Politics

TOP 10 STORIES OF 2021: 10, 9, 8

The new $11.7 million police station on Ashe Street is one of several major projects complete or in the works. Others include a new parking deck downtown and a replacement for Fire Station 1.

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 5, 2022

10. A capital year

A project that has been in the talking stages for decades will be visible as concrete and steel in the coming year. In September the Hendersonville City Council authorized a $9.7 million construction contract for a new parking deck on North Church Street at Fifth Avenue West. Projected to open in 2023, the parking deck is financed a loan that will be repaid by parking deck fees, long-term leases and paid parking on Main Street at $1.75 per hour starting in January 2023. In November city officials celebrated the opening of the new 26,000-square-foot police headquarters on Ashe Street. The City Council envisioned the new $11.7 million cop shop as a potential catalyst for stability and redevelopment in the Historic Seventh Avenue District, which has some homes in dilapidated condition. Coming next in the district is a new streetscape. And finally, the council also authorized a replacement for Fire Station 1 at a cost of $9.5 million after engineers said repairs and renovation would be impractical and inadequate to serve the needs of the American Disability Act and a co-ed firefighting force.

9. Life in prison for Stroupe

Phillip Michael Stroupe II received a sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of a beloved Mills River man from a family who had been in the county for generations. After Stroupe, 43, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and first-degree kidnapping, Superior Court Judge Joseph Crosswhite imposed a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole plus additional consecutive sentences totaling another 304-402 months, which is 25-33 years in prison. The agreement was announced Aug. 31 by District Attorney Andrew Murray.
Members of Tommy Bryson's family joined District Attorney Andrew Murray for the announcement of the guilty plea of Phillip Michael Stroupe II for the murder of Bryson.“This defendant robbed our community of a salt of the earth, Godly man who was cherished by his family, friends and neighbors,” he said. “We agree with the family that this sentence, which ensures the defendant will never walk our streets again, hopefully brings some closure not only to the family but the entire community grieving the loss of Tommy Bryson.”
A convicted felon who had recently been released from prison, Stroupe fled from deputies at a traffic stop in Transylvania County on July 22, 2017, triggering a four-day manhunt in and around Pisgah National Forest. Stroupe encountered and kidnapped Bryson, 68, at gunpoint. “Eventually, he took Mr. Bryson to a cornfield, where he coldheartedly shot Mr. Bryson and left him to die,” Murray said.
Sparing the family the agony of “reliving horrific details of their loved one’s murder,” the uncertainty of holding a lengthy death penalty trial during Covid restrictions and avoiding the years, even decades of the likely appeal of a capital murder conviction were reasons for the decision.
"Considering all these factors, Mr. Bryson’s family reached out to the District Attorney’s Office after concluding that they would prefer to extend unmerited grace to the defendant and ensure finality and closure for their family,” he said.

8. No asphalt, no storage units

Disruptive land-use cases again drew organized public opposition. After Southeastern Asphalt Co. owner Jeff Shipman refiled a rezoning request for an asphalt plant on Spartanburg Highway in East Flat Rock, homeowners, business owners and environmental activists fought back with yard signs, billboards, online petition, a social media campaign and legal counsel. Hours before the Board of Commissioners was scheduled to hear the rezoning request, Shipman withdrew the application, just as he had done in 2020. Friends of East Flat Rock leader Michelle Tennant Nicholson thanked residents for their support during the land-use fight. "On behalf of all the neighbors who signed our petition and have worked tirelessly to fight this asphalt plant rezoning property next door to our churches, schools, homes, and businesses, I want to thank the Henderson County planning department for their endless hours receiving emails, letters, and phone calls," she said. Meanwhile, homeowners in Crab Creek won a battle before the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which denied applicant Matthew Cooke’s request to rezone land for 1,000 self-storage units. Opponents presented testimony on traffic, the viewshed and residential property depreciation while Cooke’s attorney argued that the commercial use was compatible with surrounding use. Cooke has appealed the zoning board’s decision in Superior Court.