Large tax rate increase likely for Sylva

taxesSylva’s leaders have known for a year that taxes would have to go up in 2016, but it’s unlikely any of them expected to be discussing a budget featuring a 41.7 percent tax rate increase.

Greening Up The Mountains welcomes spring

art frDrawing thousands of visitors each year, the 19th annual Greening Up The Mountains Spring Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 23, in downtown Sylva. 

The daylong event is a celebration of renewal, of revitalization, and a time of reconnecting with friends, relatives and neighbors. Browse the more than 190 vendors, representing arts, crafts, demonstrators, culinary delights, local schools, business, community, environmental, health, safety, children’s activities, and more.

Sylva leaders cheer affordable housing proposal

fr housingSylva’s leaders are applauding a plan to build a new apartment complex across the road from Harris Hospital as a step toward addressing the town’s long-standing shortage of housing that’s affordable to workers on the low end of the income scale.

Sylva board faces inevitable property tax increase

sylvaAs Sylva’s leaders work toward a new budget for the new fiscal year, there’s one big question on everybody’s mind — how much will taxes increase?

Sylva OKs outdoor alcohol sales

fr greeningupThis year’s Crawfish Boil at Greening Up The Mountains will offer local brews to wash down the shellfish following a vote last week to start allowing alcohol at some special events in Sylva.

Sylva considers loosened alcohol ordinance

sylvaAlcohol could start showing up at some downtown Sylva events if town commissioners approve an ordinance slated for public comment on April 7.

Some say Sylva’s sign fees are too high

fr signsFor some people, spending free time cross-referencing town fee schedules would be as boring as watching paint dry. But for Tyler Watras, a sign painter by trade, watching paint dry isn’t so bad, and delving into the world of sign permit fees is more likely to induce passion than yawns.

Envisioning Sylva’s future: Town leaders talk economy, recreation and civic engagement

fr sylvafutureSylva’s town leaders spent a sunny Saturday indoors armed with pen, paper and heads full of ideas for bringing the small town toward a bright future. And while they may not have left the building with a perfect road map, the four-hour brainstorming session ended with some solid ideas for how to prepare Sylva for success.

Oscar winners to film movie in Sylva

sylvaSylva is going to hit the big screen next year, made over as the fictional town of Ebbing, Missouri, and home to a character portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Francis McDormand.

Never say never: Sylva cyclo-crosser takes top honors in national competition

out frAs national champion Karen Tripp likes to say, cyclo-cross is a sport that you win by seconds. And that’s just how the Sylva resident conquered nationals in Asheville this year. By seconds — 34 of them. 

“I think my mind and my focus was there,” Tripp said. “They all have to come together just right, because not every race is like that.”

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