New apartments on W. Catawba pulled from Planning Board agenda
Cameryn Elise is the name of the proposed apartment project on West Catawba
March 9. By Dave Vieser. Developer Jake Palillo’s pulled his controversial proposal for 252 apartment units on West Catawba from the Planning Board’s agenda just before the meeting yesterday.
“We received an email around 4:30 Monday afternoon saying that the applicant asked that it be removed from the agenda,“ said Planning Board Member Susan Johnson. “There was no discussion at the meeting.”
The proposal, which included the development of 12 acres at 18955 West Catawba Avenue into several multi-family buildings with 252 units as well as approximately 2,000 square feet of commercial space, ran into a brick wall Friday when the town planning staff recommended denial due to high density and the lack of retail/commercial in the plan.
No demand
Palillo said there is almost no demand for retail/commercial on West Catawba right now, in part because of lack of residential density.
At the same time, the town is struggling with how to develop workforce housing amidst soaring property values.
“Apartments are a means of affordable housing,” said Palillo, a Cornelius resident. “Other than that there is no option, land cost are high, development costs are high.”
The plan for what’s known as the Junker Property met with opposition from some residents. It was unclear Tuesday whether the hearing will be rescheduled.
It is the second hearing within a month where an applicant has asked for a hearing to be postponed. In February, developers for Mayes Meadows, a large residential development on Mayes Road asked the town to postpone their hearing before the Town Board after the Planning Board recommended denial.
No Comments
Leave A Comment
Our Partners
That’s great news. Based on the current volume of traffic on our roads I’d have to disagree with Palillo’s claim that we need more residential (especially high density) development. Our infrastructure can barely accommodate what we have now, let alone additional large scale residential projects. We need to focus more on commercial, and (dare to dream) retaining a bit of green space in our town. It’s common sense, but we can’t always count on that winning out- we must stay vigilant.
100% AGREE !!
The last thing we need is a high density residential development in Catawba. The developer just wants to make $$$ without regard for the additional traffic it would cause.
It’s a really really really bad idea.
Well, As a New Resident 2 years in, in addition to the low demand of commercial and retail, I highly recommend that other modes of Transportation be implemented to connect us to Cornelius and other surrounding cities. In my Opinion, this has always been a problem. There are too many cars on the roads and not enough modes of transportiob. Chatlotte and surrounding suburbs are deeply sprawled. I understand that this is a NASCAR area. However, I hope we can find some solutions to reverse the sprawl.
It’s laughable that the developer sites need for affordable housing, when I am sure the rents on these apartments will be outrageous! This will not be affordable housing, it will just be a cash cow for Palillo.