By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

After months of rigorous planning sessions, Maggie Valley town officials are finally ready to reveal to the public a new land-use plan they hope will help the town deal with anticipated growth.

Developers in Jackson County could be asked to designate 25 percent of new developments as conserved open space under a provision the Jackson County planning board is weighing.

When Bob Brannon saw a newspaper announcement last spring seeking developers to participate in a pilot mapping project, he already had most of the planning for his development, Mountain Watch, in place.

One Swain County resident expressed concern last week that developers and speculators will rush to break ground on mountainside subdivisions in the next few months to beat out development regulations coming down the pipe.

Swain County leaders took the first step toward regulating unchecked growth and development this week by appointing the county’s first-ever planning board.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff writer

The Town of Franklin is taking steps toward implementing its recently adopted Principals of Growth, hiring both a town planner and GIS mapping specialist.

It appears Swain County commissioners were out of sync with public consensus two months ago when they decided to postpone the creation of a county planning board.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Macon County commissioner candidates fielded several questions about growth and the county’s future during a forum conducted by the League of Women Voters last Thursday night (Sept. 28).

Citizens in Jackson County’s Tuckasegee community should consider themselves lucky. The problem, however, is that luck doesn’t always hold.

It appears very likely now that a proposal to construct a rock quarry in this rural community is not going to fly. Jackson County enacted a high-impact industry ordinance in May 2002 that placed relatively tight regulations on quarries and mines. According to that law, the proposed rock crusher would have to be 1,320 linear feet from the nearest home.

The controversy over a proposed Super Wal-Mart complex in Waynesville took a turn at a town planning board meeting this week when developers presented a design for the store’s façade that by all accounts was the nicest looking Super Wal-Mart anyone had ever seen.