For three years, residents of Richmond Hill and Woodfin have been raising concerns about the Bluffs megadevelopment that proposes hundreds of luxury condos be jammed between Asheville’s largest wooded park and the French Broad River. If you have never visited this neighborhood and are about to utter the word NIMBY, I encourage you to take a trip up Richmond Hill Drive to view a poorly maintained, narrow road with on-street parking, no sidewalks and only one ingress/egress point to the proposed mountain village.
Traffic studies have verified our safety concerns and, in 2022, the Buncombe County fire marshal indicated that a secondary fire access road that wouldn’t dump all traffic onto Richmond Hill Drive should be required. (For comparison, the contentious Haw Creek proposal is a fraction of the size with better access.)
And yet, The Bluffs of Woodfin development team continues to push for an oversized project, while Asheville City Council has chosen not to protect taxpayers who have contributed mightily to this city for decades. Citizens have very reasonably asked, “What will happen in the case of a fire or emergency requiring the National Guard when the road is blocked by jackknifed trucks or other large obstacles surely to come with years of heavy construction equipment moving in and out of the one and only road to our homes? Who will take responsibility if a child is killed?”
We have raised these issues not only to safeguard current residents but also with concern for potential future neighbors. For three years, locals have shared pictures and stories of jackknifed trucks with local media outlets, and we continue to reach out to elected officials of Asheville, Woodfin and Buncombe County.
In all this time, I have not heard one decent human publicly advocate for the Bluffs, but the silent complicity of many indecent humans is deafening. Many longtime residents continue to suggest that the best use for an intact, ecologically sensitive forest next to such a valuable community asset as Richmond Hill Park would be that it remain a forest. Local conservationists even stepped up to offer millions of dollars to purchase the proposed Bluffs site to hold in trust for the benefit of all current and future residents.
I write again today because on May 8, a tree fell across Richmond Hill Drive, blocking the only access point to more than 100 homes, caregiving facilities and Richmond Hill Park for roughly eight hours. Parents and essential workers were unable to get to and from work, school or medical appointments. National Guard vehicles were stuck for six hours. We are fortunate that, on this occasion, there was no house fire, water line break or need for police. We might not be so lucky next time.
— Robert McGee
Asheville
