BY EVEY WEISBLAT | CityView Staff
Minutes before the Fayetteville City Council’s Monday meeting discussions began, the council removed public hearings on the proposed Cedar Creek Road apartments from the agenda — much to the surprise of around 30 residents who had come to the meeting to voice their concerns about the development.
Two hearings — one on the property’s annexation and another on the rezoning request — were initially planned for Monday’s meeting. Cedar Creek Road LLC asked to rezone 27.72 acres on Cedar Creek Road from rural residential and single-family residential to mixed-residential, for the purposes of building a large apartment complex there with three-story buildings, a pool and a clubhouse. According to the preliminary plan submitted with the developer’s application, the complex would include 486 units and 875 parking spaces.
Neighbors had expressed several concerns about the apartments, emphasizing the potential flooding the apartment complex could cause given its proximity to Locks Creek in a flood-prone area. Some vocal residents had also been wary of the financial investment of Mayor Mitch Colvin — a business partner of Cedar Creek Road LLC — in the proposed development. Several residents had signed up to speak out against the development at the hearings Monday, but they never took place.
Council Member Malik Davis made the motion to approve the agenda with the removal of the hearings at the start of the meeting. The motion passed 9-1, with Council Member Mario Benavente voting against it; he later told CityView this was because of another item related to the city providing legal representation for Fayetteville police officers involved in an ongoing lawsuit. Colvin voted in favor of Davis’ motion to remove the items and approve the meeting agenda.
Council members had agreed to remove the hearings during their pre-meeting agenda discussion an hour before the meeting.
Davis, whose district includes the area surrounding the property, told CityView he made the motion to remove the item from the agenda at the request of the developer, Cedar Creek Road LLC, who had made the request to city staff.
“I believe he [the developer] wants to address the concerns of the constituents, because I expressed to him my concerns that the residents have had,” Davis told CityView.
After the hearings were removed from the agenda, Davis called those who had shown up for the hearings out of the meeting room for a brief discussion. About 30 people stood crowded together in the lobby of city hall while the meeting continued in the council chamber.
Gerald Newton, director of the city’s Development Services, addressed the group, saying he had found out that the hearings would be removed from the agenda about ten minutes before the meeting started. Newton said he didn’t have much to share about what the hearings’ removal meant for the development’s future, but that “either they're going to be withdrawing it [the application] or it will be rescheduled and everybody will be notified.”
“It starts the process again,” Newton said. “What they're going to ask for, I really don't know. Maybe some of you here know, but I don't. I've shared with you what I know and has happened this evening.”
Newton reiterated that his department had recommended council approve a single-family zoning for the property, as opposed to the mixed-development zoning Cedar Creek Road LLC had requested. He said residents living within the notification zone would be notified of the hearing if the process restarted.
“The staff report was not going to be [a recommendation] to go with the zoning as they were requesting, but to a lower density and to work through the issues,” Newton said. “I could not tell you why they decided to do that, but I know that they saw the packet and that's kind of where we are right now. “
Jeremy Stanley, a resident opposed to the development, said it was “a shame that they canceled” the hearings given the number of residents of the neighborhood who had come to the meeting and signed up to speak at the hearing.
“With all the documentation, they would really have to know what they were talking about,” Stanley said of Cedar Creek Road LLC. “Hopefully, we'll have even more documentation for the next one.”
Colvin said the development was still on the table.
“So I understand that there may be a resubmission for some conditions,” Colvin told CityView. “I think it's just a condition, maybe another application for a conditional zoning. I think there's different paperwork involved.”
Stamper Road duplex
- What happened: The council voted 6-3 to grant a special use permit to Rockfish Run Land and Development LLC for the purposes of building a duplex on a quarter-acre, undeveloped property on Stamper Road. Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen and Council Members Davis and Benavente voted against approving the permit.
- The vote came after a heated hearing, during which a few neighbors voiced concerns about its impact on traffic and safety, as well as incongruity with the single-family homes surrounding the duplex. Neighbors had previously spoken out against the project during the rezoning case at the Feb. 26 meeting, but the council ultimately approved the rezoning in a 6-4 vote.
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- What’s next: With the special use permit approved, the developer can begin the final process prior to construction, including obtaining necessary building permits and undergoing a final review of site plans.
Old Bunce Road townhomes
- What happened: The council voted unanimously to approve a special use permit request from King Model Homes Construction Company, Robert Bunce and Fayetteville Habitat for Humanity to construct 111 townhome units on the 15.43-acre site on Old Bunce Road, in the Cliffdale neighborhood in west Fayetteville.
- The council approved a special use permit for the developer to construct 42 units on part of this property last year, so the new permit will enable them to build an additional 69 units on the rest of the property.
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- What’s next: Developers can begin the final process before construction, such as obtaining necessary building permits and undergoing a final review of site plans.
Street renaming
- What happened: After holding a public hearing on a proposal to rename Providence Street to JP Swinson Street — in honor of the late Bishop James P. Swinson — the council was split, voting 5-5 on the proposal. After some more discussion, the council voted unanimously to table renaming the street and, in the meantime, explore additional options that would commemorate Swinson without inconveniencing the residents on the street who would need to have their addresses updated.
- The vote to delay a decision on renaming the street came after a majority of speakers explained their support for the change, some holding back tears when speaking about Swinson’s impact on their lives. About a dozen people who were in favor of the renaming also came to the meeting wearing shirts with Swinson’s face on them.
- What’s next: Council Member D.J. Haire, whose district includes the street, said he would like to meet with the community members who had come to the meeting and discuss some other ways to honor Swinson that would not involve changing the street name.
Police legal representation
- What happened: As part of the meeting’s consent agenda, the council — with the exception of Benavente — voted to provide legal representation to three additional Fayetteville police officers who are named in an amended complaint filed on March 5 by a Fayetteville woman. In the lawsuit, Sheila Lee alleges she was illegally detained, harassed and injured at the hands of Fayetteville police officers in an incident outside her home on Dec. 25, 2020.
- At the last council meeting on March 14, the council approved legal representation to one former and current police officer allegedly involved in the incident, as well as Mayor Mitch Colvin and former Police Chief Gina Hawkins, who are also defendants in the suit. In addition, the council voted to petition the Cumberland County Superior Court for body camera footage of the incident.
- Benavente told CityView after Monday’s meeting that he did not vote in favor of the representation because it did not include a similar request to provide body camera footage of the incident.
- Why it matters: The case is the latest instance of Fayetteville police officers being sued for alleged police brutality. Another recent federal lawsuit of this nature against the city is still open. It was filed in October 2022 by Ja'Lana Dunlap, who alleges she was assaulted and unlawfully detained by Fayetteville police officers in September 2022.
- What’s next: According to the case docket, on March 19, the city filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and to pause discovery, or the pretrial gathering of information between parties, until the court rules on the dismissal.
Black history museum contract
- What happened: As part of the meeting’s consent agenda, the council voted to approve a $450,000 contract with the Community Development Foundation for a feasibility and economic impact study, community outreach process and preliminary design concept for the proposed Black Voice and History Museum in downtown Fayetteville. The county approved matching funding for the project on Jan. 16.
- Why it matters: According to the city’s resolution supporting the museum’s establishment, the museum would “expand area economic activity, provide educational programming, support racial reconciliation, foster extensive community engagement, and elevate our community as a thought leader within the DC-Charleston Civil Rights History Corridor.”
- What’s next: The contract with the Community Development Foundation to complete the study, outreach and preliminary design concept expires at the end of this year, though it can be automatically extended to June 30, 2025.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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