From Staff Reports

Developer Rusty Pulliam on Jan. 26 received unanimous approval from Asheville City Council on his request for a delay on council’s vote on his proposed 272-unit apartment complex proposed for Mills Gap Road in South Asheville.

Pulliam cited traffic concerns and political pressure for asking for a delay — until April 26 — on a vote for approval of his complex.

The South Asheville developer also said Jan. 25 that he would push back the construction date of the $41 million project by two years, if it gets approved. Pulliam said the delay would be a concession to those worried about the traffic congestion.

Council was set to vote on a request to change the zoning at 70 Mills Gap from industrial to highway business, so that Pulliam could build the apartments on the 15.3 acres, formerly a plastic-injection molding plant.

Pulliam said his request for the three-month delay was prompted by conversations with some council members, who urged him to hold public meetings with residents concerned about traffic. The meetings are not yet scheduled, but Pulliam said he anticipated there would be two or three.

The developer also said he wants to adjust the number and time frame of affordable apartments in the complex, decreasing the number of units, but increasing the time for rent controls.

On Jan. 6, the Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that council approve the complex, following a pledge by Pulliam to increase affordable apartments to 20 percent of the development.

Before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 60 people, the commission voted to back the apartment project planned for construction at the intersection of Sweeten Creek and Mills Gap roads. Guillermo Rodriguez cast the lone opposition vote.

The decision defied the city’s staff recommendation to oppose the project, and hundreds of South Asheville residents urged the commission to reject the proposal.

Commission members Laura Berner Hudson and Kristy Carter both said leaving the land vacant as it has been for almost a decade was not a satisfactory option.

Carter said the affordable-housing component was a positive aspect of the project.

“This is the toughest thing I’ve had to consider since coming on the board; I’m very conflicted,” Berner Hudson said. “This project isn’t bad.”

But the traffic-congestion concerns, which dominated opponents’ verbal and written comments regarding the project, deserved a hearing before City Council, Berner Hudson said.