MountainTrue’s Letter of Support for the City of Asheville’s College Street & Patton Avenue Redesign Project

photo credit: City of Asheville project page

October 2, 2023

This week, we sent the letter below to the members of Asheville City Council expressing our support for the College / Patton Project in downtown Asheville because we believe multi-modal transportation investments make denser residential development work best for our communities. You can read more about the project on the city’s website here.

Dear Asheville City Council,

City Manager Debra Campbell,

Director of Transportation, Ken Putnam

Assistant Director of Transportation, Jessica Morriss

Members of the City of Asheville’s Multimodal Transportation Commission

I write today on behalf of MountainTrue and Neighbors for More Neighbors WNC asking you to support the College Street and Patton Avenue redesign project.

We took to heart Council member Mosley’s reflection of concern and even anger on behalf of the Black community regarding bike lanes during the August 22 council discussion on this project. The prospect of supporting what feels to some members of our community like “white encroachment in Black neighborhoods” is not a position we take lightly. While we believe that this redesign project would increase safety for all travelers through our downtown—pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike—we also take seriously the prospect that such a change may make some members of our community feel even less welcome or included, especially those Council member Mosley spoke on behalf of who are “most vulnerable among us.”

Additionally, we take seriously the concerns of downtown business owners who are currently beset by a host of challenges and stressors and who feel like the timing of this project is not right. For those owners in particular who have invested in and committed to downtown Asheville even since the years when downtown was nearly deserted and sorely neglected, we regret that the timing of this project feels like a threat rather than a support.

While we do not take these concerns lightly, Neighbors for More Neighbors WNC advocates for more attainable housing that is built in places and at a scale that most benefits the health of our natural environment. We support attainable housing in and near our city centers because that is an efficient use of infrastructure, it decreases our overall carbon footprint, and also because we want our downtowns to be vibrant, thriving, inclusive places that all people in our community both can and want to access and enjoy. We believe that investments in infrastructure that make downtowns more pedestrian friendly, rather than vehicle oriented, do pay off by activating our city center in a personal way and on a human scale. Bike lanes are a part of that landscape not just because they benefit bicyclists, but also because the less car-centric we make our downtown, the more people-centered it becomes. Complete street projects both enable vehicle access in addition to providing safer options for other road users, and, ultimately, we believe that complete streets in our city center will benefit downtown businesses by making downtown a place that residents will want to spend more time and money in.

When vulnerable members of our community and business owners feel that complete street projects like College/Patton go against their interests, we take time to step back and question our assumptions. It is true that the most vocal and visible champions for bicycle infrastructure in our community are white. It is also true that the challenges of both implementing this project and then adjusting to the new road design would be most immediately felt by the business owners whose businesses are located within the project footprint. Yet it is also frequently true that unwanted or even feared changes, once experienced, prove to be appealing and beneficial in unexpected ways.

We respect our city staff and traffic engineers who have studied this project and responded to concerns along the way. They have improved the design by increasing loading zone space and decreasing impacts to drivers by moving the bike lanes to the left side of traffic, instead of the right. They have consulted with and received support from emergency responders in our community. And they have compared vehicular traffic patterns to other streets in town to demonstrate that this new design would not create the delays or congestion that some opponents of this project fear. We trust their expert analysis and their process, which has built upon multiple studies and plans that have recommended projects like this one since the 2009 Downtown Master Plan.

Neighbors for More Neighbors WNC advocates for housing that is financially attainable and responsibly located. We also advocate for transportation investments that make our community more affordable and make denser patterns of development work best for all members of our community. And we do that advocacy as thoughtfully and respectfully as possible, trying to honor all the different lived experiences that will be impacted by the changes we promote. We seek to listen, understand, learn, and partner with individuals and groups who want Asheville and WNC to be the best they can be. It is from this place that we ask for your support of the College/Patton project in the hopes that it ultimately proves to be more beneficial to our community than harmful and in the hopes that all members of our community, from the most vulnerable to the most privileged, find themselves able to access and enjoy our city center as neighbors welcoming more neighbors.

Sincerely,

Susan Bean, Housing & Transportation Director for MountainTrue

Click here to take action in support of complete streets for Asheville

MT Raleigh Report — A State Budget. Finally.

After weeks away from Raleigh and countless promises about when a new state budget will be approved, lawmakers finally passed a new two-year budget last week.

Here’s our take on good and bad in the spending plan that has taken the legislature all summer and then some to send to Governor Cooper. For his part, the Governor opposed the budget but allowed it to become law without his signature in order to move forward on Medicaid expansion.

The Good.

The final budget includes new investments in state parks, farmland preservation, and land and water protection supported by the state’s land trusts and other conservation groups. Recurring funding for state trust funds for land and water conservation, as well as state parks, is now budgeted at a generous $28 million for each fund annually. Funding for farm preservation and trails also received substantial increases. The budget also provides $12 million over the next two years for the Saluda Grade Trail, a rails-to-trails project that includes 16 miles in WNC.

In especially good news for WNC water quality, the budget includes $2 million in funding to help farmers in the French Broad Watershed with fencing and other measures to keep livestock and their waste out of streams to reduce bacteria pollution across the watershed. This funding is a victory for MountainTrue, which has advocated for additional funding to reduce agricultural waste runoff in the French Broad for several years.

MountainTrue will also be the steward of another round of funding to develop and improve the French Broad River Paddle Trail thanks to renewed investments in the NC Trails Program, a unit of the NC State Parks system that designates and supports State Trails.

The Bad.

Tucked away in the final budget is policy language that essentially strips local governments of any authority to reduce or control food packaging waste – including plastic bags – at the local level. This end-run on local authority comes at a time when an increasing number of local governments in North Carolina – including Buncombe County – are considering ways to reduce single-use plastic and styrofoam from entering the waste stream. We can all thank (or blame) the well-funded NC Retail Merchants Association for this outdated approach to plastics reduction at a time when the public and many retailers are looking for more ways to cut down on plastic waste.

The environment is best protected when government and politicians are subject to robust public scrutiny, so we are also concerned with new rules in the budget that shield lawmakers from public records requests. But while shielding lawmakers from scrutiny, another concerning provision in the budget gives a General Assembly oversight committee new powers to investigate state and local governments, private companies, and charities, including the power to charge people who the committee feels aren’t cooperative with a crime. One of lawmakers’ key roles is to hold government agencies accountable, but we worry that these new powers may be used to intimidate individuals and agencies, not to improve their performance.

Less critical but also disappointing was the lack of funding for a variety of small but important conservation projects MountainTrue has supported along with local partners. These projects include funding to expand the new WNC Snorkel Trail to all WNC counties; complete the River Walk in Murphy; improve public access to the Watauga River Paddle Trail; develop a new public access point and riverwalk in Polk County; and improve Canton’s Chestnut Mountain Nature Park by expanding trails and improving a playground. We’re disappointed that these went unfunded, but we will be back in Raleigh next year to support them.

Your support of MountainTrue makes our advocacy in Raleigh possible. Thank you, and look for more information about the final days of the 2023 General Assembly in future updates.

ACTION: Tell NCDEQ to Deny the Draft Clear Creek Wastewater Permit & Stop Additional Pollution of Local Waterways

The NC Department of Environmental Quality is accepting comments on the Draft Permit for the Clear Creek Wastewater Treatment Project (NPDES Permit NCO090247). We invite you to join our opposition to this draft permit.

Strong wastewater infrastructure can effectively improve water quality, but unfortunately, the approach taken by Henderson County misses the mark. If DEQ issues this permit, it will result in construction of a new unnecessary wastewater treatment plant in a rural area of the county and a discharge into Clear Creek, which is already listed as impaired on the state’s 303(d) list of impaired streams. A new source of pollution is cause for concern, and issuing this permit would violate the Clean Water Act.

Additionally, there is a more environmentally sound and reasonably cost-effective treatment option available — connecting to the existing sewer system operated by the City of Hendersonville — and the County has not accounted for the costs of operating and maintaining a new wastewater treatment plant for years to come.

But any action on sewer expansion would be irresponsible without a strong plan to address future development. The county is still contemplating its 2045 Comprehensive Plan, which will guide the future for growth and development in the county, and appropriate land use protections need to be implemented before facilitating unchecked development.

We need you to tell NCDEQ to deny this permit. Take action below.

ACTION: Stop the NCGA from Stripping Local Governments of Authority to Fight Plastic Pollution

Breaking News: A draft conference report of the state budget released to the media includes language that would prohibit counties (§ 153A-145.11) and cities (§ 160A-205.6) from passing ordinances, resolutions, or rules that would restrict, tax, or charge a fee on auxiliary containers — the definition of which includes bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging.

Plastic pollution is a threat to our environment and to the health of North Carolina residents. Email your legislators and let them know that our right to protect ourselves from dangerous pollutants is too important to be traded away to fossil fuel and retail industry lobbyists in backroom deals.

Language in NC Budget Would Strip Local Governments’ Ability to Pass Plastic Bag Bans and Other Waste Reduction Efforts to Protect Environment, Public Health, Landfills and Recycling Centers

Media Contacts:

Karim Olaechea, Deputy Director of Strategy & Communications at MountainTrue
(828) 400-0768, karim@mountaintrue.org

Katie Craig, State Director at NCPIRG
kcraig@ncpirg.org

Ken Brame, President of the Sierra Club’s Western North Carolina Group
(828) 423-8045,kenbrame10@gmail.com

Michelle B. Nowlin, Co-Director at Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic
(919) 613-8502, nowlin@law.duke.edu

For Immediate Release

Raleigh, September 19 — A draft conference report of the state budget released to the media includes language that would prohibit counties (§ 153A-145.11) and cities (§ 160A-205.6) from passing ordinances, resolutions, or rules that would restrict, tax, or charge a fee on auxiliary containers — the definition of which includes bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging.

This language would preempt local control and undermine existing provisions of the NC Solid Waste Management Act that give counties and cities the authority to ban single-use plastic bags and other forms of packaging and the use of plastic foam (e.g., styrofoam) in foodware. The inclusion of the preemption in the budget comes as both Asheville and Durham are considering ordinances to reduce plastic pollution, and the towns of Woodfin and Black Mountain have passed resolutions in support of a Buncombe County-wide ordinance. In 2021, Wilmington also passed a resolution encouraging the reduction of plastic waste.

Efforts to reduce plastic waste are popular among citizens and businesses. A survey from the City of Asheville received nearly 7,000 resident responses and showed support at 80%. Among 57 businesses surveyed in the Asheville area, there was widespread support for a waste reduction ordinance banning single-use plastic bags, plastic takeout containers, and styrofoam products.

The following are statements from representatives of organizations working to reduce plastic pollution:

Hartwell Carson, French Broad Riverkeeper (a program of MountainTrue):
“Plastic pollution is a threat to our environment and the health of North Carolina residents. Our right to protect ourselves from dangerous pollutants is too important to be traded away to fossil fuel and retail industry lobbyists in backroom deals. We urge our elected officials to remove any such language and pass a clean budget.”

Sarah Ogletree, Director of the Creation Care Alliance of WNC (a program of MountainTrue):
“This ban is about loving our neighbors—protecting the air and water we all need to survive and thrive. The General Assembly should not prevent us from living our faith by caring for God’s creation.”

Katie Craig, State Director of the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group:
“Plastic waste threatens our health, environment, and communities. Our cities and counties often bear the impacts of our plastic waste problem, from managing recycling and landfill facilities to cleaning up litter in our parks and waterways. So, they should have a say in how their communities address the problem too. By preempting local authority to regulate single-use plastic bags, this provision threatens to undermine the ability of cities and counties in North Carolina to take meaningful steps towards sustainability, environmental protection, and the wishes of their own communities.”

Ken Brame, President of the Sierra Club’s Western North Carolina Group:
“At a time when we are seeing record heat waves and flooding due to Climate Change, why would the NC General Assembly prevent local governments from reducing carbon-intensive plastic bags? Microplastics from plastic bags are being ingested and are becoming a health risk. The General Assembly should care more about the health of its citizens than the profits of the plastic industry.”

Susannah Knox, Senior Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center:
“This is a short-sighted attempt to take control from local governments trying to serve their communities by protecting public health and cleaning up their streets and creeks. Citizens and businesses across the state have expressed overwhelming support for reducing plastic pollution, and politicians in the General Assembly should not stand in their way.”

If you or your organization, club, or business would like to voice their support for a Plastic-Free WNC, please contact karim@mountaintrue.org.

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MountainTrue’s September 2023 E-Newsletter

MountainTrue’s

September 2023 E-Newsletter

September news from MountainTrue’s four regional offices:

Central Region News

Click here to read

High Country News

Click here to read

Southern Region News

Click here to read

Western Region News

Click here to read

Central Region News

A note from Karim Olaechea, Deputy Director of Strategy & Communications:

It’s almost time for one of our favorite events of the year, the MountainTrue Annual Member Gathering. We love celebrating the accomplishments of our dedicated members and volunteers and welcoming new faces into our community of nature lovers and eco-warriors.

Comradery is essential to building and sustaining a vibrant movement for a better future, and so is having a bit of fun. This year, we’re turning up the dial on the fun by moving the gathering to the weekend so more of you can come. We’ve also added more activities, including a special MountainTrue Jeopardy game in which players representing our different regions will test their knowledge of environmental trivia for glory, a new MountainTrue hellbender hat, and the right to determine which of our programs will receive a bag full of donations.

It should be a great evening of laughter, joy, and inspiration. I hope to see you there.

Join us as we celebrate another year of working together

MountainTrue’s Annual Member gathering will be on Saturday, October 14, at Devil’s Foot Beverage Company in Asheville, NC. Current members will enjoy celebration, snacks, and watching our first live MountainTrue Jeopardy! Come early to get fired up and learn how you can do your part to stop plastic pollution from local organizers. We’ll also take time to congratulate and recognize our outstanding Regional Volunteer of the Year Award winners: Marta Toran (High Country Region), Michael Cheng (Southern Region), Jonathan Micancin (Western Region), Elizabeth Porter (Central Region), as well as this year’s Esther Cunningham Award winner: Jane Laping.

RSVP here. Not sure if your membership is current? Check here or email members@mountaintrue.org. We hope to see you there!

Plastic-Free WNC: it’s time to take action!

Join MountainTrue, the WNC Group of the Sierra Club, the N.C. Public Interest Research Group, and the Creation Care Alliance for a rally to call on Buncombe County Commissioners to take action to protect the public and the environment from plastic pollution! The rally will begin at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, and will feature a very exclusive appearance by our very own French Broad Mermaid, rousing remarks, and a prayer vigil led by Creation Care Alliance Director Sarah Ogletree. Wear blue to show that you support a Plastic-Free WNC!

Can’t make it to the rally? Email Buncombe County Commissioners and ask them to take action to reduce plastic pollution.

On Monday, September 11, Black Mountain Town Commissioners unanimously (with one absence) approved a resolution calling on Buncombe County to pass an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic shopping bags at the checkout aisle and styrofoam takeout containers. With the passage of this resolution, Black Mountain has become the second municipality within Buncombe County to call on County Commissioners to fulfill their obligation under the North Carolina Solid Waste Management Act to reduce plastic pollution. The Town of Woodfin passed a similar resolution by a vote of 5-1 on August 15, 2023. Now it’s time for Buncombe County to fulfill its obligation under the NC Solid Waste Management Act to pass a common-sense law to reduce plastic pollution.

Hear your French Broad Riverkeeper speak at Malaprop’s Bookstore

MountainTrue is proud to co-sponsor Keeping the Chattahoochee: Sally Bethea in conversation with Hartwell Carson at Malaprop’s in downtown Asheville at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 21. Sally Bethea — one of the first women in America to become a riverkeeper — will chat with Hartwell Carson about their experiences as riverkeepers and their passion for protecting the Chattahoochee and French Broad rivers. Bethea will also be signing hardcover copies of her book, Keeping the Chattahoochee: Reviving and Defending a Great Southern River. This is a hybrid event with limited in-store seating and the option to attend online. The event is free but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance — click here to learn more and register.

Thank you, 2023 Swim Guide sponsors

Another Swim Guide season is in the books, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of our sponsors and volunteers. Thank you to Pink Mercury and Pirani for sponsoring French Broad Riverkeeper sampling sites along the French Broad River!

Cheers to our members

We can’t do our work without YOU. To show our appreciation, one lucky winner will receive a REI Co-op camping mug, bandana, AND a $50 gift card to Asheville Bicycle Club — the drawing will be held at our Annual Gathering on Saturday, October 14. You must be a current member to be eligible but you don’t need to be present to win. Renew your membership today!

MountainTrue joins legal filing to protect communities from industrial pollution

Last month, MountainTrue joined Cape Fear River Watch and the Yadkin Riverkeeper, represented by Southern Environmental Law Center, in a petition to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission for a ruling requiring the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to consistently apply the law to protect all communities from industrial water pollution. The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants without a permit. Those permits must include technology-based limits, which are based on the strategy that as technology improves, industrial facilities can further reduce or eliminate their pollution. Unfortunately, DEQ bypasses the technology-based requirement in the majority of permits it issues for industries that discharge pollution directly into local waterways. The petition asks the commission to require DEQ to evaluate existing pollution-control technologies for all industrial facilities and impose limits based on those technologies in permits moving forward. Click here to learn more. Read the full petition here.

Photo: An aerial view of the French Broad River flowing through Asheville, NC. Photo by Jack Henderson.

Flying high with SouthWings

Jack Henderson, MountainTrue’s French Broad Paddle Trail Manager, recently flew with SouthWings volunteer pilot, Hap Endler, to document the French Broad River between Asheville and Hot Springs. The purpose of this flight was to update our catalog of photos of the river corridor, including current and new developments and industrial sites, but also to capture imagery for our new French Broad Paddle Trail website, set to be released within the next month. We are super grateful to SouthWings, which is a non-profit that connects conservation partners with a network of volunteer pilots to advocate for the restoration and protection of the ecosystems of the Southeast through flight, and all they do to support our work.

Understanding the role of the Riverkeeper

Transylvania Times readers: look out for MountainTrue’s monthly column in the paper’s outdoors section! Our August column, Understanding the role of the Riverkeeper, was written by French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson to highlight important riverkeeper history and what’s being done to clean up and protect the beloved French Broad River. Read Hartwell’s August column here. Want to learn more about MountainTrue’s ongoing conservation efforts on the French Broad? Click here to read our July column, Celebrating and Stewarding the French Broad River Paddle Trail, written by French Broad Paddle Trail Manager Jack Henderson.

Public meeting: Pisgah View State Park

The public information meeting for the Pisgah View State Park (PVSP) master plan is scheduled from 4-7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26 at the Upper Hominy Fire Station on Highway 151 in Candler (1795 Pisgah Highway Candler, NC 28715). The Friends of Pisgah View State Park invites you join them at the public meeting to advocate for future PVSP users. If you’re unable to attend the meeting but want to get involved, click here to take the online survey.

High Country News

A note from Hannah Woodburn, High Country Watershed Outreach Coordinator:

The colors are already emerging among several tree species around the High Country, showing surefire signs of fall! Emma and I are so excited to welcome Watauga Riverkeeper and High Country Regional Director Andy Hill back from a renewing and adventurous sabbatical in October.

September has brought exciting news for one of our favorite salamander species, the Eastern Hellbender! In 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) denied hellbenders federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Last week, a federal judge found FWS’ decision to be unlawful, proclaiming it to be a significant flaw in the agency’s decision-making. This new development means that the Eastern Hellbender is back on track to receive more formal and specialized protections to keep these ancient creatures around for many decades to come!

It’s the dedicated efforts of people like you that make a real difference, and it’s almost time to celebrate all of you at one of our favorite events of the year! The MountainTrue Annual Member Gathering is an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our dedicated members and volunteers while welcoming new supporters, nature lovers, and advocates. This year, we’ll host an interactive Jeopardy Game to test your knowledge of environmental trivia — read on for more event info and to RSVP.

Be sure to renew your membership for the year if you haven’t already. I’d love to see you there! Thank you for being MountainTrue.

Join us as we celebrate another year of working together

RSVP here. Not sure if your membership is current? Check here or email members@mountaintrue.org. We hope to see you there!

Calling all Jeopardy enthusiasts!

YOU could be chosen to represent your region in our very first game of MountainTrue Jeopardy at the Annual Gathering on October 14 in Asheville, NC. Want to play? Click here to sign up. One contestant from each of MountainTrue’s four regions will be selected by the end of September. You must be a current MountainTrue member and attend the event in person to play.

URGENT ACTION ALERT: stop the NCGA from stripping local governments of authority to take action on plastic pollution!

Breaking News: A draft conference report of the state budget released to the media includes language that would prohibit counties (§ 153A-145.11) and cities (§ 160A-205.6) from passing ordinances, resolutions, or rules that would restrict, tax, or charge a fee on auxiliary containers — the definition of which includes bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging. This language would preempt local control and undermine existing provisions of the NC Solid Waste Management Act that give counties and cities the authority to ban single-use plastic bags and other forms of packaging and the use of plastic foam (e.g., styrofoam) in foodware.

Photo: MountainTrue volunteer and Lees-McRae College professor Anna Bigler poses for a photo with an Eastern Hellbender during a recent hellbender survey.

Celebrating volunteers as the sun sets on Swim Guide ‘23

All good things must come to an end; in the blink of an eye, summer 2023 and our annual Swim Guide sampling season have come to a close. We want to thank each and every one of you for supporting the Watauga Riverkeeper Swim Guide program this season. All of the data we collect helps us make better-informed decisions on behalf of our watershed. Please join us for our Volunteer Volunteer Appreciation Cookout, happening from 6-8:30 p.m. tomorrow, September 21. We love celebrating the end of summer and the work that you all do with our water quality programs! RSVP here.