Buncombe votes to protect and preserve parkway viewshed

With an economic impact of $863 million, it’s not just tourists and outdoor-loving locals who enjoy the Blue Ridge Parkway. In fact, at the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ May 5 meeting, the first topic of the evening was a resolution protecting the parkway and its viewshed from unsightly development. The resolution passed unanimously following two presentations, a public comment period and discussion.

“What many folks don’t realize is that much of what visitors see is not part of parkway management,” Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Mark Woods told commissioners at the meeting. “We don’t own those views.”

The county currently protects the parkway through a zoning overlay that imposes building restrictions for both publicly and privately owned properties lying within 1,320 feet of the scenic road’s center line. The new resolution supports additional research-based zoning regulations in order to protect parkway views from unsightly development.

It also establishes that county planning staff will meet with parkway staff to discuss sustainable methods of preserving the sweeping views of valleys and rolling hills — without angering property owners in the process. The Buncombe County Planning Board will then present the recommendations to the county commissioners for review.

“So you’re not taking away people’s rights to develop on their own properties,” County Chair David Gantt asked Woods at the meeting. “You’re working with them to find solutions that work for everyone.”

“That’s right,” replied Woods.

Gantt and Woods emphasized that the resolution isn’t about denying property owners their right to build. It’s about working with them to find creative solutions for keeping the views beautiful — whether it’s set color schemes for homes, height restrictions or strategically placed trees.

“This calendar year alone, we have already seen a 19.3 percent increase of visitor use in the Pisgah District alone,” which includes the Buncombe County corridor, Woods said.

Woods gave the commissioners a presentation showing the negative economic and environmental impact of man-made expansion along the parkway. As an example, he showed a stretch of parkway in Virginia, where the local government had failed to implement building regulations on lands adjacent to the national park. The result: overlooks dotted with apartment complexes, unattractive rows of tract housing, office buildings and a noticeable lack of natural beauty.

The resolution states that such development in Virginia has “severely degraded the quality of scenic views and irreversibly impacted visitor experience,” as well as destroyed the destination’s “cultural and natural resources.” Woods mentioned to commissioners that these sections of parkway have also seen a decrease in tourism, therefore reducing the surrounding towns’ economic benefits.

It’s Buncombe’s 48 miles of unspoiled views that make the county one of the top destinations on the entire parkway, accumulating a higher number of visitors than any other section last year — from Cherokee, N.C. to Waynesboro, Va., Woods explained. The parkway, in turn, is the No. 2 visited national park in the country.

Several of the commissioners expressed excitement and gratitude over the parkway advocacy, and others suggested options that the county could use, going forward, to work with surrounding developers and property owners.

“I would really encourage an approach” that uses incentive-based regulations for properties within view of the parkway, Commissioner Brownie Newman said. “Some of them might be rules; some of them might be incentives.” We could use “a menu of things to help encourage the kind of compatible development in the future that we all want to see.”

The intent of the project, Woods added, “is to connect with the next generation of visitors — to ensure that the parkway is found by those future generations in just as good or better condition than it is today.” — Hayley Benton