Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:

Question: Is it true that Publix plans to build a new store on New Leicester Highway? Or is that just a rumor and wishful thinking? It would be great if that was true. Also, Publix has had a sign up in Mills River that a store is coming there near the Amazon building. When will that be built?

My answer: Wishful thinking? Not at all. Now hoping for a second Trader Joe’s somewhere in the greater Asheville area? That’s crazy talk, which is one step beyond wishful thinking!

Real answer: The property in question is about 10 acres at 14 Hitching Post Lane, which has considerable frontage on New Leicester Highway. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners addressed the site at its Jan. 21 meeting.

“The Board of Commissioners recently approved a rezoning request for this property, but we are unsure if it will eventually house a Publix,” Buncombe County Planning Director Nathan Pennington said via email. “Developers/grocers/retailers typically keep these matters guarded until they are ready to announce.”

That is certainly the truth.

“We are always looking to bring the Publix experience to new areas across North Carolina, however, we do not have any plans to share for a new store at that location,” Publix Super Markets spokesperson Jared Glover told me via email. “As for Mills River, we do not have any update to share other than we are still moving forward with the project.”

I will note that the applicant for the Leicester rezoning request was Florida-based Equity

Development Group LLC, which has been involved in past Publix developments, according to a quick Google search. I reached out to the company contact listed on Buncombe County planning documents but didn’t hear back by deadline.

The commissioners agreed to rezone the Hitching Post Lane property from R-2 residential to Commercial Service. The Commercial Service designation allows an array of uses, including “commercial planned unit developments, veterinary clinics, banks, cargo and freight terminals, commercial greenhouses, hotels and motels, kennels, manufacturing operations, medical clinics, vehicle impoundment, repair, and sales lots, gas stations, fitness centers, business offices, restaurants, retail, business schools, warehousing and mini-storage, vacation rental complexes, and more,” according to the planning documents.

The planning documents also note that the commercial service district is “primarily intended

to provide suitable locations for clustered commercial development to encourage the concentration of commercial activity in those specified areas with access to major traffic arteries, to discourage strip commercial development, and to allow for suitable noncommercial land uses.”

Headquartered in Lakeland, Florida, Publix has 1,390 stores nationwide and 55 in North Carolina, including ones in south Asheville, Weaverville, Waynesville and Hendersonville, according to the company website.

All in all, I’d say the wishful thinking looks fairly positive, but stay tuned.

Question: Both our previous and current trash collectors use containers that look identical and are made out of the same type of plastic. The containers are used to pick up both garbage and recyclables. From previous articles I’ve read, only number one and number two plastics have the highest level of recyclability. What number of plastic are these containers, and are they recyclable?

My answer: I’d say to just toss them in the recycling bin, but they are the recycling bin.

Real answer: So this really comes down to whether the local recycling handler, Curbside Management in Woodfin, can handle them. And company President Abe Lawson has good news on that front.

“Curbie can and does recycle them,” Lawson said via email. “The rolling recycling bins/carts are made of #2 HDPE plastic, however, they are not the same grade as the #2 HDPE bottles that would typically be put into the recycling bins.”

As you can imagine, the bins’ large size poses some problems.

“Due to their overall size, thickness and chemical properties — a result of the manufacturing process — these bins have to be treated differently and go to different end users with the proper equipment,” Lawson said. “We receive these cans regularly — daily to weekly — from various municipalities, haulers, and through collecting our own worn-out cans.”

The metals on the cans have to be removed, “but then they are all baled and recycled,” Lawson added.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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