Friday, January 5, 2018

Cultural Landscape Group:Flat Rock


Concerned about road projects in the Village of Flat Rock?

Visit us at the Cultural Landscape Group:Flat Rock website and Facebook page and/or send us an email at clgflatrock <at> gmail <dot> com.

If you would like a "Don't Urbanize Flat Rock" sign, please email Darlene at dbehoriam <at> yahoo <dot> com. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

My thoughts on the NCDOT N Highland Lake Road project


Many of the reasons listed below I mentioned at today's village council meeting, but here is the complete list of my concerns:

I am opposed to the NCDOT proposed project for N Highland Lake Road for the following reasons:
  • The Village has rightfully earned a sterling reputation as stewards of the park. Allowing DOT to cut over 186 trees and build a sidewalk to nowhere will severely affect that reputation. 
  • N Highland Lake Road is not a dangerous road for driving, so I’m unclear as to NCDOT’s rationale for proposing changes to this road as opposed to other more dangerous roads.
  • If the existing curves are dampened, drivers will increase their speed, creating more risk.
  • A conservative count of the trees on the north side of the road (park/church side) shows a minimum of over 186 trees will be cut down. Additional trees may also be cut down on the south side. As a village that prides ourselves on our commitment to maintaining a natural landscape, as evidenced by our own tree ordinance, eliminating so many trees changes the entire character of the area. 
  • The lanes on N Highland Lake Road are currently each 11 ft wide—and that is the width proposed for Kanuga Road improvements (Hendersonville Lightning, 7/18/17). There is no reason to change the lane width here if that planned width will work for Kanuga, a road that NCDOT is trying to make safer. 
  • N Highland Lake Road is one of the main entrances into the village. Maintaining our rural sense of place is one reason I fought so hard to keep the soccer fields out, but by cutting over 186 trees, straightening the curves, and creating a suburban-like feel, that rural sense is destroyed.
  • We have legal obligations under the PARTF grant that we received to buy the park that we have not looked into as far as I know. Under their Administrative Rules and Code Requirements, it is stated “the property acquired with a PARTF grant must be dedicated forever for public recreation.”
  • We need to know how NCDOT is funding this project. If it involves federal funds, given Flat Rock’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places, section 4(f) of the DOT Act of 1966 must be considered. This stipulates that DOT can only approve the use of land from publicly owned parks or public and private historic sites, among other areas, under certain conditions.
  • We will be building a sidewalk to nowhere. If we do want to build a sidewalk to the park, it would make more sense to wait until a sidewalk/walkway from the existing village sidewalk is built down Greenville Highway. That sidewalk may be many years from completion if ever. What we would have now would be a sidewalk that ends with no connection in sight—a sidewalk with no purpose.
  • Cutting down the trees in the park removes a natural barrier between the park and the road, changes the sense of place in the park, and also shrinks the size of the park.
  • While NCDOT has put some time and money into this project, better to decide now before construction starts if we are not in favor. It is not always easy to know exactly how a project will impact the surrounding area until more comprehensive plans have been presented, and for me that is the case here.  
  • While NCDOT has assured us that they will mitigate any drainage issues that may occur because of adding hardscape to the road, there have been water runoff and drainage issues on Upward Road since it was expanded that NCDOT has not addressed (Times-News, 8/13/17).
  • The Village of Flat Rock is on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (the operating legislation) is handled by the National Park Service. They have acknowledged that roadways are an integral part of the character of historic places. Here are their historic road guidelines from their publication, Landscape Line 16: Historic Roads (I’ve bolded items I think are particularly pertinent to N Highland Lake Road):
Historic Park Road Treatment Guidelines
  • Preserve as much of the historic road corridor as possible, including constructed features and associated landscape settings
  • Consider managerial solutions before proposing physical alterations to historic road landscapes
  • Promote alternative transportation to reduce traffic volume and control circulation patterns
  • Maintain historic road alignments, cross-sections and profiles as closely as possible
  • Realign roads only when absolutely necessary and try to retain historic character, views, width, and curvature
  • Retain original road width where possible; consider alternative techniques such as stabilized shoulders
  • Preserve, rehabilitate, or find compatible replacements for original paving materials
  • Preserve, restore, or replace-in-kind historic features such as barrier walls, fences, and guardrails, curbs, gutters, culverts, signage, scenic pullouts, bridges, and tunnels
  • Limit the construction of new barriers or systematic rehabilitation to areas with demonstrated safety hazards
  • Use materials and construction methods that replicate the effect of historic building practices
  • Modern materials and construction methods that reduce costs and enhance durability should only be used where they do not detract from historical character
  • Choose materials and methods that are sustainable, compatible, and cost-effective in the long term
  • Maintain and restore historic vegetation patterns, especially in regard to corridor-width, canopies, and planned vistas
  • Protect associated scenic, natural, and cultural features that are part of the character of the road system including rock formations, vegetation, water bodies, views, agricultural areas, buildings, structures, markers, and monuments
  • Preserve ethnographic resources and protect archeological sites
  • Develop interpretation programs to enhance public awareness of park road history and build support for historic road preservation

Sunday, August 27, 2017

NCDOT project for N Highland Lake Road


NCDOT TO HOLD A PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING 
THE PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO 
HIGHLAND LAKE ROAD (S.R. 1783) 
FROM N.C. 225 TO U.S. 176, HENDERSON COUNTY

STIP Project No U-5887

The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting regarding the proposed improvements to Highland Lake Road (S.R. 1783) from N.C. 225 to U.S. 176, Henderson County. The purpose of this project is to improve the widths of the travel lanes and shoulders as well as pedestrian and bicycle connectivity along Highland Lake Road. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 12, at the City Operations Center, located at 305 Williams Street from 4 to 7 pm.

The public may attend at any time during the hours mentioned above. NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and listen to comments regarding the project. The opportunity to submit written comments will also be provided at the meeting or via phone, email, or mail by October 3, 2017. Comments received will be taken into consideration as the project develops. Please note that no formal presentation will be made.

Project information and materials can be viewed as they become available online at http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/publicmeetings.

For additional information, contact Reece Schuler, Vaughn & Melton by mail: 1318 F. Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC, 22806 by phone: (828) 779-1788, or via email: rmschuler@vaughnmelton.com.

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact Tamara Makhlouf, Human Environment Section via e-mail at tmakhlouf@ncdot.gov or by phone (919) 707-6072 as early as possible so that arrangements can be made. 

Person who speak Spanish and do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.

Aquellas personas que hablan español y no hable inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.



Tuesday, March 31, 2015

North Carolina quilt symposium coming to Flat Rock

From the Hendersonville Lightning:
The 2015 North Carolina Quilt Symposium Inc. will be held May 28-30 at the Bonclarken Conference Center in Flat Rock.

Entitled Mountain Stitches and sponsored by the Western North Carolina Quilt Guild and the North Carolina Quilt Symposium Inc., the symposium features classes by some of the country's best-known quilt teachers, including Sue Nickels, Wendy Butler Berns, Laura Wasilowski and Flat Rock's own Georgia Bonesteel.
Read it all. 

Monday, March 23, 2015

St. John in the Wilderness to expand parish hall, education bulding

St John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church

From the Times-News:
[St John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church] plans to expand its parish hall and education building this fall to create the needed space for those young families and for its older members who use the facilities.

"The whole thrust is we are calling this ‘The Next Chapter,' " [the Rev. John Morton, rector,] said.

St. John set a goal of $800,000 for the expansion and began raising money over the winter. So far, the church has raised a little more than $550,000.

The current project is the first expansion of the parish hall and education buildings in more than 50 years. Both structures were built in the 1960s. . .
Read it all. 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Throw Back Thursday. . .updated

Soccer finally makes it to Fletcher.

If you remember during the Highland Lake Golf Club kerfuffle, it came out that the Henderson County Soccer Association had an already existing lease with the Town of Fletcher to develop 48 acres of property near the ArvinMeritor plant on Rockwell Road. The agreement ended up going nowhere and the property has remained undeveloped.

Well, it looks like that may finally change:
Fletcher Town Council has agreed to sell 4 acres of land the town owns off Rockwell Drive to the developers of an indoor sports arena, financing the deal over a decade. 

Following months of negotiation between developers and town officials, council this month approved a purchase agreement that would allow SoccerZone WNC to acquire the property for $165,000 over 10 years following a six-month period of due diligence.

In December, council members had agreed to sell or lease part of a 93-acre tract the town owns near Meritor Inc. after being approached by SoccerZone WNC's partner, including local insurance agent Chuck Roper and former East Henderson High athlete Darren Brown. . .

SoccerZone WNC plans to offer two indoor turf fields and perhaps outdoor fields as well, along with an "upper deck sports bar" for parents to enjoy while watching their kids play below.

Indoor soccer will only be "about a quarter" of the business, Roper said. Developers hope to offer flag football, basketball, dodgeball, pickleball, birthday parties, sports clinics, summer camps and indoor practice space for school athletic teams. . . 
Sounds interesting.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Riddle me Publix



Rumor has it that Publix Super Markets is thinking about opening a store in the Hendersonville area. One possible site is at the (ever) crowded Greenville Highway/Spartanburg Highway intersection, where the Atha Shopping Center is now.

In North Carolina/upper South Carolina, Publix store locations are:
  • Ten in the Charlotte area (includes upper South Carolina), with five more in the works (Mecklenburg/York counties 2013 estimated population - 1,230,340)
  • One in the Raleigh/Durham area with one to come (Wake/Durham/Orange counties 2013 est. population - 1,402,774)
  • None in the southeastern part of the state (Wilmington, Jacksonville, etc.)
  • None in the mid-upper part of the state (Winston-Salem, etc.)
  • Eleven stores in the Greenville/Spartanburg area (Greenville/Spartanburg/Pickens counties 2013 est. population - 885,064)
  • In the process of opening one south of Asheville on Route 25 (Buncombe county 2013 est. population - 247,912)
  • Henderson county 2013 est. population is 109,540.
So I'm trying to figure out their business model:
  • One of the most populated areas (Research Triangle) only has one Publix. Maybe the grocery store market is already saturated there and it's hard to break in?
  • Two areas of the state (mid-upper with Winston-Salem et al. and southeastern with Jacksonville and Wilmington) with many more people than Buncombe and Henderson counties have no Publix.
  • I can see opening a store or two in and around the Asheville area to establish a presence in the western part of the state, but it doesn't seem as though Hendersonville by itself is really big enough to support a Publix, especially a Publix far from I-26.
  • Maybe projected demographics show a large increase in the population of Henderson county? The Henderson County planning department projects for 2020 a population of 115,554, and for 2030, a population of 122,861--not a particularly massive increase, but projections are just that. Maybe Publix has additional information. 
And then there are the carcasses of abandoned grocery stores already in that area: the Food Lion right across from Atha Plaza and the old Harris Teeter close by on Spartanburg Highway. The Greenville Highway/Spartanburg Highway intersection is already packed with dueling pharmacies (Walgreens and CVS), Fresh Market and Stein Mart, numerous small businesses, and White Street acting as a cut-through from Kanuga Road. A large (and Publix are large) store there would need extensive traffic control and street reconfiguration, I would think.

Ah well, we shall see. . .

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Meeting set on Erkwood-Shepherd fix

Not inside Flat Rock, but close enough--just up Greenville Highway:
The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a drop-in public meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29, regarding the proposed project to improve Greenville Highway at the misaligned Erkwood Drive and Shepherd Street intersections.

The purpose of the project is to improve the existing roadway network and to realign Erkwood Drive and Shepherd Street to create a four-leg intersection with Greensville Highway. In doing this, a more direct east-west connection will be formed for the area south of Hendersonville, the NCDOT said.

The meeting will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at Flat Rock Village Hall. Interested citizens may attend at any time as there will be no formal presentation. NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and take comments regarding the project. People may also submit comments and questions in writing. Comments received will be taken into consideration as the project develops. . .
Read it all, and here is NCDOT's proposed fix:

.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Treska Lindsey's WWII journal published

From the Times-News:
For Europeans who opposed German Nazism, the years of World War II were fraught with danger, deprivation and displacement. Treska Lindsey, 90, not only survived those years but managed to record poignantly her family's experiences in an illustrated journal she kept by her side as they worked in occupied France after fleeing Belgium.

Illustrated with beautifully detailed sketches of her family at work in the countryside and the people of France they met, the journal traveled with her the long miles between her homeland and Flat Rock, where she and her husband came to settle.

When she was 87 years old, at her brother's urging, the journal was shown to a French publisher and printed. Now "The Brutish and Magical Years: 1940-1944" has been published in English, and her family and friends are inviting the public to a celebration of the book.

Born Therese Gevaert, she was the daughter of artist Edgar Gevaert and the granddaughter, on her mother's side, of sculptor George Minne. Hers, she said, was a family of artists. So it was only natural that, as a 16-year-old girl, uprooted from her affluent life in the Belgian countryside, she would turn to art to describe their new lives as refugees working as farm laborers and lumberjacks. . .

Want to go? 
What: Celebration of the English translation of The Brutish and Magical Years: 1940-1944 by Treska Lindsey
When: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16
Where: Highland Lake Cove in Flat Rock
Extra: Lindsey will sign books and exhibit her artwork. Refreshments will be served. Copies of the book also are available at The Fountainhead Bookstore in Hendersonville and Malaprop’s in Asheville.
Read it all.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Julien and Lori Smythe to restore Mountain Lodge

From the Hendersonville Lightning:
The new owners of historic Mountain Lodge plan to nurse the 1820s house back to life before using it as a summer residence and opening it up for a Historic Flat Rock fundraiser.

Historic Flat Rock Inc. bought the property in a sale approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbia, S.C., and immediately sought a buyer who had the ability and will to spend the money — close to $1 million — needed to stabilize and preserve it. Historic Flat Rock Inc. officials believe they hit a homerun with the buyers — Julien Smythe, whose Flat Rock roots date to the early 1900s, and his wife, Lori.

For Julien Smythe, spending summers in Flat Rock is a return to his boyhood visits to the Many Pines estate that connects his family to the North Carolina mountains. . .

One other connection made the buyers seem like destiny. Joe Oppermann, a historic preservation architect and member of Historic Flat Rock Inc., is married to Langdon Smythe Oppermann, Julien's first cousin. The couple owns Many Pines; Oppermann is guiding the renovation for the Smythes. . .
Read it all. 

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Sigh. . .

. . . starting to feel like I live in the 'burbs. . .


America in Bloom: Area gets report card on beauty efforts

From the Hendersonville Lightning:
America in Bloom judges visited Hendersonville, Flat Rock, Laurel Park and Mills River last June. The judges evaluate the community based on its flower displays, landscaping, trees, environmental efforts, heritage preservation and overall impression, make recommendations and write nominations for national awards.

Presenting a report card  to local leaders on Friday morning, America in Bloom judge Jack Clasen said he and co-judge Linda Cromer were disappointed that the national AIB committee chose another city for the commercial streetscape award.

"I've been doing this for 13 years and I'm usually very level-headed. I'm very calm," he said. "I understand how difficult it is (to judge). But I was actually very upset that you did not win that special award for commercial streetscape for Main Street in Hendersonville. Linda and I both felt that the Main Street renovation is first class."

Clasen said he felt so strongly about the award that "a bit of a shakeup" resulted.

Clasen gave the report card at the City Operations Center in a session attended by the mayors of Hendersonville, Laurel Park and Flat Rock, Henderson County America in Bloom Committee members, the Tourism Development Authority and city and county officials. . .

A committee launched the local America In Bloom effort last spring with funding from the municipalities. The committee plans to invite AIB judges back for a second evaluation next summer after working on improvements. . .

The judges praised Flat Rock, Laurel Park and Hendersonville for their heritage preservation efforts and recommended house tours and walking tours to raise the profile of the historic assets. . .
Read it all.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Guess what today is. . .

On this day exactly three years ago, I opened up the Times-News to see the headline:
County to buy Highland Lake Golf Club
Plans call for Flat Rock site to become soccer complex, public park

It was the first of many stories by reporter Gary Glancy on the soccer complex deal and the impetus behind this blog.

My, how time flies. . .

If you haven't done so already, go enjoy your park!





Thursday, September 25, 2014

Where's Ashley Cauthen now?

Remember Ashley Cauthen, an 8th grade golfer at Flat Rock Middle School who spoke out in favor of keeping Highland Lake golf course? She spoke before the Henderson County Board of Commissioners and wrote letters in support of golf in 2011.

Well, she's all grown up now, playing for East Henderson High School and this year's recipient of the Blair Lamb Award in golf! Go, Ashley!

Photo credit: MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS 24-September-2014 East Henderson's Ashley Cauthen tees off during the Henderson County girls high school golf championship Wednesday at Cummings Cove Country Club.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Hendersonville Hen Society enjoys fowl play

From the Times-News:
. . . Funny observations of chicken behavior are shared, as is advice on issues like mucking out coops or preventing older hens pecking at young chicks.

The dozen members present at [Barbara Glassman's, aka “Madame Poulet,”] home cringed at the connotation that their gatherings were a sort of “hen party” — rather, they prefer to think of themselves as an intrepid breed of urban chicken farmers in Henderson County.

“We are women who kind of knew each other before, but we instantly bonded over chickens,” Glassman says. “It’s an obsession.”

Famed quilting instructor Georgia Bonesteel [of Flat Rock] is a member of the Hen Society who has been keeping chickens for about five years.

“I think it’s genetic,” says Bonesteel, adding that her grandfather raised chickens. “I got them mostly for the eggs, honestly. I won’t buy eggs in the supermarket.”. . .
Read it all.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Flat Rock Cider Works labors on. . .

Hey, I've tried it--the blackberry gold apple cider--and it's pretty good. From Bold Life:
In addition to spotting and seizing the opportunity to help usher in a cider sea change, the foursome [at Flat Rock Cider Works] also saw the chance to give North Carolina's apple country a brand it could call its own. They set out to make Naked Apple a truly Henderson County product, starting with the fruit.

The company has its own orchards — one they lease and one they own. It's this vertical integration that makes the cidery unique: They can take their cider from the orchard, through the production process, through bottling, and to the final customer. . .
Read it all. Jim Sparks and Tom Davis, part of the Flat Rock Cider Works team, are the former owners of the Highland Lake Golf Club, now The Park at Flat Rock. Connections, connections. . .

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Park welcome center bids top budget by $100K

From the Hendersonville Lightning:
Flat Rock park planners went back to the drawing board after construction bids for a welcome center and public restrooms came in $100,000 over budget. . .
Read it all.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

The Book Exchange half-price sale

Help support the Ladies Aid Society of Flat Rock and the charitable work they do--and get a break on book prices, too.

Come celebrate the grand re-opening of
The Book Exchange with a half-price sale

Saturday, August 30, 2014
10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Music from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Light refreshments all day

All workers are volunteers
All profits go to local charities

Monday, July 21, 2014

Lowndes House, 1960

Some background on the Lowndes House, now on the grounds of the Flat Rock Playhouse (from Historic Flat Rock by Kenneth and Blanche Marsh, first edition published 1961, revised 1972):


From the text:
I'ON LOWNDES HOUSE

Late 19th Century

In 1847, Charles Baring sold Diamond in the Desert to Richard Lowndes. Mr. Lowndes conveyed to his son, I'on a tract on the eastern end of the property. It was there that I'on erected the lattice trimmed, towered porch residence in the style of late nineteenth century homes.

The residence is located beside the large outcropping of rock for which Flat Rock is named. According to the legend the Indians held their great annual councils seated around this large flat rock long before the famed Buncombe turnpike encouraged low country aristocrats to establish Flat Rock as a summer colony. Thus Cherokee Indians, white pioneers, tidewater newcomers, alike, enjoyed the cool air of the heights just as do the present day audiences of the State Theater, which now occupies these historic grounds.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Mountain Lodge, 1960

Mountain Lodge is currently in disrepair. I thought it might be interesting to see what it looked like in 1960, from Historic Flat Rock by Kenneth and Blanche Marsh (first edition published 1961, revised 1972).


The text reads:
MOUNTAIN LODGE 1827

Majestic Mountain Lodge is the patriarch of the great old dwellings of Flat Rock .Built as a grand manor house by Charles Baring it has fulfilled its auspicious origin through a succession of distinguished owners.

In 1853 it was acquired by the illustrious Trenholm family. Edward Trenholm was a member of a cotton mercantile firm of Liverpool and Charleston which owned the battleship Alabama. The ship became famous for running the Union blockade of Southern ports. Edward's brother, George, was second Secretary of the Confederate Treasury. 

Caption text: Jane Angier's figure in the foreground helps scale the enormous size of the slow growing English boxwood planted about 1830 by Susan Baring
Edward's daughter-in-law, gracious Alicia, entertained the South's leaders at the Lodge. Her father, Roswell Sabine Ripley, was the honored artillery officer in command of coastal and water defenses of Charleston under General Beauregard. His two volume history of the Mexican War was used as a West Point textbook. While living in Europe after the War Napoleon III requested him to take charge of the fortifications of Paris. Alicia authored a booklet on Flat Rock still in publication through the courtesy of Mary Trenholm Kemper, her daughter.

The George Baldwins--she a member of the Middleton and King families, carried on the cultural traditions of the Old South at the Lodge. Dr. and Mrs. Edward Jones, their successors, spent lavishly of their oil millions to remodel the dwelling adding the columned portico.

The Newton Duke Angiers of the famous tobacco and lumber families added mid-20th century distinction to the venerable old estate.

Top photo: Lida Angier, Newton Angier's sister, and Jane in the great dining hall of Mountain Lodge. The wallpaper is hand painted in the irridescent peacock colors.  
Bottom photo: Newton Duke Angier beside a painting of his grandmother, Lida Duke, who married Jonathan Cicero Angier.

Jane Angier, recent mistress of Mountain Lodge, on her beloved portico.

And a reminder of what Mountain Lodge looks like today:

Photo credit: Hendersonville Lightning