A 19-unit townhome development could be coming to Bessemer City

South Oak Partners, a Charlotte-based developer, is requesting a rezoning in the City Center area of Bessemer City to build a 19-unit, three-story brick townhome development.

City leaders held a public hearing July 8 to hear arguments in favor for and against the rezoning, which they could vote on later this month.

The development, which will take up a little less than one acre of land on the corner of East Pennsylvania Avenue and South 8th Street, comes with road improvements at the intersection including new sidewalks, rear-loaded two-car garages for each 1700-sqare-foot unit, and brick finish on the outside to compliment the Osage Mill Development, Nathan Hester, the city’s development services director, said at the public hearing.

Bessemer City resident Courtney Womack spoke at the public hearing expressing concern about the city’s infrastructure in light of the new townhomes.

“I think that we really need to get people into the Osage Lofts first, and get people into those two developments off of Costner School Road to see how it truly impacts our community,” she said. “We know that this initial surge of population is going to impact our infrastructure.”

Womack said some possible points of concern are Bessemer City schools and their ability to take on an influx of new students, road infrastructure, water and sewer infrastructure, and crime rates.

Josh Ross, the city manager for Bessemer City, said in a recent interview that while concerns for the city’s schools are more influenced by the district and county’s plans for accommodating future growth, the townhomes are expected to host a mixture of different types of families, some of which might not have children.

The roads in Bessemer City are a grid system, which helps mitigate potential traffic issues, and a water and sewer master plan completed by the city two years ago included a study that leads city leaders to believe the development will not have a negative impact on that infrastructure, he said.

According to Ross, the development is part of a bigger plan to bring dense development to the city’s center to accommodate future growth.

City Council will vote on whether to grant the rezoning at a work session July 30.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: A 19-unit townhome development could be coming to Bessemer City