Black Mountain Keeps 2-Foot Flood Standard, Rejects Stricter Planning Board Rules

Black Mountain's Town Council on Sept. 14, 2026, adopted a federally required flood ordinance update but rejected the Planning Board's push for a 4-foot elevation standard and a ban on fill. Council members said 2 feet worked during Helene. The council also put up to $10,000 toward assessing its condemned public safety building, pushed a 400-page stormwater rewrite to October and heard sharp public criticism of town finances and planning enforcement.

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• Flood ordinance adopted without the 4-foot freeboard or fill ban; staff's 2-foot standard stays
• Up to $10,000 approved for a structural engineer to assess the condemned public safety building
• Stormwater billing shifts to property owners; Chapter 8 rewrite hearing continued to October
• Chamber board member and residents demand independent review of planning records and enforcement
• Helene recovery engineering advances, including McGill Associates design for roughly $5M in water upgrades

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Flood Rules: Council Sides With Staff Over Planning Board

The basics: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requires towns to adopt FEMA's model flood ordinance. "Freeboard" is how far above the base flood elevation a building's lowest floor must sit. "Fill" is dirt brought in to raise a building site.

Why it matters: A higher freeboard and a fill ban could raise costs and limit rebuilding and development in floodplains across a mountain town still recovering from Helene.

Where things stand: Floodplain Administrator and Stormwater Technician Ann Phillip said the update adds all required NFIP definitions, penalties of up to $500 per day, non-conversion agreements for spaces below flood elevation and rules for tanks. Those agreements bar owners from turning below-flood spaces into living areas.

The flashpoint was a Planning Board recommendation. "Planning Board recommended increasing the freeboard from our current 2 foot above base flood elevation to 4 feet above base flood elevation," said Phillip. The board also wanted to prohibit fill to elevate structures. Staff recommended keeping 2 feet. Neither staff nor the Planning Board recommended the optional section regulating the 500-year floodplain.

The other side: Council members cited structures built 2 feet above flood elevation that stayed dry during Helene. An advisor to the council flagged a legal limit on raising the standard. "So you're preempted by state law in creating nonconformities," the advisor said. Nonconformities are existing buildings that no longer meet new rules.

On fill, staff outlined the trade-off. Fill removes floodplain storage, but it lets an owner seek a letter of map revision, a FEMA process that can take a property out of the mapped floodplain.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The council approved the package without the 4-foot freeboard or the fill prohibition, on a voice vote. No tally was announced, and the motion's maker was not identified. Nobody spoke at the public hearing. Floodplain property owners and builders avoid new elevation costs. Planning Board members who pushed for stricter rules saw their main recommendations set aside for now.

What's next: Members said they intend to revisit the fill question once they have better data. No date was set.

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Public Safety Building: $10,000 to Find Out How Bad It Is

Why it matters: The building has sat condemned for about nine months, repair estimates run from $1M to $2M, and the town has no money budgeted to fix it.

Where things stand: Mayor C. Michael Sobol proposed going straight to an expert. "Let's get a structural engineer," he said. He told the council he expected an assessment within about two weeks for under $10,000, through a firm he knew.

The Interim Town Manager said $0 is budgeted for repairs. Any borrowing needs approval from the state Local Government Commission (LGC), which oversees local finances. "But they do see public safety as a main concern," the manager said, adding that the LGC wants better numbers.

The other side: Council members debated whether hiring one named firm would violate the town's purchasing policy. They resolved it by giving the manager discretion to choose.

Community pressure: Theresa Watson, a Broad River community resident, said EMS 4 now responds from Swannanoa, which has lengthened response times. She urged the council to "do everything in your power to work overtime and double time." Independent journalist Josh Wells asked the mayor, "How do you plan to repair your working relationship with our police and fire personnel?" Sobol invited him to talk by phone.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The council authorized the manager to hire a structural engineering firm with a $10,000 limit, on a voice vote. No tally was announced. The engineer's findings will shape whether the town seeks LGC approval to borrow. Broad River residents remain the most exposed to slower ambulance response until the building is resolved.

What's next: Expect the assessment to drive the next funding conversation.

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Stormwater: Billing Fix Passes, Big Rewrite Waits

Why it matters: The Chapter 8 rewrite could speed development permits by reducing the town's reliance on a consulting engineer. Members wanted time to read a packet of roughly 400 pages first.

Where things stand: The council approved a Chapter 48 amendment on a voice vote. It makes property owners, not the named water customer, responsible for stormwater charges because the fee runs with the land. Landlords, rather than tenants of record, become the billing party.

For Chapter 8, staff proposed aligning with the state model and Hendersonville's ordinance. The proposal drops the low-impact-development definition and the three-acre limit, and it folds the illicit-discharge rules into the stormwater ordinance. Staff said the town's half-acre threshold stays stricter than the state model.

The other side: A public commenter asked whether the rewrite drops the professional stamp requirement on stormwater plans. "It would still need to be signed and sealed by an engineer in North Carolina," Phillip said.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The mayor and a council member preferred more time, and the item was tabled. Later in the meeting, Councilmember Alice Berry moved to reopen the hearing to give the public more time. The council then voted to continue it to the regular October meeting. Both votes were by voice, with no tally announced. Developers and engineers will have to wait for clearer permit rules.

What's next: The Chapter 8 public hearing resumes at the October regular meeting.

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Residents Press on Planning Records and Spending

Why it matters: The town is under state financial oversight, so questions about spending and enforcement carry extra weight. Nine people signed up to speak.

Where things stand: Anna Stearns, a board member of the Black Mountain-Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce, said public records requests show town planning files are unreliable. She named Open Oven, Black Mountain Brewing, the Rail Yard and Oak and Grist as affected businesses. She said the Chamber endorsed an ordinance creating an independent review commission and asked the council to "authorize a transparent independent review and suspend further enforcement based on those records until the review is complete." The mayor said an ordinance is expected shortly.

Public commenter Frank Capelli described an inspector entering his property without knocking. He asked the council to "please adopt a written policy requiring inspectors approaching an occupied residence to knock, identify themselves, explain why they're there." He also asked the council to reconsider an independent technical audit. Public commenter Shane Lunsford said an abatement letter gave him about seven days to remove shipping containers he called temporary and Helene-related. The mayor said he saw no issue if they were gone by month's end.

The money questions: Public commenter Cheryl Milton said the town paid TSK Water Works $340,854 for the Old Toll Road water line, alleging "that contractor's total bid is $84,354 less than what the town paid Charlie Gross, TSK Water Works, who is unlicensed." "This is being looked into," Sobol said. Public commenter John Richardson questioned how finances deteriorated after a Jan. 12 resolution praising the former manager. He urged that about $100,000 in separation pay be returned. These allegations are the speakers' own and were not substantiated at the meeting.

What's next: Later in the meeting, the council introduced a new finance officer. The post had been vacant for almost a year.

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Helene Recovery Contracts and Water Design Move Forward

Where things stand: Staff reported progress on the Swannanoa River flood bench project. It covers three of the five projects in the Swannanoa River Corridor Green Infrastructure Plan. "This was a $5 million grant from the Local Assistance for Stormwater Infrastructure Improvements Program at the state," said a staff presenter. Helene reshaped the river and forced a redesign, while three FEMA buyout properties expanded flood storage.

The consent agenda passed on a voice vote. It included:
- Anchor QEA for Flat Creek Greenway design, using a 0% state cash-flow loan
- Jennings Environmental task orders
- Kimley-Horn for the Veterans pedestrian bridge, for which FEMA authorized about $1.4M
- John R. McAdams for FEMA Town Roads Group 2

The mayor questioned a $535,000 engineering task order. Staff said construction would be contracted separately.

Water upgrades: The council also authorized the interim manager to sign an engineering agreement with McGill Associates for water resilience work. The manager said the second funding round totals nearly $5M, with about $3.5M in grants and roughly $1.4M to $1.5M in loans. The first loan payment would come at least three years out. "Even if we started today on the design, you're looking at about 18 months or longer before you would actually go to bid," the manager said.

The mayor questioned items such as four new water wells. Staff said those came from the town's own application and can change. The mayor also asked staff to look into low water pressure at the fire station. Separately, he warned that drawing all available drinking-water funds means "it's going to end up being $171,000 a year that we've got to pay back."

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Minor Items

• Citizen of Valor: Police honored Andrew Calores, Philip Whiting, Christian Maloney and James Thompson for disarming an armed man at the Trailhead Restaurant.
• BearWise ordinance: A citizen committee previewed fines for feeding wildlife. Its presenters said "it will not prohibit bird feeding." An October public hearing was called.
• Lakeview clubhouse: Rental fees rise $50 to cover cleaning costs that went from $80 to $125, so the facility can reopen after Helene.
• Post office parking: Lt. Joshua Kaiser said the post office has only five designated spaces. Police will study angled parking on Richardson Boulevard.
• Proclamation: The town declared Sept. 25 Dolly Parton 925 Recognition Day, honoring the Imagination Library.

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Looking Ahead

The October regular meeting is shaping up as a heavy one, with the Chapter 8 stormwater hearing and the BearWise nuisance-feeding ordinance both on deck. The mayor also announced plans for a community discussion on regulating AI, which he called "AI, humanity's siren song."