Bearing Up To Lowes, And Beyond B.E.A.R.E. Group Forms In Banner Elk For Responsible Expansion By Miles Tager By now virtually everyone in the town and surrounding environs of Banner Elk has formed some idea of the proposed Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse that is planned to go up along Highway 184. Many of the residents who oppose the project have formed a new organization with a second mission; to address what they see as the lack of due process and reasonable controls that made it feasible in the first place. “We would like to see the tightening of some ordinances so that something like this might not pass through so easily next time,” according to Dot Griffith, one of the organizers of area residents against the proposed Lowes and a founding member of B.E.A.R.E; Banner Elk Advocates for Responsible Expansion. B.E.A.R.E is pushing “for greater communication,” Griffith said, and has recommended to the Town of Banner Elk an extended time for review of major building projects like the proposed Lowes, a 109,000 square foot store with an added garden center of 24,000 square feet and parking for 400 vehicles. The proposed Phase II of the shopping center could put in a grocery store and other retail outlets and parking for an additional 230 vehicles on the approximately 50 acres next to the Great Train Robbery. That building, the old glove factory, is now the largest structure inside the town limits and Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) at 34,000 square feet. The purpose of an extended public review process would be to “provide time for Town Council, Planning Review Board, Board of Adjustment, and most importantly the citizens of Banner Elk and surrounding areas to adequately assess the potential of new construction in the town and/or ETJ,” according to the B.E.A.R.E proposal. As the development came to light and was subsequently approved within just weeks, citizens had complained that “the only notice (of the coming development) was a little flyer in the Post Office and Town Hall,” Griffith said. The B.E.A.R.E group “is just in the beginning stages,” Griffith said; now registered in Avery County and applying for its 501-C-3 tax-exempt, non-profit status. Currently operating under the umbrella status of the WNC Alliance in Asheville, “we are in this for the long term,” Griffith said. The group opposes the Lowes project for its out-of scale size, its impact on numerous local businesses, many that were unaware of its coming until shortly before its approval, the environmental impact on the Elk River Watershed, traffic impact (citing a Lowe’s estimate of 1,000 vehicles per day) “destruction of our small town mountain heritage, and precedent set for other Big Box stores to come in.” Already one property owner across the road from the proposed development has requested and been granted annexation into the town “to capitalize on future developments,” Griffith said. The group has written a letter to Lowes CEO Mr. Tillman, written by Griffith “as a Lowe’s shareholder and member of B.E.A.R.E,” inviting him to come to Banner Elk at the group’s expense to personally view the project, the site, and why some citizens have opposed it. Currently the Banner Elk Board of Adjustment has approved the development, granting developers Collett & Associated of Charlotte a Conditional Use Permit, but Lowes has yet to gain its state and federal permits required from a variety of agencies. The Town of Banner Elk is awaiting a final (non finding-of-fact) agreement between the company and some adjacent landowners regarding additional buffering of the site; “everything else is worked out,” according to Banner Elk Town Manager Bill Cook. B.E,A.R.E can be reached at 828-387-6000 or e-mail bannerelkfirst@yahoo.com.