Council approves Deerfield retirement community expansion after months of negotiation; parking and construction access remain contested

Asheville City Council voted Sept. 9 to approve a conditional zoning amendment for the Deerfield Retirement Community expansion at 1617 Hendersonville Road, a multi-phase project affecting roughly 125 acres in South Asheville. The applicant requested amendments to an earlier 2021 conditional zoning to change building siting and internal layouts for an expansion that staff described as a conceptual master plan. Presenters said the project as proposed includes approximately 822,000 square feet of new and added building area, with 261 independent-living units, 10 assisted-living units and 24 "house center" beds, and a mix of surface and structured parking. The applicant and staff said final parking counts would be finalized during technical review; the conditional-zoning exhibit set a cap for a southeast surface lot at 135 standard spaces and identified an overall code-based maximum parking calculation. The applicant requested removal of the ordinance’s minimum-parking requirement for the project to avoid building more parking than needed. The council motion approved the conditional zoning with conditions negotiated during months of neighborhood meetings and incorporated into Exhibit E. Key project conditions added or confirmed at the hearing include: relocation of the grounds maintenance facility off-site; enhanced tree-buffering and additional planting in a 50-foot buffer strip owned by the adjacent homeowners association (funded by the applicant); a new sidewalk on Hendersonville Road built to city standards in coordination with NCDOT; internal sidewalks and pedestrian connections; specifications for lighting that meet dark-sky and city requirements; a privacy fence and construction screening; and limits on the types of vehicles that may park in the southeast lot. The council accepted an amendment to condition 7 to remove the parking minimum requirement and keep a maximum cap instead. Neighbors and community groups registered repeated concerns during the public hearing. Speakers objected to locating a large staff/visitor parking area adjacent to the Ramble neighborhood, questioned whether Deerfield had demonstrated the exact number of parking spaces it would need, warned about stormwater runoff into Dingle Creek and the Dingle Creek watershed, requested permeable paving or rain gardens, and urged the city and applicant to avoid routing heavy construction traffic onto Racquet Club Road, which community members said is narrow and heavily used by pedestrians, tennis and pool patrons, and nearby apartments. Applicant representatives said the expansion replaces an earlier plan that would have included a maintenance building on the site and asserted the current plan reduces impervious surface and minimizes impacts to wetlands and tree canopy. The applicant said the southeast lot would primarily serve staff and allow the central campus spaces once used by staff to be freed up for residents and guests and described the lot as necessary to avoid displacing parking from core campus uses. City staff noted the project is considered consistent with the Living Asheville comprehensive plan and recommended approval with the conditions adopted by council. Planning staff said final technical review (TRC) and permitting will follow any conditional-zoning approval. The council vote on the conditional-zoning amendment passed with all members voting in favor. The project will return to technical review for final engineering, landscape, stormwater and parking detail prior to construction approvals.