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Planners endorse Oklawaha Village

The Hendersonville Planning Board recommended that the City Council approve an 84-unit affordable housing development on North Main Street, although the advisory board asked questions about the design and quality of 18 single-family homes.


The Housing Assistance Corp., a nonprofit agency that works to provide affordable housing for working families and elderly people, wants to build the Oklawaha Village on 18½ acres on North Main Street near Mud Creek. During a public hearing on the proposal in January, neighbors raised concerns about increased traffic, visibility at the intersection of Yon Hill Road and the effect on property values.
The Housing Assistance Corp. has applied for a form of financing that enables a developer to use state and federal tax credits to build the project. It's competing with two other developments that are also seeking to qualify for tax credit financing; only one of the projects will be chosen, HAC officials said.
The homes would be built through a federal program that helps eligible working families buy a single-family home; they must help build the homes and take courses on home maintenance and household budgeting.
An architect's rendering of the apartment buildings for 66 units looked fine, Planning Board members said.
"We're giving blanket approval yet we know nothing about the single-family home sites and there's no control," Chairman Steven Orr said.
Don Daines, HAC's director of residential development, said the single-family detached homes will be on lots averaging a quarter acre and will be built of high-quality energy efficient material. The market value of the land and home together will be around $184,000, he said.
Rents would range from $525 a month for one-bedroom apartments to $630 for two-bedroom units.

Orr recommended that the agency form an architectural review board so it can assure the public that the houses will be of high quality. The Oklawaha Village proposal goes next to the Hendersonville City Council on March 5.