Mills River planning board recommends conditional rezoning for 88-unit townhome project near Mills River Brewing

The Mills River Planning Board voted unanimously June 10 to recommend approval of a conditional rezoning that would allow a 22-acre site behind Mills River Brewing to be developed with up to 22 townhome buildings and 88 dwelling units.

Michael, a planning staff member, told the board the application — submitted in February and represented by attorney William Alexander Jr. for Orange Capital Advisors and property owner Bradley Johnston — seeks to rezone two parcels from light industrial to a Mills River residential conditional district to permit attached townhome units. “So overall staff is recommending approval of the rezoning,” Michael said during the staff report.

The recommendation matters because the project would add higher-density housing in the town’s community-center area while triggering departures from standard multifamily requirements. The applicants are asking for several deviations from the town’s multifamily rules, including a 20-foot minimum separation between residential buildings (a 10-foot reduction for taller buildings), no required setback between parking areas and building walls, and side and rear setbacks of 20 feet in some adjacencies. The applicants also propose a 75-foot setback along Presbyterian Church Road and Banner Farm Road, which exceeds the town’s minor-street front-yard standard.

Developer and applicant representatives described efforts to preserve forested buffers and riparian areas, add internal sidewalks and walking trails, and provide community amenities. “This property has 22.13 acres; we proposed to put 88 town homes on it,” attorney William Alexander Jr. said, describing the plan as 22 quadruplex buildings with a mix of three- and four-bedroom units and a clubhouse.

Orange Capital Advisors’ Alec Greg said the firm intends to build and manage the community and estimated market rents for comparable three-bedroom units around $2,000–$2,450, with four-bedroom rents in the high $2,000s. He said the project would include amenities such as a pool, dog park, walking trails and a community garden.

Staff and the applicant offered conditions the board could attach to a favorable recommendation. Those conditions — included in the motion the board passed — call for extending interior sidewalks to the property line to enable connections to the town’s Go Mills River pedestrian plan, preserving existing perimeter vegetation where practicable, widening the asphalt shoulder at a nearby turning movement to ease a small traffic queue identified in the traffic study, and asking the developer to provide 10% of units at workforce-housing rates (targeting 80–120% of Henderson County area median income).

Board members raised several technical and community concerns during discussion. Members and participants questioned whether the parking and guest spaces shown in the preliminary master plan would be sufficient, whether emergency access and fire-suppression water supplies (the proposal relies on existing water infrastructure and did not show a dedicated fire line) were adequate, and whether stormwater control measures were appropriate; the applicant said engineered stormwater controls (a large subsurface “storm tech” unit) would keep the built-upon area below the limits that would otherwise apply without such controls. One participant also noted concerns about long-term ownership, saying some properties sold to third-party owners elsewhere had deteriorated; the applicant said conditional rezoning conditions remain with the land and the developer vets potential buyers.

The board’s motion, moved by Mr. Burton, recommended approval of the preliminary master plan and the written conditions and included adoption of the staff-provided statement of consistency. The board voted by voice and the chair announced the motion carried with no nay votes; the planning board’s recommendation will be forwarded to Mills River Town Council for final action.

The board adjourned after the vote; staff reminded the public the board does not meet in July and will next meet on August 4.