Board approves 60‑unit Crescent Place senior apartments, with 15‑year affordability requirement

The Buncombe County Board of Adjustment voted May 13 to grant a special‑use permit for Crescent Place, a 60‑unit senior apartment development on a 4.38‑acre parcel on Crescent Hill Drive.

Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO) and partner Lutheran Services for the Aging presented the project as a fully affordable development with a mix of one‑bedroom and two‑bedroom units. "We planned a 60 unit senior development there at Crescent Place," MHO representative Richal Onitschek said, noting the project will target a range of area median incomes including 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% AMI and include amenities such as a community room, computer center and a small dog park.

Civil engineer Warren Sugg told the board the site plan shows a single building with two ingress/egress points, two above‑ground stormwater controls, and adequate water and sewer allocations from the City of Asheville and MSD. Sugg said the project provides 105 parking spaces, a 1.75:1 parking ratio. "Total number of parking spaces that we have there are a 105, parking spaces, which is the 1.75 to 1 parking ratio," he testified.

Staff recommended approval with conditions. The board adopted findings of fact and approved the special‑use permit; the formal order requires that affordability mechanisms remain in place for a minimum of 15 years following issuance of a certificate of occupancy, that the project be constructed as depicted in the recorded site plan, and that the applicant submit a site plan development permit and any applicable state or federal permits (U.S. Army Corps, N.C. Department of Transportation, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality) prior to disturbance or construction.

The order also requires deed restrictions to preserve affordability terms and maintenance commitments, specifies buffering and parking requirements, and notes that building envelopes and setbacks must comply with the Buncombe County zoning ordinance. Construction timing discussed by the applicant anticipates site work and roughly 12–14 months of construction, with applications and leasing to follow; the applicant suggested occupancy could be possible in the mid‑to‑late 2020s depending on funding and permitting.