- November 27, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
High-end townhouses will likely replace the vacant church at 100 N. Halifax Drive in the future, as the City Commission has approved a land use change in a first reading. The second reading is tentatively set for Jan. 17, and the next step will be for the commission to approve a zoning change.
The land use change was from “public/institutional” to “medium density residential.”
The property has multifamily housing to the south and single-family residential to the west and north.
The property owner, Ed Schwartz of Halifax 100 LLC, bought the property in 2014.
“I’m excited about this project,” Schwartz said at a Planning Board meeting. “It will be a high-end multifamily residential development.”
Ten townhouse units are planned. The two buildings now on the site would be removed.
Schwartz said the project is aimed at those who want to downsize but don’t want to leave the area. He pointed out the proximity to Oceanside Country Club as making it a desirable place to live.
“I’m excited about this project.”
ED SCHWARTZ, property owner
“They can have a golf cart,” he said.
Planning Board member Lori Tolland said there is a buffer planned so the houses to the west, on Orchard Lane, will not be affected.
A neighborhood meeting was held for those who live within 300 feet of the development and there will be another in the future for residents within 600 feet.
A city report from the neighborhood meeting stated that residents had no objections to the land use change.
However, a speaker at the Dec. 6 City Commission meeting said a single-family home would be a better use for the property. He said his mother lives next to the location.
He pointed out that people are putting up million-dollar homes on the beachside.
“Multifamily homes do not increase property values,” he said.
