Some Ashe County land owners say they're afraid a developer left them high and dry when he failed to meet the conditions of a planning variance approved years before they purchased their lots at the peak of Phoenix Mountain.

County Planning Director Zach Edwardson raised the issue at the planning board's regularly scheduled meeting at the Ashe County Courthouse, July 5.

Variances are unique allowances in the county's planning rules that require approval from the planning board. The variance in question was recommended "around 2001" by then planner John Witherspoon and approved by the planning board in place at the time, according to Edwardson. It allowed developer Eric Hunter to gain final approval for a 16-acre, ridge-top plan on Big Phoenix mountain.

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Original article in Mountain Times...