Wood brothers seek plan on what to do with Andrews estate

 

The farm of Eddie and Keith Wood, just outside Andrews along U.S. 19/129, was spotlighted at a regional weeklong planning session as an example of how to plan a financial strategy for a family farm.

    The charrette is part of the Mountain Landscapes Initiative, which will result in a toolbox of ordinances, plans and ideas that local developers, property owners and governments can use to guide them through the anticipated growth expected in the county. It is sponsored by the Southwestern Commission and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

    Ben Brown with the Southwestern Commission said the Wood brothers used the charrette team to come up with a plan for potential development of land they want to set aside for sale or development on their own. Since they want to keep as much land as possible in working agriculture and put other property in conservation easements, the idea was to separate unfarmable land that might be appropriate for development and to use proceeds from sale or development for family retirement support.

    “So out of the charrette the [Wood brothers] will get what amounts to a master plan for multiple uses for their property and a family financial strategy for preserving their farm into future generations while also funding their retirement,” Brown said. “Since theirs is a challenge that faces many farming families whose assets are invested primarily in their land, the Wood farm made an ideal model project for the charrette.”

    Jenny Cone, southeastern director of American Farmland Trust, said North Carolina leads the nation in loss of individual farms.

Farmland transition

    Keith Wood said the charrette was worthwhile, and he’s glad for his farm to be used as a model for farmland transition. A planner helped show the brothers – third-generation farmers who have regularly won yield awards for their corn and soybeans – a way to keep the property as a farm perpetually while selling some of it for development, he said.

    Keith Wood, a member of the Cherokee County Farmland Preservation Advisory Board, said the board hopes to get a grant to study opinions of residents concerning farmland preservation.

    Eddie Wood said the main emphasis of the charrette was there needs to be a plan. County and community leaders need to get together to plan for growth.

    “If we don’t have some type of plan for growth, we are not going to have a place as lovely as we have now,” he said. “Keith and I are both about 50. We are trying to think how to transition this farm for the next generation.

    “I don’t have a lot of money for retirement. We have been thinking for two to three years whether to leave it as a farm or change it up and sell it. I have people all the time telling me they love those views in the valley. [The charrette] was an opportunity to get some ideas on paper.

    “I think this county needs to get proactive. It doesn’t have to be zoning. We just need an overall plan so that we can be true to how we develop. There is an ecological way to do it and be environmentally friendly.”

Moving forward

    Brown said the big news from the charrette is the announcement of a Next Steps Fund by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The fund will make available matching money for communities, agencies and organizations to advance ideas inspired by the toolbox charrette.

    “That could mean jump-starts for the next states of master plans for projects such as downtown redevelopment, affordable housing programs, etc.,” Brown said. “Now that participants have gotten a taste of the charrette process, the Next Steps Fund could provide resource help for communities to do their own charrettes.”

    The central idea coming out of the concluding presentation on May 20 by Lawrence Group principal Craig Lewis was that before they think about regulations or start work on individual projects, communities need to create a long-range plan for accommodating the kind of growth they want, Brown said.

Different ideas

    Andrews resident Glenn Tatum Jr. attended the final session of the charrette. He heard three different concepts. One used Cashiers and showed how to improve traffic patterns after lack of organization for downtown development. Another looked at a valley outside Franklin and showed how to preserve historic elements by clustering housing developments and how to preserve open spaces. The third concept was farmland preservation.

    Using the Wood farm, they showed how to cluster development to build cabins or a lodge in such a way so that farmland and open spaces were preserved and the ridge lines weren’t damaged.

    Andrews resident Bob Ferreira said the toolbox will be valuable as a guide for local governments to make guidelines.

    “We are trying to provide voluntary guidelines,” Ferreira said. “We feel that the reasons for following the guidelines are strong enough that they can be voluntary. We want to get the most value for the limited land we have left. If it is the right kind of development, it will be more profitable.”

    Ferreira, executive director of the Andrews Valley Initiative,  said he met people at the charrette from Maggie Valley who “weep over bad decisions made. Now, they are nothing but a highway on the way to the casino. We hope that if we spend enough time and think things through, maybe we won’t make such bad decisions.

    “I think the toolbox is going to help get more people thinking about getting involved in the issues. Everybody wants to preserve, but it is difficult to preserve if it involves change.”

Up to local leaders

    Brown said the charrette team spent a lot of time talking about the necessity of integrating several goals in planning, including goals for connective road networks and utility infrastructure. That means coordinating planning on a broader basis than just a town or county.

    What might come out of those discussions are strategies for towns and counties to work together to assure long-term access to drinking water, adequate waste disposal systems and appropriate road networks, Brown said. The charrette team brought national expertise to the discussion and could suggest a range of approaches that could be applied in the mountains

    Brown said a toolbox that covers these approaches will be published soon.

    “It will help property owners, builders and developers apply the best practices for planning and development immediately,” Brown said. “And it will give town and county staffers and officials guidelines for developing community plans and regulatory approaches that fit with long-range growth goals.”