff report, from the city planning board and in the applicants’ presentation. All described the villas as exactly the sort of infill development the newly adopted GenH comp plan calls for to combat sprawl.

The new plan is the fourth rezoning request for construction on the same vacant parcel. The council OK'd zoning for 10 units in two 1,742-square-foot buildings in August 2020 then authorized 11 units in two buildings of the same size plus three garage apartments in August 2021.

City planners will host a neighborhood compatibility meeting on the new request at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in the second floor meeting room of City Hall, 160 Sixth Ave. E. After a neighborhood compatibility meeting, zoning applications go to the planning board for review and then to the city council.