News

Haywood Road homeowners cite traffic, loss of trees and habitat in zoning fight

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 20, 2025

Homeowners organizing an effort to stop a rezoning to permit a 180-unit development on Haywood Road cite traffic, stormwater runoff, removal of trees and loss of wildlife habitat as reasons to block what they call a "stark density mismatch" with surrounding single-family homes.

A developer has applied for a rezoning from medium-density residential to planned residential development to allow the construction of 180 two-, three- and four-bedroom dwellings on 21 acres at 1741 Haywood Road. "Stop the Haywood Road Rezoning" signs havd cropped up in yards and multi-family neighborhoods near the proposed building site ahead of the first public hearing on the development application today.

City planners will hold a neighborhood compatibility meeting on the conditional use zoning request at 2 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 160 Sixth Avenue East. The applicant is Advenir Azora Development LLC, a Miami-based development company that has built 2,300 residential units and has 5,000 more units valued at $1.2 billion in the pipeline.

A flier circulating in the area says the development would be made up of single, duplex, triplex and quadplex rental units with one access point, on Haywood Road "near the busy intersection of Blythe Street, Ewbank Drive and Morris Lane."

"Currently we see bear, deer, fox, turkey, among others, and our latest, a bald eagle!" the flier says.. "Many portions of this rezoning would not be in alignment with the 2045 comprehensive plan that the city has so heavily promoted."

The Haywood Road property between Maplewood Court and Blythe Street was purchased by commercial real estate broker and developer Jeff Justus in 2015 for $500,000, land records show. It's valued on the tax books at $664,900.