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Tuesday, 28 November 2006 14:41 |
The Buncombe County Planning Board voted Nov. 20 to exempt The Cliffs, a planned 1,300-acre residential development in Swannanoa, from the countyës recently passed steep-slope requirements.
Though the developers of The Cliffs had submitted their application prior to the enactment of the law in July, the Swannanoa Pride Community Coalition, a group of neighboring residents, had requested that the development follow the new guidelines.
The Cliffs High Carolina, which plans to build more than 600 lots, was among about two dozen developers that submitted applications between the lawës passage and the date it went into effect.
Prior
to the boardës vote, Assistant County Attorney Michael Frue noted that
before the plan is grandfathered into the previous regulations,
developers must demonstrate a "vested interest" in the proposed
development.
Members of the
SPCC had raised the objection that The Cliffsë plan was, at the time of
the new rulesë enactment, insufficient to meet such criteria ÇƒÓ that it
was essentially a placeholder.
However, a
spokesman for TCHC argued that the company had begun purchasing the
property two years ago and had consistently complied with the countyës
regulations.
Only one member of the planning board, Jay Marino, voted against the exemption.
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