The atmosphere was tense during Gastonia’s recent City Council meeting as a Charlotte-based developer appeared attended a public hearing regarding a request to build a 35-home development on Oakwood Street.
After hearing from the developer, Oakwood Street residents, and a local real estate agent, the council voted 6-1 to approve the developer’s request for rezoning of the property from single family residential to a planned development to revised residential development district.
At a planning commission meeting on Feb 8, the commission voted to approve the rezoning request, which was then sent to City Council.
Quickly following the planning commission’s decision, 26 Gastonia residents living on or around Oakwood Street signed an appeal form and submitted it to the city.
Kenneth Bell, a representative of the developer KB Holdings, LLC was the first speaker to come before the council at Tuesday’s meeting.
The Development
KB Holdings owns two parcels of land, situated at 1106 N. Oakwood St., which will be merged into one parcel for this project.
The developer proposed 35 townhome units on the land, which is just over three acres.
The development will include one single-car parking garage and one outside parking space per townhome, bringing the number of parking spaces to 70 in total.
The Concerns
Due to greenspace, stormwater and other requirements, parking could be difficult to come by for guests of the townhome residents.
Mayor Richard Franks, Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Kirlin, and Councilman Jim Gallagher asked the planning commission if the density of the development could cause issues for emergency service personnel in the event of an emergency due to the parking situation.
Kirlin said the parking issues could even lead to disputes and violence between neighbors.
“What I think this is, is I think this is an accident waiting to happen to tell you the truth. You put that many units in one spot, you put those people crammed in, an you put all those cars on the road, and there’s gonna be arguments, and there’s gonna be fights and God forbid there’s shots fired because people are gonna be upset because you’re trying to put too much in too small of a space and human behavior will not tolerate that,” he said.
The development will not allow for street parking, and the garages will be in the rear of each building accessed by an alleyway.
Kirlin added that multi-residential neighborhoods can work and be constructed in a tasteful way especially in an urbanizing community, but his initial thought was that the project should go back to the drawing board.
Oakwood Street residents are concerned about traffic on the road, which is less than one mile long.
The complex will be accessible from two entrances on Oakwood Street.
Several residents attended the public hearing to speak about the traffic and population density of the area.
Response
After hearing statements and questions from the council directed to the city staff working with the developer on this project, Bell was the first to speak during public comment on the project.
Bell started by explaining that the sidewalks the development will be required to install along Oakwood Street will be the only pedestrian escape from traffic on the street.
As for road parking, Bell said, “This is a donated road project. We will build the interior roads to DOT standard and then we will gift them back to the city. So guess what, you guys can dictate the parking on the road. I don’t dictate that, you dictate that.”
He added that current plans for the complex account for emergency vehicle needs and more greenspace acreage than is required by city standards.
“I’m passionate about this too. So, when I put a project together, I do think about what’s going on in the community. I also had a meeting with the previous family that owned this project, and we were trying to pay homage to Mr. Price and we will be naming the development after his namesake and his family name,” Bell said. “So, the inclination that we’re not considering the community kind of, you know, that’s not what I do.”
Charlotte real estate agent Angie Castro also spoke, telling the council that finding houses for sale in Gaston County that are under $300,000 is usually such a challenge that buyers decide to wait a few years and save up more money.
The townhomes are projected to sell for $250,000-260,000, according to Bell.
Councilman Robert Kellogg and Councilwoman Donyel Barber also spoke of the benefits of adding several new housing options in this price range.
Conclusion
Ultimately, after hearing discussion about affordability and talking with Bell about potentially adding additional parking to the lot, the council was largely in agreement that additional housing in the projected price range would benefit the city long-term.
Barber, Kirlin, Kellogg, Jennifer Stepp, James Gallagher and Charles Odom voted to approve the rezoning request, and Mayor Richard Franks voted against the request.
