Morrisville council hears hours of debate over Chapel Hill Road rezoning for 60‑unit senior affordable housing

Planner Josh Michael opened a public hearing April 28 on a request to rezone 10212 Chapel Hill Road to Conditional Town Center Commercial to allow a 60‑unit, age‑restricted (55 and older) affordable rental development financed through low‑income housing tax credits (LITC). The applicant team proposed a three‑story building on a 3.24‑acre site with units reserved at or below 60% of area median income and a recorded affordability commitment for 50 years.

The project team, led by Evergreen Construction and represented by land‑use counsel Isabelle Maddox and Evergreen president Tim Morgan, said the proposal must be rezoneda to qualify for the town’s affordable‑housing incentives and to make LITC financing feasible. "All units will be affordable to seniors at or below 60% of the area median income," Morgan said, adding Evergreen’s portfolio averages roughly 96% occupancy and that about 75% of tenants in comparable properties own a vehicle. The applicant proposes 68 parking spaces (a 10% reduction from the UDO requirement), and asks that EV parking requirements be waived to reduce development costs.

Staff described conditions offered by the applicant: a maximum building height of three stories/45 feet, a minimum of 68 parking spaces (1.1 spaces per unit), construction to Energy Star multifamily standards, right‑of‑way dedications and roadway/improvements on Chapel Hill Road as well as curb, gutter and five‑foot sidewalks on Sunset and Fair View if rezoning is approved. Josh Michael said the affordable‑housing incentive policy guided staff’s recommendation and that the Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval by a 4‑1 vote.

Traffic and parking were the most persistent concerns raised by neighbors. Longtime residents said Sunset and Fair View are legacy, narrow streets (staff noted IMAPs show roughly a 19‑foot existing cross‑section) where additional cars and construction traffic could impede emergency response and daily access. "There's much traffic going out certain times and a lot of times you can't even get out," said Sandra Young Jenkins, who lives on Fairview Avenue. Multiple speakers asked for a full traffic‑impact analysis, an emergency‑service capacity memo and stronger contingency plans for overflow parking on adjacent residential streets.

The developer’s traffic consultant, Hunter Mullins of Timmans Group, said a senior housing use generates far fewer daily trips than market‑rate apartments or retail: his trip‑generation memo projected about 201 daily trips for 60 senior units, versus roughly 458 daily trips for a comparable non‑senior apartment product and more than 1,100 daily trips for retail. Mullins said national parking guidance for senior housing would suggest 37–40 spaces for 60 units but the applicant is offering nearly twice that figure at 68 spaces.

Morrisville’s fire chief told council he did not expect the 60‑unit building to create unusual service demand and said the site is reasonably located between two stations; he flagged only the existing narrowness of Sunset and Fair View as a constraint that the planned right‑of‑way improvements should address. Staff and the civil engineer, Pat Barau, said the applicant plans to dedicate half of the required 50‑foot cross‑sections and to install curb and gutter, storm conveyance and sidewalks as part of site‑level review if rezoning is approved.

Public comment was sharply divided. Dozens of neighbors — many clustered in the Cotton Drive/Fairview area — urged denial or delay, citing safety, parking overflow, lost privacy and the lack of a pre‑application neighborhood meeting. Opponents asked council to require additional mitigation before permitting any three‑story building on the parcel. Supporters — including housing advocates and several community members who described seniors on fixed incomes — urged council to approve the project and keep Wake County and the town’s affordable‑housing policy commitments intact. "This is not Section 8 housing. It's tax‑credit retirement housing with strict income limits and 50 years of guaranteed affordability," said Stephanie Reid, a local housing advocate.

Developers and staff also highlighted timing constraints tied to financing: the applicant noted that an application cycle for LITC requires a May 15 submission and that Wake County had recommended funding for the project, meaning a council decision on May 12 would be important to the project's financing timetable.

No final council action was taken April 28. Council closed the public hearing and scheduled the zoning decision for the May 12 meeting; staff and the applicant said they will continue to provide requested technical details (traffic memos, road cross‑section clarifications, and follow‑up responses to neighborhood questions) ahead of that vote.

What’s next: Council will resume deliberations and a formal vote on the rezoning at the May 12 meeting. If approved by council, the project would still require final site‑plan review and building permits and remain contingent on LITC award and other financing steps.