Politics

County swats down higher density rezoning on Haywood Road

The owner of the parcel outlined in red is seeking to rezone the property from estate residential to local commercial.

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 1, 2025

With little discussion, Henderson County commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to deny a request to rezone 35 acres on Haywood Road west of South Rugby Road from a highly restrictive residential category to one that allows high-density residential and commercial use.

Property owner Mills River LLC, which has a mailing address in Coral Gables, Florida, and applicant Grant James faced an uphill battle. After two residents spoke against the rezoning, the county planning board voted 7-1 in its December meeting to recommend denial of the request.

During a public hearing before the Board of Commissioners Monday night, three residents spoke against the higher density zoning. Commissioner Michael Edney recalled the request by Ingles in 2005 to rezone land on Haywood Road to build a supermarket — a request that drew 500 opponents to a public hearing at West Henderson High School.

The current R-40 Estate Residential zoning limits development to single-family homes on one-acre lots. The requested zone, Local Commercial, generally allows four units per acre and under certain conditions would allow 16 units per acre. The high-density option may be unrealistic, however, since the property is currently served by well and septic tank, not public wagter and sewer. When county planners mailed letters three adjacent property owners asking whether they wished to join in the rezoning request, one said no and the other two declined to respond.

Local Commercial zoning is intended "to foster orderly growth where the principal use of the land is commercial and residential," the county's comprehensive land-use plan says. A planning staff analysis said the change from Estate Residential to Local Commercial would be consistent with the comp plan because the area is designated as a "neighborhood anchor," which are crossroads areas that typically contain a mix of commercial, churches and schools and residential. "These areas typically follow a development pattern where commercial uses are clustered directly adjacent to crossroads development surrounded by residential development and agricultural uses."

Land on three sides of the property is zoned R-40 while land north of the property across Haywood Road is zoned R-2.  French Broad Baptist Church is west of the 35-acre parcel. A parcel in the east side is zoned Local Commercial. The land is bounded on the south by Grandview Lane and on the north by Haywood Road.