BREAKING: Hayes Barton homeowners lose most recent skirmish in their ongoing battle to stop construction of 17 townhomes

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Last week, several Hayes Barton homeowners continued their attack on the proposed Williamson Drive townhome community. The Raleigh Board of Adjustment (“BOA”) heard their latest appeal designed to stop the construction of 17 townhomes. For those unfamiliar with the situation, a small group of homeowners are trying to overturn the second administrative approval for 17 townhomes in the Hayes Barton neighborhood. They are also seeking to invalidate all of the City’s Missing Middle housing reforms which are intended to diversify the kinds of housing that can be built across the City.  

As readers may recall, the neighbors won the last appeal on a narrow ruling in Superior Court relating to a proposed Transitional Protective Yard. In that decision, Judge Collins ruled that the proposed townhome community met all applicable requirements of the City’s Unified Development Ordinance except the Transitional Protective Yard. As part of the decision, Judge Collins allowed the developer to submit a revised plan to the City that addressed the Transitional Protective Yard. Neither party appealed. So pursuant to the Judge’s decision, the developer filed a revised development plan that addressed Judge Collins’ decision, while maintaining the 17 proposed townhomes. The City reviewed and approved the revised townhome plan in April. Not surprisingly, the neighbors appealed the approval of the revised plan to the BOA.

After 2 days of testimony and argument, the BOA voted unanimously to deny the homeowners’ appeal and to uphold the City’s approval of the amended plan for 17 townhomes. To watch the BOA appeal proceedings, click here and here.

Of course, this is likely not the last battle in this ongoing war over Missing Middle housing reforms. As they did after their first loss at the BOA, the homeowners will likely appeal the BOA decision to Wake County Superior Court. With sufficient resources, they can pursue appeals through the NC Court of Appeals and possibly the NC Supreme Court. Doing so, however, is not cheap.

Not surprisingly, supporters in Hayes Barton recently announced a fundraising appeal to raise $100,000 to support ongoing efforts to stop the construction of 17 townhomes and invalidate Raleigh’s Missing Middle reforms. Litigation is not cheap and $100,000 will likely be insufficient to sustain this appeal, along with the costs of the continuing challenge of the underlying Missing Middle housing reforms. That litigation has not even gone to trial yet because both the City and the neighbors are appealing ancillary matters in the NC appellate courts, including an order requiring the neighbors to pay over $28,000 of the developer’s attorney fees. Only when those appeals are completed is a trial likely to occur. With all this pending litigation, a final decision on whether these 17 townhomes can be built is still 1-2 years away. 

This litigation is not only costing the homeowners and the developer. It is costing taxpayers as well. By challenging the underlying Missing Middle ordinances, a few Hayes Barton homeowners are forcing the City to spend substantial taxpayer money defending regulatory reforms intended to diversify and expand Raleigh’s housing supply at a time when housing affordability is under severe pressure in Raleigh. Beyond costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, challenging these housing reforms is likely having a chilling effect on developers interested in building Missing Middle housing. In these uncertain economic times, developers are unlikely to risk investing money in new missing middle projects until the litigation is resolved. This will further constrain housing supply across the City. In other words, this lawsuit and a similar lawsuit filed by the Raleigh Country Club are designed to maintain the status quo so wealthy neighborhoods like Hayes Barton and those served by country clubs remain enclaves for the wealthy.

For more background on this proposed townhome community and related Missing Middle litigation, click here.

Diversifying and growing the City's housing inventory is critical if Raleigh is to retain its healthy, vibrant economy and quality of life. To that point, RaleighForward recently published a policy brief explaining why this is critically important.