Update: This story was updated on July 30 to include new information sent in a press release from the townhomes project’s developer.
A Raleigh developer has notched a victory in a long-contested quest to build 17 luxury townhomes on a 2.4-acre lot on Williamson Drive in the city’s wealthy Hayes Barton neighborhood.
Last week, Raleigh’s Board of Adjustment (BOA), a quasi-judicial body that makes decisions on “appeals for variances, special exceptions, and interpretations in the zoning regulations” ruled that a revised version of the townhome plan that conforms with the city’s unified development ordinance (UDO) may proceed.
The decision comes after a group of homeowners in 2023 filed a lawsuit against the developer, Johnny Chappell and 908 Williamson LLC, to stop the teardown of a historic home to make way for the townhomes. The townhomes plan was allowed under the city’s then-new missing middle housing policy. Approved by the city council in 2021 and 2022, the policy allows for diverse types of infill development—known as missing middle housing—including townhouses, duplexes, and ADUs, to be built across the city.
Additionally, in a case that’s still pending, the homeowners are suing the city in an attempt to invalidate the missing middle policy and restore the city’s original zoning rules.
After the BOA originally greenlit the townhomes project, a Wake County Superior Court judge last summer blocked the development, writing in a remand order that the BOA had failed to apply a section of the UDO requiring compact subdivisions to be surrounded by a 20- to 35-foot deep “transitional protective yard” (TPY) or by wide “perimeter lots.” The UDO defines a TPY as a “landscaped yard area which contains no buildings, vehicular surface area, loading, storage or display service areas.”
The judge ultimately revoked approval of the developer’s site plan but allowed them to resubmit the plan in compliance with the UDO. The city reviewed and approved the updated plan in April, and the homeowners appealed that decision to the BOA.
“At the last appeal hearing, what we heard is that the appellants wanted a transitional protective yard, they wanted a screening wall, they wanted landscaping around the perimeter to protect their views into the site,” said Michael Birch, an attorney at Longleaf Law Partners who is representing the developer, in closing remarks during this month’s BOA hearing.
“And here we are, back. The judge said, ‘Provide a TPY.’ We’ve provided a TPY. We’ve even provided it where we didn’t have to, we provided a wall where we did not have to … We’ve gone above and beyond trying to provide what they asked for. And we’ve done that and we’ve complied with the UDO at the same time.”
Following nearly eight hours of testimony spread across two days earlier this month, the BOA, in a 3-0 vote, gave its approval to the project (the BOA consists of eight members; one member recused herself and four others were absent for the hearing, though the board only needs three members to be present to constitute a quorum).
The homeowners could again appeal the BOA’s decision to the Wake County court. But the developer says they’re moving forward swiftly.
In a release sent Wednesday, a spokesperson for the developer said the structures on the property are scheduled for demolition next month and the development team expects sitework to begin later this year. The team is already marketing the future townhomes and construction is expected to begin early next year.
As of June 1, more than 1,300 townhomes have been approved since the missing middle reforms went into effect according to data from the city, and 137 have been built so far.
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