Project can fit with planning

With the market for $400,000 to $800,000 houses having dried up, the developers of Hollabrook Farm made a good decision when they agreed to sell 112 acres to Jerry and Rick Grant of Beverly-Grant Inc. The Grants propose to build the Legacy on the property — a continuing care community that will serve 570 residents with 313 homes, 97 assisted living and nursing rooms and 240 employees.

The Grants had proposed another continuing care community, the Glen at Flat Rock. Many people said was a good idea but in the wrong location. The Grants wanted to put the development on two-lane Crab Creek Road, miles from public water and sewer, major highways and emergency services. Commissioners rejected the proposal and it is now tied up in litigation. Unlike the Glen, the Legacy is a good idea in the right place. It is on property with public water and sewer just a short distance from N.C. 280. It is within a mile of a Mills River fire station and the Henderson County Emergency Medical Service substation and just a few miles from Park Ridge Hospital.

Mills River Town Council and Planning Board members can make sure that the Legacy is a development that the town can be proud of if they just remember to plan, plan, plan. The town needs to be sure that all the questions are answered to their satisfaction before giving the developers the OK to proceed.

One issue the town should pay particular attention to is the traffic that the Legacy would generate. The property is bounded by Butler Bridge, Valley View and Jeffress roads, all narrow two-lane roads.

The Grants presented Mills River with a trip generation report that said the Legacy will generate an average of 1,597 car trips per day, 41 more than the Hollabrook Farm development would have produced if all 237 homes originally proposed for that subdivision were built.

A Department of Transportation engineer wrote in the report that the Legacy's trips would have a lower impact because they would be spread throughout the day, rather than concentrated during morning and afternoon peak hours.

That's still a lot of cars to add to those roads. Town leaders need to make sure that road improvements are in place to handle the increase in traffic. The Grants are also seeking a variance from Mills River's 35-foot height limit. They are proposing building the tallest buildings in a lower part of the bowl shaped property, so that the buildings' tops won't be more than 35 feet above the mean elevation of the land.

That would be a good concession, because taller buildings would have smaller footprints than longer buildings with multiple entrances, conserving green space.

We know we have a need for more continuing care retirement units, and the Legacy will help meet that need. With good planning, Mills River should be able to work with the Grants to ensure that the Legacy is a boon to Mills River.