News

Gated community would offer pickleball, dog park and playground

By Lightning Reports, Published: March 11, 2025

The owners of 31 acres on Sugarloaf Road are seeking a rezoning to allow a 50-home gated community called the Cottages at Sugarloaf Meadow.

The request by Cottages at Sugarloaf Meadows LLC and Claire McConnell comes before the county Planning Board at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the county building at 100 N. King St. It’s the third subdivision of around 50 homes to be proposed in the county this year, following one at the Orchard Trace pitch-and-putt golf course, also on Sugarloaf Road, and one on Tracy Grove Road at Duncan Road.

The applicants are asking for a rezoning to Conditional Zoning District to develop a single-family residential development consisting of 50 homes with an amenity area. A conditional rezoning allows the Board of Commissioners to place conditions on the developer to address community concerns and make the proposed development compatible with adjacent uses, though the landowner must agree to the conditions.

The developer plans to connect to Hendersonville city water and install individual septic tanks.

“The applicant has hired a soil scientist who has inspected the land and has designed the lots, homes, septic systems and roads around soil suitability,” the planning staff report said.

Amenities shown in the rezoning applications include a privacy fence along Sugarloaf Road with a gate for entry to the subdivision, a recreation area containing two pickleball courts, a dog park, playground, restrooms and 20 parking spaces. The subdivision would also have landscaping (168 trees), 4,316 feet of roads and 7.85 acres of open space.

Cottages at Sugarloaf Meadows LLC bought 29 acres at 1936 Sugarloaf Road for $1,025,000 last September and Claire McConnell bought a 1.7-acre parcel at 1862 Sugarloaf Road for $25,000 in December, tax records show. Each parcel contains a single-family home that would be removed for the development. The larger tract is currently in use as agriculture.