Sylva denies one apartment application, approves another Jackson County Senior Planner John Jeleniewski presents his staff report on The Bluffs development proposed by Southern Properties and Development LLC. Holly Kays photo
Despite gusting winds and a temperature of 42 degrees at the time the three-hour meeting began it was 37 degrees and felt like 30 by its 8 p.m. conclusion more than 50 people bundled up to attend an outdoor hearing on the fate of two Sylva apartment projects Thursday, April 1.
After moving through a pair of formal quasi-judicial hearing processes from the stage of Bridge Park, the Board of Adjustments which is composed of town board members ultimately gave unanimous approval to a 150-bedroom, three-building complex to be located on 6.83 acres along Savannah Road but denied, by the narrowest margin possible, an application for a 76-unit, three-story senior living building on Skyland Drive.
Cashiers Council prepares for development hearing Renderings for housing units in the proposed development show multi-story stone buildings with plentiful windows. Lew Oliver Inc rendering
The future of a massive development proposed for the Cashiers crossroads is still up in the air following a Jan. 6 meeting of the Cashiers Area Community Planning Council.
During the three-hour session, board members sifted through 31 applications from community members seeking recognition as parties with standing during the quasi-judicial hearing that will determine if the development moves forward. Of the 31 applicants, 11 received standing, 11 were admitted as witnesses but not as parties, six were denied admittance as either witnesses or parties and one voluntarily withdrew. Two applications were tabled for later action.
Cashiers residents organize against proposed development
As the Jan. 6 hearing that will determine the project’s fate draws nearer, opposition is mounting to a plan that would bring 726 new residential units and 159,000 square feet of commercial space to the Cashiers crossroads.
“It’s not, to us, something that fits Cashiers,” said Paul Anderson, spokesperson for the newly formed group Develop Cashiers Responsibly. “We know there will be growth. But it needs to be kept reasonable and responsible and controlled. It’s just so out of touch with what this community is that people have been up in arms about it and are opposing it strongly.”