The City of Blue Ridge’s Planning Commission will hear a request to rezone a section of the southeast corner of Sierra Lane and Appalachian Highway Tuesday, September 1, with the intent of creating a 107-unit townhome and cottage community.
Meanwhile, citizens are already lining up to stop the project.
Johnnie Hastings of Integrity Development Group, LLC, has filed the request to rezone a 14.15 acre tract between College Street and Highway 515 from General Commercial District to High Density Residential.
Hastings and business partners plan to develop a “designer cottage development,” according to the application.
In a Letter of Intent from Kenneth J. Wood, president of Planners and Engineers Collaborative, Inc., it states that the “rezoning would facilitate the development of a new 107-unit townhome and designer cottage community.”
Broken down, the property will house 28 single-family attached townhomes and 78 designer cottages, which would account for nearly eight units to an acre.
Access to the cottages would be through College Street.
The letter adds that the development should not add to traffic or “burden” the existing infrastructure and ultilties.
Gene Middleton, who lives on Summit Street, just beside College Street, said, “We (he and his wife, Margaret) think this particular development that’s coming up is inappropriate for the area. It’s a high-density development with like 79, what they call designer cottages, but they’re basically tiny homes, and we don’t think it’s appropriate for the area, and the access of the 79 designer cottages would all, would only be [through] that College Street...”
Margaret Middleton added, “And that would just ruin our quality of life.”
“We feel that we’re being squeezed out as far as the zoning goes,” she said.
The Middleton’s are natives to the area and currently reside in Margaret’s childhood home.
The couple has put a lot of time and money into remodeling the home, they said.
As for others in the immediate area, “Everybody who we’ve talked to opposes it, and we’re planning to speak in opposition at the September 1 Planning Commission,” Gene said.
A petition has even been sent around for folks in the area to sign in opposition.
As of Wednesday, August 19, there were over 70 signatures.
“People come here to see the charm of this town, and it is very quickly being changed by developers,” Margaret said. “The people who live here and pay taxes and live and work here don’t feel this would be a good idea at all.”