Planning board's vote on Marshall vacation cabin rental facility postponed
MARS HILL - Due to snowy conditions, the Madison County Planning Board's Jan. 18 vote on a proposed Marshall vacation cabin rental facility has once again been postponed.
The board will meet Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Madison County Public Library's Marshall location.
"We made the decision (Jan. 17) about noon," County Planning and Zoning Director Terrey Dolan said. "If you're trying to guess the weather (it isn't going to work out). I've got (board members) spread out all the way to Spring Creek and Hot Springs. I'm up near Wolf Laurel. I was under 10 inches of snow."
Dolan said he received counsel from John Noor - an Asheville-based land use attorney under contract with the county - on the postponement of board meetings.
"It was technically canceled, because in order to postpone something, a majority of the board members would have had to have appeared, and we would have had to have a vote of the members at the meeting location (Mars Hill library)," Dolan said. "If I had five members there, I would have had the meeting. So, we canceled it. We're going to a bigger location. It's going to be at the Marshall library and not the Mars Hill library, because I don't know how many people are going to show up."
This marks the second time the vote has been delayed. The planning board's Dec. 14 meeting was used instead to hold a training session on changes instituted in Chapter 160D of the state's General Assembly.
According to Dolan, the applicant and the property owners mutually agreed to delay that meeting the morning of Dec. 14.
The proposed cabin rental facility's location is 108 Howell Road in Marshall.
Joanna Cahill is the developer for the project, which proposes 18 units on 52 acres of land. Cahill said she wished to draw a distinction between her proposed project and the Grandview Road glamour camping proposal, which resulted in the developer pulling out of the Alexander project.
"This is not a campground or camping/glamping facility - we are not a music venue," Cahill said. "We are just building residential vacation rentals that follow the code for residential structures and the zoning requirements for RA (Residential-Agricultural) zoning. We are also low density whereas the Grandview project was extremely high density and made up of temporary tents. Residential vacation rentals are a permitted use under RA zoning so we are not asking for any exceptions outside of the county’s own zoning."
Cahill is the owner of Asheville Glamping, a glamour camping vacation facility offering Geodesic domes, a tree house, bell tents and more.
Revising/redrafting county land use ordinance
The county's new Development Services Director Brad Guth was introduced in the newly formed role Jan. 18.
According to Guth, the role will include planning and zoning, GIS and inspections in addition to economic development.
One of Guth's main priorities will be forming the county's comprehensive plan, which was last updated in 2010. However, since the development services director's "umbrella role" includes planning and zoning, it's possible that Guth, who is now Dolan's boss, will help oversee the land use ordinance revision too, Dolan said.
"We have to get it freshened up," Dolan said. "It's 11 years old. To keep your zoning compliant, to be able to enforce your zoning, you need to have a defined land use ordinance"
The Feb. 16 planning board meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Marshall library, located at 1335 N Main St.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Vote on Marshall vacation cabin rental facility postponed to Feb. 16
