*Release from Concerned Citizens of Blowing Rock LLC
Concerned Citizens of Blowing Rock, LLC, will not appeal a ruling by Watauga Superior Court Judge Marvin Pope that denied them a hearing on a permit issued by the Town of Blowing Rock for the Mountainleaf development.
The Mountainleaf development proposed by the Catellus Group of Charlotte for a 7.3 acres property on Main Street next to Chetola Resort includes a 112 room hotel, 250 seat conference center, and twenty, primarily one bedroom condominiums, over 26,000 square feet of retail space.
The development was approved by a split council vote over the strenuous objections of a number of Blowing Rock community leaders and citizens. Concerned Citizens of Blowing Rock, LLC, issued the following statement:
“After extensive consideration we have very reluctantly decided not to appeal what we consider to be a singularly unjust and incorrect decision by Judge Marvin Pope that prevented a legal review of serious Blowing Rock Town errors in their approval of the Mountainleaf development. Our attorneys and the appellate specialists of two Charlotte law firms advised us that Judge Pope’s decision contains significant errors that could result in his decision being overturned by the State Court of Appeals.
We have, however, discovered that our litigation has inadvertently placed a cloud over the ability of others to obtain financing and the participation of national companies in other Blowing Rock developments. We certainly do not want to stop good developments for our community by a lengthy extension of litigation. We continue to have grave concerns about Mountainleaf and we call on our Town government to assure that the developer adheres closely to all prudent requirements for the development. We also call on the town to scrupulously follow the prescribed requirements for all future proposed developments.
Our continuing concerns are:
- The possibility of serious wrecks and traffic jams due to exceptionally high traffic generated by the development on Main and Hill Streets. No traffic study has been done for this development by the developer or the Town.
- Safety problems due to fires. No study has been done by the developer or the Town on fire safety for this development.
- The negative impact on nearby residential property values. No study has been done by the developer or the Town on this issue.
- Potentially negative impact on the character of downtown and the viability of downtown businesses. No study has been done by the developer or the Town on these important considerations.
- Inadequate parking. No study was done by the developer or the Town on this critically important matter though the developer was enabled to eliminate thirteen required parking spaces.
- Extraordinary runoff that could flood Main Street. A more detailed study would be useful on this very important issue.
- The presence of a 55’ high building in the project that can set a bad precedent for the “Village Character” of Blowing Rock.
We will continue to actively monitor this development and others and to work cooperatively with the Town of Blowing Rock to protect and foster our uniquely enjoyable community.”