New apartments a possibility
Posted on January 28, 2008
Looking for a place to live next year?
City Council will meet next month to determine if Harman Realty Inc.’s property on Stone Spring Road will be granted R-5 zoning status, opening up 1,054 new residential units for student housing.
The City Planning Commission voted 4-2 in support of the rezoning request. However, Adam Fletcher, the city’s senior planner, said the change could cause conflict because of increased traffic and a current glut of affordable, apartment-style housing.
“[There are going to be] 700 vehicles in a peak hour on a two lane facility,” he said, adding that 7,000 additional cars would travel the road per day if a new apartment complex were built.
“It’s not an increase in what was anticipated,” Fletcher said.
There are plans to expand Stone Spring Road in the future, but the project will not start until 2009 at the earliest. The city plans to expand the road from two lanes to four lanes with a turning lane in the center.
“We didn’t support rezoning because single family homes are developing adjacent to the property…and we didn’t think that was the best use of the property,” Fletcher said. City Council will have final say regarding the Harman Realty property next month. If approved, Harman Realty’s Randy Harman said they would not build commercial facilities on the property because it would require a special permit. Harman said they are tossing around ideas about what type of residential properties to build.
“We are not really prepared to talk about anything,” Harman said. “We have got some ideas and dreams, but our plans are in the hands of City Council right now.”
