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RV park opponents overflow meeting room

By Bill Moss, Published: May 16, 2023

A crowd of more than 100 homeowners overflowed a meeting room Tuesday afternoon to watch and listen as Henderson County's Technical Review Committee took up a request to permit a 343-space RV park in the middle of Etowah Valley Golf Course and Resort.

Although the committee does not generally permit public comment, that didn't stop neighbors from turning out to hear more about the proposal by a Wilmington, N.C.-based residential and commercial developer, which has a contract to buy the resort.

The project engineer, Warren Sugg of Civil Design Concepts in Asheville, said the developer would reconfigure the golf course layout, creating 18 holes from the current 27. Other details or comments included:

  • The developer has a letter from Etowah Sewer Co. confirming that it has the capacity to accept wastewater from the development. Tribute plans a two-story sewage treatment facility behind Salty Landing restaurant.
  • A proposed entrance off U.S. 64 is in the floodplain and would need fill, the county's Tony Linville said. The project requires stormwater and erosion control permits. County emergency services director, Jimmy Brissie, said a big rainstorm could cause flash flooding of Gash Creek. That could be remedied by adding a separate emergency access road.
  • The developer has a water capacity permit from the city of Hendersonville, a city water engineer said.
  • The NCDOT will require a full traffic impact analysis, driveway permit and encroachment permit.

The county's director of business and community development, Christopher Todd, emphasized that the TRC meeting covers technical factors and does not judge the merits of the project.

"The purpose of this group is to assess the completeness of the application," he said. "The application will move on to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. That board will meet and hear the merits of the case. We're glad you're hear. This is an open process and you have the right to hear this information as much as anybody."