Cedar Lodge developer says lack of entranceway could ax project

The Cedar Lodge Apartments project planned near Towne Center on Jefferson Highway may not be feasible because it would lack more than one entranceway, says its developer, Phil Witter. This is the same problem encountered by a mega-church and another apartment complex proposed in the area before it. Witter says he hasn’t been able to find any other access to Towne Center for his planned development, a 315-unit complex with 56,000 square feet of commercial space. “That’s what happened with Bethany [World Prayer Center], and that’s what happened with The Preserve,” Witter says. That lack of access could sink the project became apparent last month, Witter says, after a meeting with the Goodwood Property Owners Association. “I don’t think we can meet the criteria of our neighbors,” Witter says. Earlier this summer, the neighborhood association urged the Planning Commission to deny approval for an apartment project called The Preserve, and Bethany later withdrew its application for a church facility. Dennis Vidrine, president of the Goodwood Association, says property owners in the area would be more agreeable to the projects if they provided connectivity with Towne Center. “One way in and one way out—you put a lot of pressure on Jefferson Highway” with traffic, Vidrine says. Witter hasn’t yet officially withdrawn his application—scheduled to go before the Planning Commission on Oct. 15—for the apartments on the west side of the shopping center. But he says he may have no other choice if he can’t find a way to merge it with Towne Center. “We’re trying to comply with [the neighborhood association], and it doesn’t appear we’ll be able to do so,” Witter says. —Adam Pearson