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Developer updates council on Northridge Farms; questions linger on roads, greenway access and sidewalk design
Summary
Developer Ali Seebaugh told council site blasting, grading and sewer work are underway and she estimated first-phase lots and pads in 9–12 months. Council debated whether subdivision streets should become public, how to deliver a greenway connection, and whether sidewalks should be 5 feet (developer plans) or 10 feet (some council preferences). Buncombe County stormwater approval remains outstanding.
Developer and town staff provided an update on the large Northridge Farms residential project and fielded questions from council about roads, greenway connectivity and pedestrian design.
Ali Seebaugh, division president for the developer’s Greenville and Asheville office, told the council that rock blasting and mass grading are substantially complete, sewer installation has begun and the team has held a preconstruction meeting about when to install water. She said phase one construction is expected to reach a point where lots and the multifamily pad can be sold in about 9–12 months, but multiple permits remain outstanding, including Buncombe County stormwater approval.
Seebaugh said the project’s previously approved conditional district zoning required a greenway connection but the original ordinance left some design details "to be determined." She told the council that the currently approved plans call for a 5-foot sidewalk and that the developer lacks margin in the permitting schedule to re-permit for a wider path.
Council members asked whether the town should accept the subdivision roads as public streets — a step that would permit staged inspections and give public works more control but would also transfer long-term maintenance responsibility to the town. Public works staff recommended core-drilling and stormwater scoping before taking ownership, and several council members urged testing and documentation if the town were to accept the roads.
The roundabout at the main approach was discussed: Seebaugh recalled prior design and a previous commitment (she said last year she had offered $35,000 for a traffic study and committed up to $1,000,000 for bridge-to-culvert upgrades during earlier negotiations), but she said she no longer had authority to negotiate with the owner of the private roads and that taking the roads as public could reopen those talks. The developer said some of the roads are funded in part by an ownership and maintenance agreement to which adjacent retailers contribute, and that the developer would pay into that fund when it ties into those private roads.
Council did not adopt a final decision at the workshop but asked staff and the developer to return with feasible options, including cost estimates and proposed sidewalk/greenway alignments, for additional council consideration.
"We have begun development out there...we're looking to finish our first phase of development in about 9 to 12 months," Ali Seebaugh said. "We are still waiting on a few permits from the county as well as from the state."
