Public forum seeks feedback on 50 acres of Black Mountain land

RailYard to host data gathering session on trails, recreation and conservation of property

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 10, 2023

A May 13 forum at the RailYard, hosted by the Black Mountain Greenways & Trails Committee, the National Park Service and the Town of Black Mountain, will collect public feedback on the potential development of 50 acres of land donated to the town since 2017. Photo courtesy of the BMTGC

The planning process for 50 acres of undeveloped land, donated to the Town of Black Mountain within the last five years, will kick off at the RailYard, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Saturday, May 13, with a public forum.

Presented by the Town of Black Mountain, the Black Mountain Greenways and Trails Committee and the National Park Service, the event will compile data regarding potential uses for the land, including trails, conservation and recreational opportunities, based on community feedback. 

The town received 25 acres of property from the estate of Black Mountain native Mary Hemphill, who passed away in 2017, which was originally donated to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. Hemphill’s will stipulated the land, primarily situated south of I-40, be used as a public park.

No such restrictions were placed on an additional 26 acres of undeveloped property the town received from Black Mountain Ventures in December of 2022. The four parcels, valued at approximately $2 million, are north of the interstate, but a portion is adjacent to a small section of the previously acquired land. 

While the green space represents a unique opportunity for the town, it also presents challenges, according to BMGTC Chair Ann Lutz.   

“It will be a different kind of park, because of the terrain and limited access,” she said. “It’s somewhat limited by the topography, the interstate and the railroad.”

Its potential as a passive park near the center of town, however, could make it a local “treasure,” BMGTC member Julia Weatherford added. 

“A park full of trails for mountain biking, walking and running would be great,” Weatherford said. “It wouldn’t be a drive-up park that accommodates 100 cars, but it would be great to have so much natural park space right there.”

The BMGTC was established as a nonprofit organization in 2021 with a mission to “promote greenways and trails” within the town. Several members of the committee, including Lutz and Weatherford, served on the former town advisory board that preceded it.

“The town recommended that we create a separate nonprofit organization to do the activism and fundraising work related to trails and greenways,” said Weatherford, who began serving on the advisory commission in the 1990s and helped develop the Black Mountain Greenways Master Plan in the early 2000s.

The BMGTC, through a partnership with the Town of Black Mountain, Connect Buncombe and the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce, received a grant for technical assistance through the NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program in May of 2022.

The visioning process for more than 50 acres of land that have been donated to the Town of Black Mountain since 2017 will begin, May 13, with a public forum at the RailYard. Photo courtesy of BMGTC

“It’s an expertise grant, meaning they don’t give us direct funding to build anything, but they provide technical assistance,” Lutz said. “Their billable hours can be used as in-kind matching funds when applying for other grants. We also have advantages when applying for additional grants when under this NPS program, which runs through October of 2024.”

The committee sought assistance through the NPS in the master plan process for the property donated by Hemphill, she continued.

“It’s currently inaccessible for public access, due to constraints like a private railroad crossing and a tunnel under I-40,” Lutz said. “But, there are ways to get in, and that’s something we’ll work on later.”

The 26 acres donated to the town last December created new opportunities, according to Weatherford.

“That property goes all the way to the Hemphill property, which potentially offers a whole new way to access it,” she said. “However, there isn’t currently public access to the Black Mountain Ventures property, and limited infrastructure.”

The next step for the BMGTC, the town and NPS, according to Lutz, is gathering community input for a master plan.

“We want to gather data from the public that the town can use to create that plan,” she said.

That process begins with the kick off meeting at the RailYard.

“The feedback there will help shape future surveys,” Lutz said. “So, we decided we wanted this meeting to be a little different. We would like to create a setting that allows attendees free reign to present a range of ideas, as opposed to setting a firm structure.”

The gathering will feature large maps of the donated parcels of land that include the topography and current infrastructure. A representative from the NPS will attend the meeting, compile the data and present it to the town.

Additional feedback will gathered throughout the summer, as master plans for both parcels are developed, Lutz added.

“One of the really cool things about holding this gathering at the RailYard is you can look right across the tracks and see both parcels,” Weatherford said. “We’re really grateful to John Richardson and Pete Repak for hosting us.”