News

Planning board says no to Haywood Road rezoning

By Amy McCraw, Published: October 10, 2025

The Hendersonville Planning Board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that city council deny a request to rezone about 21 acres on Haywood Road for a 180-unit planned community.

Board members cited the proposal’s inadequate access for emergency vehicles, inadequate distribution of common space, its incompatibility with surrounding developments and how the proposed development would impact the environment as reasons for voting no.
More than one member of the planning board said they also agreed with the residents of nearby developments who argued during the meeting that they were concerned about retaining walls that were planned for the development.
“That’s like a sore thumb sticking out,” board member Betsey Zafra said of the proposed retaining walls.
Board member Donna Waters said she agreed that neighbors were right to be concerned about plans for the retaining walls.
“I wouldn’t want one of those in my backyard either,” she said.
Applicant Advenir Azora Development LLC proposes 180 duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes accessible from a driveway cut off Haywood Road between Blythe Street and Maplewood Court. Planned amenities include sidewalks, a clubhouse and pool. The applicant has agreed to accommodate a public greenway through the center of the site along Brittain Creek, a planning staff analysis said.
A traffic impact analysis commissioned by the developer recommended that the developer build a west-bound left-turn lane into the site with at least 50-feet of storage and final design coordinated with NCDOT. The rental community would generate 1,321 trips a day, the traffic engineers said. City planners recommended that the developer also install an eastbound right-turn lane into the driveway.
Miami-based Advenir Azora that has built 2,300 residential units and has 5,000 more units valued at $1.2 billion in the pipeline, according to its website.
Developers are asking to rezone the property on Haywood Road from medium-density residential to planned residential development to allow for the high-density project.
Homeowners have organized to oppose the plan, saying increased traffic, noise, potential flooding, loss of tree canopy and loss of wildlife habitat make the development incompatible with the surrounding area of mostly single-family residential homes.
More than 100 people attended each of two neighborhood compatibility meetings held over the summer. Many said they thought the development would be wrong for the area around Haywood Road.
Several neighbors who spoke during Thursday’s meeting voiced the same concerns.
Many said they thought the proposal for 180 units on 21.25 acres was too dense for the area and not in keeping with the city’s land use plan.
A man who lives in nearby Blythewood Commons, said he “thought I was looking at two outlet malls separated by a creek when he looked at plans for the development.”
Eugene Carr, who lives in the Haywood Forest subdivision, said his property abuts the project. He said he thought plans for the development were not in keeping with the city’s land use plan.
Carr said he was also concerned about plans for the development’s retaining walls.
“My son may get a climbing wall,” he said.