Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:
Question: After Ashville Watchdogbroke the news Tuesday about Costco submitting plans to the city of Asheville for a store in the Enka Commerce Park, several of you good readers raised questions about traffic concerns on nearby roads. In the “full disclosure” department, I also wondered about something regarding this development: Wasn’t the Enka Commerce Park supposed to be an industrial park? Didn’t it get a bunch of taxpayer dollars on that basis? So I’ll take a look at that, too.
My answer: Folks, this is Costco. I’m pretty sure most Asheville residents would spend a few days stuck on local roadways for the privilege of getting stuck in the traffic inside a Costco.
Real answer: First of all, it’s important to note that we’re very early in the development process, as the plans that were submitted went to the city’s Technical Review Committee first, and that body reviewed them Wednesday.
As I noted in The Watchdog’s story, the project “would require a conditional zoning since it is over 100,000 square feet,” according to Will Palmquist, principal planner with the city. “After the project is reviewed by the TRC, it would be reviewed by the Planning & Zoning Commission, and their recommendation would be forwarded to City Council for the final decision.”
So this project has a lot of hoops to jump through.
Christopher D. Medlin, district engineer with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Asheville office, also noted that we’re early on in the development process.
“Currently, NCDOT has not received a site plan or traffic impact analysis from Costco,” Medlin told me via email. “Any development with a proposed site access to an NCDOT roadway must submit a driveway permit for site access.”
Medlin noted that depending on the development’s size, a traffic impact analysis may be required, too.
“The traffic impact analysis studies the need for roadway improvements to mitigate development site traffic,” Medlin said. “NCDOT’s TIA trip threshold is 3,000 daily trips. Many municipalities have more stringent trip thresholds, which can trigger the development to perform a traffic impact analysis for traffic impacts below NCDOT’s threshold.”
The proposed Costco would be built near the historic Enka Clock Tower and a large warehouse spec building recently finished by Samet Corp. The clock tower, part of the original American Enka manufacturing facility at the site, will be preserved. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
The Costco is proposed for a 25-acre site near the landmark Enka Clock Tower, not far from a recently completed spec warehouse built by Samet Corp. In mid-February, developers, elected city and county officials, and economic development officials attended a ribbon cutting for the warehouse and a bridge leading into the property — a somewhat infamous “bridge to nowhere” that was started a decade ago.
That bridge will provide key ingress and egress to the proposed Costco via Smokey Park Highway and the recently completed Enka Heritage Parkway. The area is also accessible via Jacob Holm Way off Sand Hill Road, which also leads to Enka Intermediate School and the Bob Lewis Ballpark.
On school days, long backups are common when parents are dropping off or picking up students, a phenomenon I witnessed Wednesday. The intersection of Sand Hill Road and Sardis roads is another congestion spot.
Traffic often backs up on Jacob Holm Way off Sand Hill Road as parents wait to pick up or drop off students at Enka Intermediate Schools, as was the case Wednesday afternoon. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
Steve Cannon, a division project development engineer with the NCDOT’s Asheville office, responded this week to an Enka resident’s questions regarding the possibility that “the widening of Sand Hill Road has been permanently canceled from the State Transportation Improvement Plan?”
“The answer is no, not permanently canceled,” Cannon wrote. “The Sand Hill/Sardis Rd project, U-6047, has not been canceled, officially or technically.”
Recent news reports have noted that numerous projects in the STIP, the state’s 10-year planning tool, have been defunded or cut, and that apparently included the Sand Hill project.
Cannon noted that the “information released recently is the proposed STIP for 2026-2035,” which the state Board of Transportation will vote on this summer. If approved, it will become the official program, Cannon noted.
“Technically, preconstruction activities, design and permitting, are funded to continue on the Sand Hill/Sardis Rd project,” Cannon wrote. “It is the right-of-way acquisition and construction activities that are proposed to be defunded and no longer be included in the 10-year STIP budget. The project has not been technically eliminated, but delayed.”
The NCDOT notes that rising material and real estate costs and other expenses have increased project costs across the state, which results in project delays.
The intersection of Sand Hill and Sardis roads in Enka is busy most times of day, and the possibility of a Costco coming to nearby Enka Commerce Park would add to congestion. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
Some work has been done at the key intersection, with plans to finish up a turn lane there.
“The remaining work at the Sand Hill/Sardis intersection will be completed spring/summer of 2025,” Cannon wrote. “Work was not completed in the fall due to rescheduling to balance resource needs for recovery efforts and temperature restrictions for the remaining asphalt work.”
The Costco plans include 839 parking spaces. I found varying estimates of daily traffic at Costcos, and it’s safe to say the place will draw customers from around the region and generate thousands of trips per day.
Clark Duncan, executive director of the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, said the number of parking spaces alone “was pretty significant.”
“I would imagine that’s a much more impactful traffic count than the DOT had been contemplating for the current infrastructure,” Duncan said.
When the bridge and spec building opened, Duncan noted the bridge would likely carry about 250 trucks per week from the Enka Commerce Park. This week he said that figure was from a pre-pandemic traffic study.
The new Enka Commerce Park bridge, in the works for 10 years, opened last month. The bridge will provide key ingress and egress to the proposed Costco via Smokey Park Highway and the recently completed Enka Heritage Parkway. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle
Regarding the Enka Commerce Park being built for industrial uses, Duncan acknowledged that people love the idea of a Costco coming here, but he said final city approval for this site might prove more difficult than you might think.
“I personally think there’s a challenging path forward for them on that site,” Duncan said, noting that Costco has been looking in our area for about a decade, with potential sites rumored for Long Shoals Road and Airport Road, among others.
Meanwhile, Buncombe County has invested $10 million in the Enka Commerce Park, the NCDOT about $2.5 million and the federally funded Appalachian Regional Council $3.1 million.
“That’s a significant amount of taxpayer funding — and incidentally our last industrial park within city limits,” Duncan said. “We know the spec building is built, but there are two additional buildings of 235,000 square feet each that have been conditionally zoned already by City Council,” Duncan said. “And the owners, the developers, are actively pursuing letters of intent (from potential lessees) on those properties.”
The proposed Costco appears to overlap on at least part of those properties. I reached out to the developer, Martin Lewis of Fletcher Partners, as well as its partner on the project, Samet Corp., but didn’t hear back from either.
Ultimately, the rezoning will fall to Asheville’s City Council, which will have a lot to consider, including whether it wants the property to shift from manufacturing or industrial use, to retail.
“That’s a pretty big reversal from 10-plus years of planning on what was envisioned for that site,” Duncan said.
Duncan said other potential spots, such as commercial corridors or areas nearer to an interstate, would be “in most estimations, a better fit.” Duncan, who said he has not had any interactions with Costco, noted that the shift from industrial to retail did give him “a little heartburn.”
I’ve noted before that Costco is extremely picky in choosing locations, and developers have told me over the years that the company has rejected several sites around here. Costco does not comment on potential new stores until “until we are ready to share details about the new location — usually two to three months in advance,” a company spokesperson told me.
Plans provided by the city of Asheville show the location of a proposed Costco on Enka Heritage Parkway.
Assuming the proposal makes it all the way to City Council, members are going to have a lot to consider. People really want a Costco here and are sick of making the drive to South Carolina for their bulk purchases fix, but county leaders and others have stressed the need for high-paying industrial jobs for years.
“You know this area well enough to know that half a million square feet of industrial space is a unicorn, especially if you’re in a city facing economic recovery challenges,” Duncan said, referring to Helene damage.
He also noted that those potential spec buildings would likely bring a more significant tax base than a retail spot, as well as “a much greater density of high-wage jobs.”
Costco has a reputation for paying well, but industrial and manufacturing jobs typically pay more than retail.
The bottom line here is that the city is going to have a lot to consider, both on the traffic and land use sides. Remember: Nothing is ever simple in Asheville.
So don’t start counting your $5 rotisserie chickens before they’ve hatched.
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/.
SUMMARY: The FDA has issued a warning about counterfeit Ozempic being found in the U.S. drug supply. Both the FDA and Ozempic’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, are urging patients and pharmacies to verify the legitimacy of their prescriptions. Counterfeit vials pose potential health risks, with several hundred units distributed outside the official supply chain. The fakes can be identified by a specific combination of a real lot number (P0362) and an illegitimate serial number starting with “51746517.” The FDA and FBI have both warned about counterfeit weight loss drugs, urging individuals to validate their Ozempic supplies.
The FDA and the manufacturer of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk are urging patients, doctors and pharmacies to check their Ozempic prescriptions.
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-15 15:45:00
(The Center Square) – The North Carolina Senate’s version of a state budget for the next two years breezed through three committees Tuesday with few changes or opposition.
The proposed budget, Senate Bill 257, includes income tax cuts, and a doubling of taxes for sports betting companies who operate in North Carolina from 18% to 36%.
The Senate spending proposal, unlike Gov. Josh Stein’s proposed budget, fully funds the state’s retirement plan. It also increases funding for the state health care plan by $318 million over the next two years.
It would raise teacher pay and funding for colleges and universities.
“This budget continues the success North Carolina has seen over the last decade and half,” Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, one of the bill’s sponsors, told members of the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee.
The first year of the two-year proposed budget is $32.6 billion, the second year $33.3 billion, Hise said. It’s an increase of $1.3 billion, or 4% in the first year, and $733 million in the second year.
He described it as “modest growth” that still allows the state to replenish its “rainy day” reserve fund, which at the end of two years will be back at $4.75 billion. It will bring state funding for a new children’s hospital in Charlotte to $855 million.
It adds another $700 million for Hurricane Helene recovery, adding to the $1.4 billion already appropriated.
“It is also our understanding that Gov. Stein is working on another request for recovery needs,” Hise said. “But as yet, we are not at that place.”
Some of the state funds spent on hurricane relief will likely be reimbursed by the federal government, Hise added.
“We are hopeful the federal government will provide increased and expedited reimbursements,” Hise said. “But we must prepare to fend for ourselves.”
Under the proposed budget, most state employees would receive 1.25% raise the first year and a $3,000 bonus over the entire two-year period covered by the budget, said Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover.
Correctional officers would receive a 5.25% raise with other state law enforcement officers also getting extra pay raises. Local law enforcement officers would receive $3,000 bonuses over the two-year period. Nurses employed by the state would also received higher 3.25% raises over the two years.
Teachers would receive a 3.3% raise over the two years plus a $3,000 bonus. With those raises, the average teacher pay in North Carolina will be $62,407, Lee said.
The proposed budget passed the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee, Finance Committee and Pensions, Finance and Aging Committee with only minor changes on Tuesday.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-14 11:31:00
(The Center Square) – Senators in North Carolina are scheduled to work a budget proposal through three committees Tuesday.
The 2025 Appropriations Act, known also as Senate Bill 257, is to be heard first in the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee. Next is a stop in the Finance Committee, followed 15 minutes later by the Pensions and Retirement and Aging Committee. Senate Bills 258 and 263 carry the same title.
President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, noted in his opening address in January the General Assembly has “moved away from the unsteady rollercoaster of boom-and-bust budgets toward consistent, conservative, fiscally sound budgets.”
The legislation is only beginning, according to the state legislative website. Filed March 11, it was at two pages at midday Monday.
Typically, the governor is first to offer a budget proposal, both chambers follow, and then the negotiations ensue. July 1 is the start of the fiscal year, though it was late September in 2024 when the midterm adjustment was finalized.
Because of the July 14, 2016, signing of a law by Republican former Gov. Pat McCrory, the state government avoided shutdown during a three-year budget impasse that began after Cooper’s veto in 2019. Instead, the law allowed the state to operate on the previous spending plan. It remains in effect today.
North Carolina has a population estimated at 11 million, ninth largest in America and up 37.5% from 8 million just a quarter of a century ago.
Spending on education was the largest share of the last state budget at $17.9 billion for 2024-25, and $17.3 billion for 2023-24 of the $60.7 billion two-year plan.
Cooper in eight years only signed one two-year budget (2021-22), one midterm adjustment (2022) and allowed a two-year budget to become law without his signature (2023-24), the latter tied to his long-sought request for Medicaid expansion.
Cooper vetoed two-year budgets for 2017-18 and 2019-20, and midterm adjustments in 2018 and 2024. Veto overrides enacted two-year budget legislation for 2017-18 and midterm adjustments in 2018 and 2024.
