Hot Springs candidates weigh in on Robert E. Lee plaque, tourism, other issues

HOT SPRINGS - According to the most recent census in 2021, the town of Hot Springs' population was 521.

Roughly 10% of that population gathered at the community center downtown to hear the five town board candidates ‒ Vaughn Barnett, Jeanne Gentry, Daniel Myers, Robin Smith and Wendy Stancil ‒ participate in a forum Oct. 24.

Norris Gentry moderated the forum, which featured questions submitted by residents.

Cheryl Williams serves as board director of Asheville-Buncombe League of Women Voters. Williams, a Madison County resident, was asked by Mayor Abby Norton to help oversee the forum.

Williams told The News-Record the Madison chapter of the League of Women Voters, which was recently disbanded, would often host forums in each of the three towns.

"Hot Springs has always been wonderful, whenever we had an event here," Williams said. "And whenever I've gone to town meetings there, there are lots of people there. They're very civic-minded. This was a great turnout."

The candidates addressed a number of topics, including what they felt were the three most important issues facing the town, their thoughts on the proposed Robert E. Lee Dixie Highway marker plaque replacement, vacation rental properties and other tourism concerns.

Three most important issues

Candidates were asked what they felt were the three most important issues to be addressed in their two-year terms, as well as what they would rank as the most urgent of the town's needs right now and what could be done to fix that issue.

Specifically, the question of whether the candidates would prioritize tourism or residential needs.

Gentry listed small businesses coming to town, parking access downtown ‒ which was a frequently discussed topic during the forum ‒ as well as water and sewer system, which she listed as the most important issue.

"As far as tourism versus residential, obviously, tourism is here," Gentry said. "That's what Hot Springs is. But we're also concerned about residents, and the fact that we do not have a lot of housing or new folks that want to move here. But our residents are really our most important thing, versus tourism. Tourism keeps people working, though, so it's an equal balance."

Barnett listed the water and sewer system as well as new businesses "to keep people working," as his most important issues.

Stancil identified the town's infrastructure, affordable housing and parking as the three most pressing issues facing the town.

Stancil cited a statistic from the Constructional Professionals Network Institute, a nonprofit initiative focusing on construction industry-related projects and community service throughout North Carolina, after the organization performed a two-day community workshop in the town and gained feedback from residents and business owners.

"One of the statistics that they compiled was that 58% of our economy is generated by Airbnbs," Stancil said. "So, to a degree, we can't let that go, in a sense. But at the same time, could we limit it to people who live here, and have a limited number of permits where the people that live here get the precedent for those permits. Then, if there's anything left after that ... there's a limit."

Along those lines, Stancil said she prioritized residential over tourism.

"I think that affordable housing is a big, big thing," Stancil said.

Myers pinpointed the town's infrastructure, economic health and parking as his three most important areas of concern, with infrastructure ranking at the top of the list.

"The tourism or residential question, to my mind, if you don't have the residential infrastructure to support the tourism, then the tourism does no good," Myers said. "If you don't have people who live here and work here, and then work in the tourism industry, then it doesn't matter. So, residential should definitely come first before tourism."

Smith said the tourism vs. residential issue is the main issue facing the town.

Short-term rentals

Candidates were also asked for their thoughts on vacation rentals, and how they felt about limiting rental access, as well as how they would go about that restriction.

Smith said she feels vacation rentals need to be limited in Hot Springs.

"As is well known, there is no rental property here, for residents," Smith said. "Maybe, the busiest time of the year could be Airbnbs, and then the slower times of year could be local rental."

Myers recommended the idea of putting a cap on vacation rental properties, because "vacation rental is a business operated within our infrastructure."

Myers and Stancil recommended exploring the potential of drafting an ordinance to limit vacation rentals, or the possibility of tweaking lodging taxes at the vacation rentals, which would be paid by the businesses.

"The changing of the occupancy tax, so that some places that are sneaking under that can't sneak under it any more, would be awesome," Myers said. "That would be money that then that industry would give directly to us, instead of the county or the state."

Stancil floated the idea of a 1% tax, which would be paid by the vacationers.

"Our lodging tax goes to the county but we have the most lodging in the county and see the least of that money, compared to Marshall and Mars Hill," Stancil said. "So, if we added a 1% tax that got passed onto the tourists, not the landowners, and it comes back to Hot Springs specifically. I, too, don't know how you make that happen or if that is a thing that could happen, but that was my idea."

Following Stancil, Barnett said he'd also be in favor of a "tourist tax."

"A lot of motels do that," Barnett said. "Then, the city gets it or the county gets it."

Gentry reiterated that there are many restrictions imposed by the state on vacation rentals.

"We have been working for the last several months with zoning about what can be done about some of the Airbnbs," Gentry said. "Taxes was one of them. That state has to approve taxes. Any time you want to add a tax, the state has to approve that. Anyhow, it obviously is an issue, because like I said earlier, there are a lot of Airbnbs here, and there's not a lot of places for new folks to come in.

"But, at the same time, do we tell people what they can or can't do with their own property? So, there are restrictions and permitting we can do. There's a lot of vague areas within these rules that the state imposes. The Airbnb rules are brand new. So, we're still learning them. So that's kind of where we're at with Airbnbs and vacation rentals."

More: Hot Springs Town Board candidates speak on most important issues ahead of election

More: Hot Springs forms 'citizens committee' in hopes to address tourism, growth concerns

More: Hot Springs residents have tourism concerns, want sustainable growth, report reveals

Robert E. Lee plaque replacement

In what might be one of the most divisive issues facing the town, the five candidates discussed the potential to replace the Robert E. Lee Dixie Highway marker located at 311 U.S. 25/70, behind Spring Creek Tavern, and to what degree they supported the replacement.

In the town board's October meeting, a Newport, Tennessee-based Sons of Confederate Veterans group said it would fund half the cost of a replacement plaque.

Earlier this year, former Mayor Sydney Harrison offered an "alternative solution," in which the town could install a separate plaque honoring the first Cherokee settlers of the land, as well as William Nelson, a Scotsman who bought the property surrounding what is now the Hot Springs Resort and Spa for “two hundred pounds in Virginia currency” and began catering to the visitors, according to the town of Hot Springs website.

Incumbent board members Gentry and Barnett said the first issue in the replacement process would be to determine who owns the land on which the monument sits.

"Everybody knows it's a very controversial subject," Gentry said. "I'm not going to say whether I support it or not, because no matter what the town board decides to do, certain folks are not going to be happy. For me, until we can figure out who owns that property, and the legalities involved, that's kind of where I stand."

"Like she said, we don't really know who owns that little strip," Barnett said. "The state said they don't own it. We don't know who owns it."

Stancil said she feels the town residents should decide the fate of a potential plaque replacement, as she suggested the issue should be put to a vote.

"It's too charged of an issue," Stancil said. "There's no way you can make everyone happy on that subject. Because it is so charged, I think it would be really great to let y'all decide."

Myers said he agreed with Stancil about a vote, but said he was in favor of replacing the plaque with another Robert E. Lee Dixie Highway marker, and then voting to have that plaque replaced in the future.

"I agree with that vote thing," Myers said. "You talk to people, and it's like a 50-50, one way or the other. Yes, there are options for new different monuments, and there are options for that same monument.

"The thing that keeps occurring to me is that somewhere out there, somebody thinks that they can steal a sign and force us to change what was there. So, I get that people would rather have something other than Robert E. Lee. But me personally, I'd like to put a replica of the original one back, and then we can vote to have it replaced with something else, and if we want to make it something else, fine. But just allowing someone to commit a crime that then forces us to change a historical feature is just wrong."

Smith said "When you change history, it doesn't change anything."

"It doesn't change anything just because you changed it," Smith said. "It happened. He was a part of our history, and everyone needs to remember that. Removing a monument whether here, or anywhere, is not going to change. History will only repeat itself. Hopefully, that history will never repeat itself."

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Hot Springs candidates weigh in on Robert E. Lee plaque, other issues