News

City annexes Upward Road property

By Amy McCraw, Published: August 2, 2024

Hendersonville’s City Council on Thursday annexed and rezoned property along Upward Road, making way for commercial development with access to the city’s sewer system.

Council’s unanimous votes to approve the annexation and rezoning came after two public hearings where one person spoke against the proposal.
Lynne Williams, who lives on Chadwick Avenue in Hendersonville, told council annexing the property would lead to yet another loss of needed farmland in the community.
“Every time there is annexation it is converted to commercial and it is lost,” she said.
In response, Mayor Pro Tem Lyndsey Simpson said the council has no control over people who want to sell their land.
“This person is not being forced to annex,” she said. “That is their choice.”
Council member Jeff Miller also asked City Manager John Connet to discuss the history of sewer service along Upward Road. Sewer service was originally provided to Upward Road by a county system that served an elementary school along the road, he said. The city eventually began providing sewer service to Upward Road.
Connet also said the city does not force annexation but does require property owners who want city sewer service to request annexation.
The city received a request for satellite annexation in June from property owners Lyndon and Lynn Hill for 1.20 acres along Upward Road near the proposed Spinx.
The property is outside Hendersonville’s corporate city limits and outside its extra territorial jurisdiction. But it is in the Upward Road Planning District.
The property was in the county’s Community Commercial zoning district. Once annexed into the city, council voted to change the property’s zoning designation to Commercial Highway Mixed Use.
CHMU permits a range of commercial uses and residential uses — up to 12 units/acre — and requires design standards for all uses other than single-family and two-family homes. As a standard rezoning, all CHMU uses would be permitted.
The city’s planning board recommended the zoning change in a 7-0 vote during its July 11 meeting.