Special to Iredell Free News

The site plan for a $17 million, four-story development with 161 senior apartments on Simonton Road was approved 7-1 by the Statesville City Council on Monday night during a quasi-judicial hearing.

A letter signed by 69 residents from Deer Creek and Martha’s Ridge Subdivisions was read into the record by Mayor Costi Kutteh during the meeting in opposition to Cadence Statesville Senior Apartments. Calling current plans “appalling,” residents requested making the building two stories, and adding additional buffer and retaining existing trees. The residents voiced concern that the development would undermine the residential feel of the area and lower property values.

The 10-acre site is located at 2344 Simonton Road, between Martha’s Ridge and Deer Creek subdivisions. Current zoning of CU O-1 of the property allows for multi-family use, and the building’s height is within compliance with the 50-foot maximum height allowed by the zoning. The tax value of the land is $224,630. The estimated value of the completed development would be approximately $17 million.

The developer, James Pressley, will be required to provide 30-foot buffer along the Deer Creek subdivision, meet landscaping requirements, provide a 50-foot buffer along a creek and a 25-foot buffer along the property line.

OTHER BUSINESS

Also during the meeting, the council approved awarding the construction contract for the Larkin Commerce Park water line extension to Fuller & Co. Construction.

The board also voted to appoint Bernard Robertson and Alisha Cordle to the Planning Board.