Council approves conditional rezoning for 61-unit townhome cluster at Olivet; adds solar condition

The Town of Woodfin on April 15 approved Ordinance 2025-04, conditionally rezoning roughly 11.25 acres off Old Macedonia Road and Mayapple Bridge Road from Mountain Village to Mountain Village Conditional Zone (MV-CZ) to allow a clustered townhome development.

The conditional zone application from Red Tree Organization LLC proposed up to 61 townhome sites arranged along a new public road that will later connect to the larger Olivet spine road. The site plan includes sidewalks on public roads, a minimum of 30,500 square feet of qualifying open space, two large underground stormwater devices and retention features, and street-tree planting along the new streets.

Shannon (staff filling in for the planning director) presented the staff report. Planning staff noted the proposed townhome product is treated as single-family (attached) under the town's development standards and that the project aligns with the comprehensive plan's cluster residential future land-use designation. The planning board of adjustment voted 5-0 to recommend approval.

Developers Scott Austin and Brandon Bryant (Red Tree) described the project as a continuation of existing Olivet-area development and said the project is intended to create community-scale housing with green-building features. The developer said units would be modular construction and that rooftop solar and energy-efficiency measures are planned; they estimated completed-sale prices in the neighborhood of $800,000 to $850,000 per unit and said they were exploring battery storage to achieve better-than-net-zero performance.

A public speaker, Amy Miller of Olivet, told the council she supported townhome development in general but urged the council to consider cumulative density and the larger Olivet plan before approving high-density phases. The council acknowledged traffic concerns but noted the town's threshold for a required traffic impact study is 200 peak-hour trips and the staff estimate for this project (including prior development) does not exceed that threshold.

During deliberations the council added an additional condition to the project: the mover's proposed language stated that each unit would be constructed with incorporated photovoltaic (solar) systems. (The project materials described 61 townhome sites; during the motion the added condition referenced 62 units, an inconsistency in the meeting record.) The developer indicated the intent to provide solar at each home but requested flexibility on exact siting and the council allowed for alternative arrangements (for example a shared solar array) where rooftop orientation or shading would make rooftop installation impractical.

The council voted by roll call to approve the conditional rezoning and site plan subject to the project conditions in the packet and the additional solar condition. The clerk recorded the roll call as: Cohen? Yes; Benjamin? Yes; Urban? Yes; Khan? Yes; Thornton? Yes; Young? Yes.

The approved plan requires the developer to construct the public road, water and sewer extensions, sidewalks, stormwater devices and the open-space components shown in the approved exhibits. Staff said the site plan allows a mix of 'walk-up' (three-level) and 'walk-out' buildings to respond to the steep topography.

Council members and staff said future phases of Olivet-area development could require larger traffic or infrastructure reviews, but that this parcel and phase do not meet the study thresholds now. The packet contains the full conditional-zoning exhibits, proposed conditions and the planning board report.