Buncombe County board approves special-use permit for New Lester grocery and retail development

The Buncombe County Board of Adjustment voted in October to grant a special-use permit for a planned unit development that will accommodate a 50,325-square-foot grocery and about 7,080 square feet of strip retail at 14 Hitching Post Road.

County staff told the board the property is zoned CS (Commercial Service) and that the project must meet several conditions before major land-disturbing activity begins: the parcel identified as 14 Hitching Post Lane must be subdivided prior to submission of a master site plan review permit; a floodplain development permit demonstrating no-rise and any required approvals from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for stream rerouting and culvert replacement must be obtained and submitted with the site plan review; and the project must be constructed as depicted in the approved site plan.

The applicant, represented by civil engineer Warren Suggs of Civil Design Concepts and counsel Greg Justice, described the development as occupying about 10 acres of a larger parcel. Suggs said the primary building would be the grocery, at roughly 50,325 square feet, with a smaller commercial building of about 7,000 square feet. He presented plans showing parking concentrated north of the buildings, access points onto Roberts Road and Hitching Post Lane, two stormwater control structures on the east side of the site and water and sewer connections to City of Asheville infrastructure.

A traffic expert, Monisha Badrinath of Davenport, testified that Davenport prepared a traffic impact analysis in coordination with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, that NCDOT reviewed and approved the TIA, and that recommended improvements include signalizing the intersection of New Lester Highway and Roberts Road and providing a northbound right-turn lane on Roberts Road. Badrinath said the TIA and proposed access configuration would allow the project to meet the relevant traffic standards in the county ordinance.

The applicant also submitted a property impact analysis as part of the application record. Staff and the applicant emphasized coordination with federal and state agencies: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NCDEQ for stream/wetland issues and NCDOT for access and signal work. The board accepted testimony and exhibits into the record and adopted findings of fact that the application meets the special-use permit standards in the Buncombe County Code of Ordinances, section 78-6-213. The board then approved the special-use permit and directed staff to incorporate the conditions and the order as adopted in the meeting record.

The approval is conditional on the requirements listed by staff; the order directs that a master site plan permit and any individual building permits be pulled in compliance with those conditions, and that copies of required agency permits be submitted before work begins.