Preserve Crab Creek

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WELCOME

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We're privileged to live in one of the most beautiful rural communities in the nation.  Now developers have asked Henderson County to approve a 125,758-square-foot self-storage facility at 547 Crab Creek Road.  (See Request for Committee Action.)  Putting a self-storage facility as large as a big-box retail store five miles into the unspoiled countryside is:

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• Incompatible with our rural residential area; 

• Likely to devalue nearby residential properties; 

• Likely to pollute Mud Creek, which feeds the French Broad River; and

• Unsafe for a variety of reasons.

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Often, a self-storage facility in a rural area is a Trojan horse that opens the way for more commercial development.  Also, approval of this development would set a precedent, making it difficult for the county to deny requests for more strip commercial along Crab Creek Road.

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As strip commercial invades a rural area, residential property values can plummet.   Also, Crab Creek Road is the gateway to DuPont State Forest, Holmes State Forest, Camp Blue Star, Camp Tekoa, Camp Pinnacle, and parks, camps, and resorts farther west.  With outdoor recreation in Western NC generating $83.3M per year from visitors and $31.7M from locals, we must protect the entrance to these economic engines.

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So please join in!  Our short-term goal is to defeat this storage facility.  Our long-term goal is to work closely with Henderson County to ensure a forever-rural future for Crab Creek.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO  

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SHOW YOUR SUPPORT: 

Join us for Henderson County's public hearing on the self-storage facility.  Wednesday, July 28  at the Thomas Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College.  Please come at 3:00 PM for a very important outdoor rally and press event.  The hearing starts at 4:00 PM.   Details here.​

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Then we'll have a chance to ask experts in rural preservation how we can keep Crab Creek beautiful, natural, and agricultural forever.  Please join us on Thursday, July 29 at 7 PM at The Barn in Penrose, a covered outdoor setting.  Details here.

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Put up a yard sign, too.  They're available at Crab Creek Produce, 436 Crab Creek Road, in a big plastic tub outside.

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GIVE GENEROUSLY:

Please make a tax-deductible contribution online or by check.  We need to raise $60,000 by the end of July to cover lawyer's fees, expert witness fees, communications, and materials in order to make our case at the public hearing on July 28.  Expenses will increase if the county's decision is appealed and we need to make our argument in court.

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SPREAD THE WORD: 

Invite family and friends to join our Facebook group.

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Alert people by phone, by knocking on doors, or just by keeping flyers in your car and giving them to interested people.  Kristy and Randy Doss are coordinating this effort (828.279.1642). 

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Join more than 1,200 people who have signed up for updates (at the bottom of this page).

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SPEAK YOUR MIND: 

Express your views to public officials.  The county's Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) is the entity that decides whether the self-storage facility can be built, subject to an appeal in a court of law. There may not be an opportunity for public input to the ZBA during the hearing on July 28th.  But anyone can voice their opinion to our County Commissioners, who appoint the ZBA.  Please write or call these officials.