Business

Arcadia Views opponents want NCDOT to bar entrance on U.S. 64

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 6, 2017

Residents opposing the Arcadia Views development across from two large subdivisions on U.S. 64 are urging the NCDOT to require a single entrance on Davis Mountain Road instead of U.S. 64.

Gregory Plumb and Peggy Smith, two leaders of the anti-development movement made up of Hawthorn Hills and Hunters Crossing residents and others, urged the state transportation agency "to effectively limit ingress and egress for the Cottages at Arcadia Views to Davis Mountain Road, Smith said in a letter to NCDOT District Engineer Steve Cannon dated Oct. 26. That followed Plumb's letter a month earlier recommending the same thing.

WXZ Development is seeking approval from the Laurel Park Town Council to build 199 cottages on a 91-acre ridge with road frontage on U.S. 64 and Davis Mountain Road, a winding road that runs from Daniel Drive to Hebron Road. The first of six phases would contain 56 units on the lower part of the property on U.S. 64 across from Hunters Crossing.

A single entrance/exit road on Davis Mountain Road, Smith said, "would bypass the unsolvable problems (unsafe sight distances and unsafe offset driveway distances) (posed by) the developer’s desired driveway access onto U.S. 64" and would disperse "Arcadia Views traffic in four directions via Daniels Road and via Crystal Spring Drive to White Pine, Hebron Drive, and 5th Avenue."

Here's the entire letter:

October 26, 2017

Mr. Steve Cannon, PE
District Engineer
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Highway Division 14, District l
4142 Haywood Road
Mills River, NC 28742

RE: Follow-up to Cottages at Arcadia Views Street and Driveway Access Permit Application,
Gregory M. Plumb’s Response dtd 9/25/17 and US64W Traffic Survey Request dtd 9/25/17 Q6AAXXYQVH

Dear Mr. Cannon:

The concerned residents of the US64W corridor realize that improvements to our road are inevitable in some form, probably within the 10-12 year timeframe you have suggested. However, to deal with the immediacy of the Arcadia Views approval in a well-thought-out, compliant and logical fashion, we believe North Carolina Department of Transportation should effectively limit ingress and egress for the Cottages at Arcadia Views to Davis Mountain Road, as previously suggested by Gregory M. Plumb on 9/25/17.

We cite the following compelling reasons why this alternative should prevail:

1. It would bypass the unsolvable problems (unsafe sight distances and unsafe offset driveway distances) with the developer’s desired driveway access onto US64.
2. There are already intentions by the developer to eventually build one access “driveway” onto Davis Mountain Road (as mentioned at the Laurel Park Town Council meeting in September).
3. A Davis Mountain Road entrance would funnel Arcadia Views traffic in four directions via Daniels Road and via Crystal Spring Drive to White Pine, Hebron Drive, and 5th Avenue; dispersing traffic throughout the entire area. In addition, Davis Mountain Road connects to Etowah. Having no entrance on 64W prevents the Arcadia Views road from becoming a cut-through for Davis Mountain Road converging into a single intersection on US64W.
4. Laurel Park police would likely travel up Davis Mountain Road from the police station if required to make a call in Arcadia Views since it would be the most direct and fastest route.
5. We understand current developments (i.e. Charlotte, NC) are reducing theft and vandalism problems by deliberately designing their communities with a single entrance to cut down on easy escape routes for perpetrators . (Obviously, the necessity of a criminal having to drive right by the Laurel Park Police Department after committing theft/vandalism would deter such incidences, thereby increasing the overall safety of Arcadia Views residents.)
6. Arcadia Views IS a Laurel Park medium density housing project and Laurel Park should attempt to solve the resulting traffic issues they are creating.

As current 64W corridor residents, we would like to see a single entrance on Davis Mountain Road, with a landscaped berm along 64W to buffer noise and maintain the country feel that we wish to preserve.

Again, referring to the 500 petition signatures already obtained from US64W corridor residents, we remind NC DOT and the Henderson County Traffic Advisory Committee that your mission is to listen to the public as stated at the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting this past Wednesday, October 18, 2017, prior to recommending transportation decisions that are not felt to be in the best interests of the community.

Sincerely,

Peggy Smith, President
Hunters Crossing Homeowners Association