ETOWAH (N.C.) — The Etowah’s Reach Property Owners Association held a meeting about a proposed RV Park to be built at Etowah Valley Golf & Resort. It was so crowded that people were standing outside and listening through the Etowah Lions Club windows.
This area is located about 40 minutes south-southwest of Asheville.
David Garnett, President of the Etowah’s Reach Property Owners Association, said: “I would estimate that there were between 150 and 200 people there.” It was standing-and-sitting-on-the floor room only. “People were listening to the building through the windows.”
Tribute Development and Investment of Wilmington has plans to build 343 RV units on the golf club, which has operated since 1967. The developer is seeking a special use permit at the Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting on May 31, 4 p.m., to be held in the King Street meeting Room at 100 North King St.
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Garnett says that many members of the Etowah’s Reach Property Owners Association oppose the developer’s plan and are attending the meeting on May 31 in the hope of having the proposal rejected.
Garnett stated that there were rumors about the meeting being moved to a bigger venue like Blue Ridge Community College. However, Henderson County Code Services director and Zoning administrator Matt Champion said those rumors weren’t true.
The meeting will take place in the King Street Meeting Room, as advertised. He told the Times-News that future meetings could be held in a different place to accommodate more attendees.
The Todd family owned Etowah Valley Golf & Resort, including the former Hendersonville mayor Frank Todd Sr. who founded the club in 1967. The resort has three nine-hole golf courses, totaling 27 holes, as well as a dining area, clubhouse, croquet, swimming pool, tennis courts, and a 75-unit lodging for travelers.
The Times-News reported that Todd’s grandfather Bruce Drysdale survived the Great Depression by building a brick factory on the same property as the golf course. Drysdale bought the Etowah valley property in 1917. The golf resort flourished until the late 2000s recession, when the Todd family sold the 246-acre land valued at over $9.5 million to WNC Resort Properties in 2013.
Etowah resident Debbie Rowe said to the Times-News that the golf course was the heart and soul for Etowah. The new owners want to convert it into a RV park with 343 spaces, but there are no paved roads or pads, and the roads can’t hold a RV weighing 30,000 pounds. There is no need for more RV parks. “There are already five RV parks in the area.”
According to Chris Todd, the director of Henderson Business and Community Development, there are 16 RV parks currently in the county.
The RV spaces, according to Tribute’s proposal, “shall have a minimum size of 2,000 square foot and dimensions not less than 40 by 50 feet.” WNC Resort Properties, who own the property, has worked with Tribute Development on a contract that proposes a renovated 18 hole golf course as well as the RV park.
The site plan that will be presented on May 31 includes the following:
- About 57 acres were disturbed
- 2,600 square feet leasing office
- 2 story clubhouse of 45,000 square feet
- Two-story sewer treatment facility measuring 30,000 square feet
- 25% open space (43.46 acres)
- RVs are typically 2,000 square feet.
- Each RV space has a gravel driveway that runs off the internal roads
- 725 parking spaces for vehicles
- New roadway of 13,400 linear feet
- The 40-foot easement is over the roadways
- Travel way width of 20 feet
- Brevard Road now has a new access point
- Brickyard Road is now accessible via a new access point
Dean Hensley is a news editor at the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at [email protected].
