We recently came across the letter to the editor from Wayne Miller published in the High Country Press – Blowing Rock on August 15, 2024, and we would like to take this opportunity to address the insinuations in the letter regarding the Blowing Rock Civic Association (BRCA). BRCA is a North Carolina non-profit corporation formed in 2015. It has a 26 member Board of Trustees and a 7 member Executive Committee. It has several hundred individual members, nearly all of whom are Blowing Rock homeowners. They reside throughout the Blowing Rock community. A number of our members, including our Board and Executive Committee members, from time to time serve in leadership roles in Blowing Rock government, churches, charitable organizations, homeowners’ associations, arts organizations, clubs and business and professional organizations. This is because they have the skill sets, the experience, the interest and, in many cases, the time as retirees to take on these roles. It does not follow that the roles that these individuals have in other organizations mean that BRCA is in control of these other organizations. In particular, BRCA did not found, nor has it funded or engaged in decision-making for the LLC referred to in Wayne Miller’s letter. BRCA also does not direct or control the actions of individuals serving on the Planning Board. To suggest that Planning Board members, or Town Council members, should sign off on Town staff proposals without asking questions, particularly when questions and concerns are being raised emphatically by citizens, is entirely inappropriate. BRCA’s Executive Committee, a majority of whose members do not live in the Green Hill neighborhood, did make a statement about the Green Hill rezoning proposal at the Town Council’s public hearing on July 23. We supported the approach taken by the Planning Board which recommended that the Town conduct a study to explore the viability of and potential alternatives to the current proposal for locating Town telecommunications equipment. This ultimately became the approach of the Town Council following its deliberations and we were pleased with their decision. We hope the Town will promptly engage an independent consultant to conduct the study and publicly share the information they provide. We would like to see the Council make a data-driven decision that promotes public safety, but also seeks to mitigate any disproportionate burden that its decision would place on Town neighborhoods, whether that be Green Hill or elsewhere.
Written by: Jean Kitchin, BRCA Chair, on behalf of BRCA’s Executive Committee