On Monday, February 19, before an audience of 160+ community members, a group of 7th and 8th graders from Evergreen Community Charter School introduced and asked questions of the candidates running for Asheville City Council this year. 

Led by poised and polished student moderators, the 767 development plan was the first question asked. Other questions focused on the long-delayed New Haw Creek Road sidewalk, homelessness, community reparations, public funding of charter schools, inadequate infrastructure maintenance, district elections, drug treatment, and climate change. 

The six candidates participating in the forum included Charles (CJ) Domingo, Kevan Frazier, Roberto (Bo) Hess, Tod Leaven, Kim Roney, and Sage Turner. Watch the forum and hear the responses from each candidate on the school's youtube channel.

The March 5 primary election will determine which six of the eight candidates running for the three open Council seats will advance to the general election in November.

The Haw Creek Community Association was pleased to co-sponsor this community event.

The developer of the 767 New Haw Creek Road property officially filed plans with the City on January 10. The 12-page document is available here and on the HCCA Rezoning and Development Process webpage.

The "Meadows at Haw Creek" plan details the site layout for 95 homes with open flood plain pasture and new greenway, one new access road ("Haw River Drive"), landscaping, tree preservation, water, sewer and storm drainage. The plan is currently being reviewed by the Technical Review Committee (TRC), the first official step in the Conditional Zoning approval process.

We have added a link to a Development Guide on our Rezoning and Development Process page. This comprehensive document, published by Mountain Xpress, explains how projects get approved in Buncombe County and features tips for effective public comment.

In addition, we have added a new Frequently Asked Questions page that answers the most common questions related to this project.

HCCA has prepared a list of questions regarding the proposed development plan and will be meeting with the City’s planning department on Monday, January 22, to get clarification on a number of points.

Together with the 767 Working Group, we are designing a unified and winnable response to City Council. We have a plan to organize and mobilize the community to oppose this development as it is proposed. See our 767 Development page for details.

Thanks to a neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous, funding has become available for an independent traffic study designed to evaluate the impact of the proposed 95-unit subdivision at 767 New Haw Creek Road. New Haw Creek Road will be studied to determine the operational and safety impacts of the development. In addition, four locations of interest will be evaluated. 

Specific areas of interest:

New Haw Creek Road at Bell Road. Located 850' from the proposed driveway for the development, this two-way stop intersection presents queue spillback issues during school drop off and pickup from Evergreen Community Charter School. 

Old Haw Creek Road at Bethesda Road. This two-way stop intersection presents queue spillback issues during school drop off and pickup from Haw Creek Elementary School. 

New Haw Creek Road at Beverly Road. Located approximately one mile from the proposed driveway, this two-way stop intersection presents queue spillback issues for those traveling on Beverly Road. 

New Haw Creek Road at Crockett Avenue. Located approximately 1.6 miles from the proposed driveway, this location is composed of a signalized intersection at US70 and Crockett Avenue and a closely-spaced downstream two-way stop intersection at Crockett Avenue and New Haw Creek Road. The left turn queue along US70 frequently spills back to the end of the turn lane. Additionally, left and right turning vehicles regularly queue at the yield/stop sign of the northbound approach of Crockett Avenue at New Haw Creek Road, which could spill back to US70.

Scope of Work: 

Task 1: Trip Generation and Distribution. This task will estimate the expected number of trips generated by the proposed development and the resulting trip distribution. 

Task 2: Data Collection. Each of the four locations of interest have been identified as having queue spillback issues. As such, our team will deploy a contractor to collect turning movement counts and queue lengths in 15-minute intervals during peak hour travel times for each intersection. 

Task 3: Intersection Sight Distance. This task will review potential intersection sight distance concerns at New Haw Creek and Beverly Roads. 

Task 4: Memorandum detailing findings. Our team will provide a report detailing the findings from each task. A web-based meeting will be utilized to provide details on the findings to supplement the report. 

The study results are expected by March 1, 2024.

Many residents celebrate the holiday season by putting on a light show for all to see. We’ve scouted the area and want to share this list and a few photos of the spectacular holiday lights around our neighborhood.

~ New Haw Creek Road at Maple Drive, includes the fire station and an impressive display at 893
~ Ozark Spring subdivision off Bell Road 
~ Rhododendron Circle off Old Haw Creek Road
~ Willowbrook Road off Old Haw Creek Road
~ Huntington Chase subdivision off New Haw Creek Road
~ The Whale at New Haw Creek and Beverly Roads

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

Read all the latest news about Haw Creek in the HCCA newsletter that mailed on December 12 to all Haw Creek households as part of our community outreach efforts.

This issue highlights the development plan for 767 New Haw Creek Road and why HCCA is actively opposing this proposed plan. There are also stories on several completed projects, like the Little Free Library, Masters Park kiosk, and the new Welcome to Haw Creek sign. And there are brief reports on our fall events, including the inaugural Heritage Festival.

Another feature is the announcement of the Haw Creek Park Greenway Campaign, an effort to bring the first-ever public greenway to Haw Creek.

We've had a busy year working on projects, programs and events as we continue our work to improve our quality of life, protect our natural beauty, and promote safety throughout the Haw Creek valley.

At the second meeting of the 767 Working Group on December 11, the Community Outreach Committee decided it would create and circulate a petition for signatures in support of stopping the proposed development at 767 New Haw Creek Road. 

The petition targets the “Conditional Zoning” requested by the developer, which if approved by City Council would allow for 95 homes to be built on this 26-acre property—essentially doubling the number of homes allowed with the current zoning regulations.

Our goal is to demonstrate broad-based community opposition to help convince City Council members to vote against rezoning this property. Please sign the petition and take a few minutes to provide your feedback regarding future development in Haw Creek, an option that is available at the end of the petition.

HCCA has added the petition to our 767 Development web page and will use our social media accounts to maximize our outreach. The committee is planning additional outreach efforts, including door-to-door canvasing throughout the neighborhood.

This petition is an important step in our campaign to protect our neighborhood from a proposed high-density development plan.

Quickly mobilizing to respond to broad-based community concerns, the Haw Creek Community Association has created a Working Group to respond to the proposed 95-unit Meadows at Haw Creek subdivision for 767 New Haw Creek Road. This action follows a November 28 public meeting at which 200+ residents expressed overwhelming opposition to the developer's plan.

Although there is broad-based resistance to the Meadows at Haw Creek project as proposed, points of opposition will be fact-based and built around evidence supporting our concerns. The 767 Working Group comprises community leaders with relevant professional and personal experience who will serve on the following committees: architectural design, communications, community outreach, engineering, and legal process. 

We will conduct a comprehensive review of the project proposal as soon as it is finalized and submitted to the city. Plans are underway for an independent traffic study to measure the project's impact.  

We expect to recommend any future development on this property be on a scale significantly less extensive than currently proposed. Although we cannot guarantee success, HCCA and the 767 Working Group will strive for an outcome that balances private property rights with the interests of the surrounding community.  

If you wish to become actively involved with the 767 Working Group, please email info@hawcreekavl.com with your contact information and areas of expertise and skills that would be valuable to this effort.  

On November 28, at a required public meeting held at Evergreen Community Charter School, Warren Sugg from Civil Designs Concepts, presented the proposed development plan for the 26-acre property at 767 New Haw Creek Road. The rendering shared with the 200+ in attendance, calls for 95 homes to be built on this landmark property located in the center of the Haw Creek valley (see below).

To the collective shock of nearly all present, the proposed development would transform the bucolic pasture and hardwood forest into high-density housing that exceeds current zoning standards.

Specific concerns about the proposal include:

~ The near total loss of tree canopy and animal habitat resulting from this design
~ Strain of increased traffic on two-lane New Haw Creek Road, especially around pick-up and drop-off times at the two schools located along New Haw Creek Road
~ Safety concerns in the case of an emergency—narrow, two-lane New Haw Creek Road is, for most of the valley, the only way in or out
~ Demand for Conditional Zoning to allow increased density out of scale and character with the surrounding community
~ Lack of developer commitment to affordable housing component
~ Lack of imagination in design, i.e. cookie-cutter approach

In response, the HCCA Board of Directors held an emergency meeting the following evening. The board opposes this development as planned and came up with a plan of action to try to stop it. We invite you, our neighbors, to help. To be clear, HCCA is not opposed to development per se, which is inevitable, but we object to this specific plan. We believe this proposal fails the test of smart planning and good design.

Here are our initial steps:

~ We are organizing a Working Group to collaborate on action steps. We have invited about 15 people who have various skill sets and experiences, and who represent Happy Valley and the surrounding area. This group will meet on Monday, December 4.

~ We have created a webpage, 767 Development, to serve as a central informational resource regarding this development. There, you will find the steps we are planning to take and what you can do to help, along with information on the conditional zoning process, upcoming meetings, public comment opportunities, etc. This page will be updated and expanded with new information on an ongoing basis.

The sale of the property is not yet final. Additionally, this development will require review by the Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission and others, with opportunities to make our concerns heard. Ultimately, the development will require a vote of approval by the majority of City Council.

The Board of Directors of HCCA are your neighbors who care deeply about the future of our community. We are committed to our mission to enrich lives, protect our natural beauty and promote safety throughout the Haw Creek Valley.

As a board, we will fight this development and we ask for your help so we can work together to demand better. There are some very wise, experienced, and passionate people in our valley, and together we need to make our voices heard.

On the minds of many residents is what the Haw Creek Community Association has done to stop the proposed development at 767 New Haw Creek Road. The question below, received from a Haw Creek neighbor on 11/21, captures this concern and our response details the many actions HCCA has taken since learning that this property was going to be sold.

"How do you as representatives of our neighborhood plan to support the majority of your neighbors who are not in favor of this development? So far I have not seen any support from the Board on this matter. Thank you. KG"

Dear KG,

From the time the Haw Creek Community Association first learned this property was to be sold, we have tried to play a constructive role in ways that support the Haw Creek community.

The cover story of our newsletter from almost a year ago (Winter 2023 Newsletter 2/21/2023) tried to outline what was at stake with the sale of 767 NHC. In the article we discussed how the one sure way to protect the property was to find a buyer committed to preservation. I wish I could report the article prompted an outpouring of support but that did not happen.

Knowing the property would likely be sold to a developer, beginning in early 2023—before the property was even listed for sale—HCCA tried to recruit a buyer from Haw Creek who would be committed to preserving some or all of the property. After extensive networking and many meetings, we found just such a buyer who committed to putting the 7-acre pasture area into a conservation easement. He submitted an offer but apparently Kevin Jackson's offer was higher and was selected instead.

Upon learning Mr. Jackson's offer had been accepted, we invited him to HCCA's November 14 community meeting at the library, attended by 130+ residents. The purpose of the invitation was to learn his specific plans for the property and this was how we all learned about the 95 houses he intends to build. Otherwise, this would not have been known until the zoom meeting scheduled for next week.

As soon as we found out that Mr. Jackson intended only a one-hour zoom meeting to discuss this large-scale project, we immediately appealed to the Director of the Planning and Urban Design Dept. for an in-person public review meeting. Today we learned that the developer has now scheduled a public meeting.

I believe this history demonstrates that we have acted responsibly and tried to guide the process toward a positive outcome. The board of directors of HCCA are your neighbors who care about the future of our community. We are all volunteers giving our time and resources to try and make a positive difference in an imperfect world.

If Mr. Jackson completes the purchase of the property, as much as we may oppose it, he does have the right to develop the land. Now that we've come to this point, I believe the current role of the community association is to demand a strict and fair development review process as well as to seek opportunities to mitigate the impact of this new subdivision in ways that benefit the greater community.

Thank you for your question and interest in this important issue.

Chris Pelly, President

Haw Creek Community Association

hawcreekavl.com

Civil Design Concepts has announced that they will be holding an in person neighborhood meeting on Tuesday, November 28, 6:30-8:00 pm at Evergreen Community Charter School, located at 50 Bell Road, to discuss the Meadows at Haw Creek (767 New Haw Creek Road) project. 

This is in addition to the zoom meeting that was already scheduled for November 28 from 5:00-6:00 pm. Use this link to join the zoom meeting: https://cdcgo.zoom.us/j/88279179995?pwd=DbKSjzKzngkMlCw5pfkel8ZocBgYfs.1; Meeting ID is 882 7917 9995 and Passcode is 605756.

The in person meeting will be held in the school's gymnasium and they are asking residents who were not able to attend the zoom meeting to please sit near the front. For those who were able to attend the zoom meeting, please sit in the back. The intent being to give those, particularly elderly folks who were referenced in emails to their engineers, a chance to be able to clearly see and hear the presentation.