News

Council delays decision on 59-home phase 2 of Half Moon Heights

A proposed 59-home subdivision on 21 acres, outlined in yellow, would be accessible from Old Sunset Hill Road and would connect to Half Moon Heights (top).

By Bill Moss, Published: February 13, 2025

The Hendersonville City Council delayed a decision on Wednesday night on a rezoning to allow a 59-home subdivision that would expand the Half Moon Heights development toward Old Sunset Hill Road in favor of further negotiations with the developer over wetlands protection.

The applicant, Forestar USA Real Estate Group Inc., and landowners Gregory Albea Julianne Albea, Jospeh Taylor and Laura Taylor, are seeking a rezoning from Henderson County's Residential Two Rural to the city's Planned Residential Development to build 59 single-family units on 21 acres. Proposed lot sizes ranged from .13 acre to .4 acre. Access to the development would be from Old Sunset Hill Road and from a street stub to the north connecting to Phase 1 of the Half Moon Heights development.

The development plan also calls for:

• A sidewalk on one side of all new internal streets and along the existing road frontage of Old Sunset Hill Road. Sidewalks on the northern side of the property would tie into an existing sidewalk at Half Moon Heights.
• Two parking spaces per home — one garage space and one in the driveway.
• Preserving 3.9 acres, or 20 percent, of the existing tree canopy, on the site.

The subdivision would be served by city water and sewer services. Water is already available on Old Sunset Hill Road; city sewer service would be extended from the Connor Creek Mobile Home Park to the west.

Residents who opposed the rezoning cited stormwater runoff problems at the developer's current project, Half Moon; the loss of trees and wildlife habitat, and increased traffic.

Jared DeRidder, of WGLA Engineering, said that construction would impact only .15 acre of the 1.66 acre of wetlands on the site. "There is no city of Hendersonville wetland buffer requirement in your ordinance. There is a stream buffer ordinance," and the project complies with that by including a 30-foot buffer, he said.

The Planning Board, he noted, voted 6-1 on Jan. 9 to recommend that the council grant the rezoning request.

"I would suggest that this project is consistent with the Gen H plan and the future land-use plan and is compatible with surrounding uses and density" at Wolfpen, Half Moon Heights and Wolfchase, he said. Those adjoining developments have a density of 2.67 units per acre, roughly the same as the new development's density of 2.8 units/acre.

The council's decision hinges on two points of conflict: whether the developer would agreed to construct a left turn lane on Howard Gap onto Old Sunset Hill Road and agree to a city-proposed condition to further protect wetlands. The developer did agree to establish a monitoring program "to assess the health of the wetland and buffer areas during and after
development" for at least two years.

After a lengthy discussion among council members, the developer's representatives, a city planner and the city's stormwater and floodplain administrator, City Manager John Connet suggested that negotiations continue outside the council meeting.

A planning staff analysis said the rezoning was consistent with the city's comprehensive land-use plan because it would provide additional housing to meet demand, would add a "valuable new roadway connection between U.S. 64 and Old Sunset Hill Road/Howard Gap Road — aligning with "street interconnectivity" goals outlined in the comp plan — and would be consistent in density with other nearby developments.