Home Care In Enka, NC

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A developer has a new plan for the site of the former American Enka Company and the beloved, historic Enka clock tower.

WLOS

Once rumored to be the future home of an Amazon distribution site, the land is now the focus of a new, larger proposal from Samet Corporation, which built the Amazon distribution facility in Mills River.

It was never confirmed what Samet Corporation's initial plans for the land were, but they had gotten city approval to build an unnamed distribution center there, which many thought would be an Amazon facility. Whatever that plan was, Samet Corporation appears to have scrapped it, in exchange for a new vision.

CONSTRUCTION COMPANY PLANS FOR ICONIC ENKA CLOCK TOWER TO BE PRESERVED

"They currently are zoned and have the entitlements to do that previously approved project, but for whatever reason, the client they had in mind or the proposal just never materialized," said Will Palmquist, a principal planner for City of Asheville.

The developer's new plan is called "Enka Commerce Park."

"It's a little more than twice as big as the previous proposal, based on the square footage," Palmquist said.

According to city documents, the proposal would involve constructing three one-story light industrial or distribution buildings totaling 585,360 gross square feet. The buildings would be built in phases. Other site improvements would include off-street parking, a new roadway connection, and stormwater retention ponds.

The historic brick clock tower on the site would be preserved, according to plans.

It's unclear who the tenants of the new buildings would be.

As far as parking and traffic accommodations go, access to the site would be provided by a new cul-de-sac roadway extension off Enka Heritage Parkway. The new roadway would be maintained by NCDOT. A total of 463 employee parking spaces are proposed. A Traffic Analysis Impact was performed and concluded that all "analyzed signalized intersections and approaches are expected to operate at an acceptable level of service. Therefore no improvements are necessary."

The proposed Enka Heritage Greenway is planned to cross over the property, along the western boundary of the project area, and will include a 10-foot-wide paved greenway, a 15-foot-wide maintenance easement, and a 25-foot-wide construction easement.

The zoning amendment needed for this new proposal was set to go before the City of Asheville's Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 21, but it will be continued to Nov. 2 at the developer's request.

"I don't know the impetus for it or why, but it was continued once. It was originally scheduled for, I believe, the August 3rd planning and zoning meeting, and then they asked for it to be continued one month, and then asked again for it to be continued for a couple of months," Palmquist said.

News 13 has reached out to Samet Corporation multiple times for comment. This story will be updated once a response is received.

If you'd like to submit any public comment about the project to the Planning & Zoning Commission ahead of the November 2 meeting, email [email protected].

"It's a very large, very large site, about 45 and a half acres, pretty strategically located with other, similar light industrial distribution uses nearby," Palmquist said.

Possible competition for the land?

It appears Samet Corporation may not be the only one with eyes on this prime piece of property.

"There's not a lot of sites of this size with that kind of infrastructure that are totally vacant that are left, especially in the city limits, so I could see that as kind of driving just the opportunity for something to be located there. It's a big driver of these different proposals, so that could kind of play into it," Palmquist said.

PUBLIC HEARING TO DISCUSS EXPANSION BIDS FOR HOSPITAL CARE IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY

AdventHealth is competing with other hospital systems to fill the need for more hospital beds in the area, which News 13 has reported extensively on. The hospital systems are waiting to hear from state officials on whose proposal will be chosen.

AdventHealth's plan, coincidentally, would involve constructing a new, 67-bed community hospital in the Enka Center, located off Smokey Park Highway and Sand Hill Road. According to their website, "many people will recognize this property as the former American Enka Co. site and home of the historic Enka Clock Tower."

News 13 has reached out to the hospital for comment. This story will be updated once a response is received.

A former teacher severely injured trying to stop a 2013 Enka High School fight is battling a state commission on how she'll get nearly $1 million in compensation, and a state appellate court is siding with her.

A three-judge panel in the North Carolina Court of Appeals on March 1 filed a ruling that vacated an N. C. Industrial Commission’s decision to deny 46-year-old Carmela Blackwell a lump-sum disability payment and told it to go back to the drawing board.

Blackwell, according to appeals court documents, was “injured while on the job breaking up a fight. She was diagnosed with numerous physical and mental injuries.”

"The decision bodes well for Mrs. Blackwell," said her attorney, Asheville-based Tom Ramer, who noted the severity of her injuries weren't fully realized in the appeal ruling.

"This is a complete reversal of the Industrial Commission. And it says that they got it wrong. That they misinterpreted the law and the Court of Appeals is sending it back to them with specific instructions on how they should handle it."

The fight happened April 3, 2013, and Blackwell suffered numerous injuries when she intervened, including damage to a hip, her knees, her back, a shoulder and her head.

She was later diagnosed with seizure disorder, migraine headaches, post-concussion syndrome, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, court documents show.

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Since she worked at Enka High School, she was employed in 2013 by Buncombe County Schools, a part of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Both are named as defendants in the case.

The defendants, who had insurance, admitted liability for Blackwell’s injuries, according to Industrial Commission documents filed in 2019.

Those documents note that ? when Blackwell was 43 ? she was owed $574 a week for another 35.6 years, or a total $1.06 million before the end of her life.

The N. C. Industrial Commission found Blackwell had been “permanently and totally disabled” during the fight intervention and agreed to give her weekly benefits shortly after the incident.

Years after the incident, Blackwell requested her benefits be put into a single, lump-sum payment instead of being distributed over more than 35 years.

That request was denied by the Industrial Commission, and Blackwell worked with legal counsel to appeal her case.

The March 1 ruling by appellate court Judge Chris Dillon — supported by judges Donna Stroud and John Tyson — said the Industrial Commission should reconsider its denial and that Blackwell might be allowed a lump-sum payout according to state law.

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“The Commission erred in concluding that a lump-sum award under Section 97- 44 is never allowed where the sum of future installments is uncertain,” the ruling stated, referring to the N.C. law under which Blackwell argued she could be paid all at once instead of over time.

The Commission had denied Blackwell’s request based on “its belief that a lump-sum award was not allowed in any situation where the number of future payments was not certain, as is the case here,” according to the ruling’s analysis of the case.

Since it wasn’t certain how long Blackwell would actually live, the money should be handed out weekly for approximately 35 years instead of all at once, the Industrial Commission contended, latching on to a clause in the N.C. Worker’s Compensation Act that stipulated no one can be paid more than future sum they are owed: Paying out the $1.06 million before knowing how long Blackwell would live might result in overpayment.

This specifically applies in “unusual” cases, according to N.C. law cited in the appeal.

Putting the matter back into the Industrial Commission’s hands, the court ordered it to reconsider Blackwell’s case and decide if it was truly “unusual.”

“Should the Commission deem that Plaintiff has met her burden in this regard, the Commission may consider any competent evidence,” the ruling stated, “to determine the number of installments that Plaintiff is expected to receive under her current award. In calculating the lump-sum award, the Commission may discount the expected future installments to a present value.”

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Ramer also said a case of this nature was somewhat unprecedented in the state and that the family hoped it would set a precedent for others like it in the future.

"Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell are very pleased about the ruling, that she is to put an end to at least part of her claim and move forward in her life. But they're also happy about the decision in that it will provide other generally profoundly injured folks with the same opportunity to put the claim behind them and move forward in life," Ramer said.

Andrew Jones is Buncombe County government and health care reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter, 828-226-6203 or [email protected]. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

ENKA - The historic Enka clock tower, a symbol of the area's industrial heritage that has stood for nearly a century, has gotten a reprieve.

The Samet Corp., which wants to build a 129,859-square foot distribution center on the site of the former American Enka plant, has announced plans to preserve the 139-foot tall tower. Initial plans called for the tower's demolition to make way for parking spaces.

"We are working with the owner’s representatives on an initiative to protect Enka Tower,” Brian Hall, Samet’s director of development, said in a press release. "All parties involved in the development of this area recognize the historic role the monument plays in Asheville’s history, and we would like the tower to stand for generations to come."

That's good news to local residents, many of whom worked at the plant, first run by American Enka and then sold to BASF, or had relatives who supported their families by working there.

"It sounds like they’re interested in keeping the clock tower, and being good neighbors," said Enka resident Roger Metcalf, 76. "I'm not sure they knew how important it was to the community, and it appears to me when they found out how important it was, they changed their plans a little bit."

Metcalf, an amateur Enka historian, said his father worked at the plant for 36 years and his father-in-law for 42.

Samet's original plans submitted to the city called for the demolition of the clock tower, originally erected by the American Enka Co., which built the sprawling rayon factory in Enka in the 1920s. While much of the original plant has been demolished, the clock tower has stood for 92 years.

At its peak, American Enka employed about 6,000 locals.

Samet's application to the city states: "The intention is for the clock tower to remain and be protected. A structural determination is currently being performed on the clock tower with the objective to allow the clock tower to remain. Should the final report indicate that the clock tower is structurally sound, it shall remain and be protected."

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Samet is a construction company headquartered in Greensboro. It's the same company that built the Amazon distribution hub in Mills River.

The planned building in Enka has a similar design, and it will have parking for 696 vans, as well as 278 employee parking spaces, according to application documents. But Amazon has declined to say if it will be the tenant, with a spokesperson saying the company "is a dynamic business" and "constantly exploring new locations" but adding it is "not yet commenting on any specific operations plans in North Carolina."

Samet's press release states it is collaborating with the property owner, Enka Partners, the designer, and subcontractors "to manage the tower’s incorporation into the site design. The project will be subject to the approval of the city of Asheville, and Samet officials are working closely with the city to secure that approval."

The proposal for the warehouse/distribution center, which would stand 48 feet high and be sited on 32 acres, goes before the city's Planning & Zoning Commission at its Dec. 2 meeting. The commission is an advisory board to City Council, which will likely take up the proposal in January.

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The building will go in the Enka Center, originally planned to comprise largely retail clients. Samet has submitted a request to rezone the site from "commercial industrial" to "commercial expansion, along with a change in the future land use map from Urban Center to Employment/Anchor Institution Center," according to planning documents.

Access to the new building will be off Smokey Park Highway, utilizing a new bridge into the Enka Center site. Samet plans to build a new cul-de-sac road off Enka Heritage Way, with the road being dedicated to the state and the N.C. DOT maintaining it in the future.

The new road also will include water and sewer main extensions constructed by Samet.

Two high school students from Western North Carolina took home titles in the North Carolina Future Farmers of America State Championships held on Feb. 2 in Raleigh.

For the tractor-driving competition, West Henderson junior Harrison Davis won the title, and it's believed to be the first time ever that West has had a state champion for tractor driving. For the truck-driving competition, Enka senior Coleman Frady took the title, becoming the third student from Enka to win a state title for truck driving (the previous two were in 2011 and 2012).

Davis said he's been driving tractors ever since his feet could reach the pedals. He lives on his family farm and is used to maneuvering a tractor in all types of spaces, but he said he was still nervous competing against the best in the state.

"I was pretty nervous ... just the anticipation of it. But once I got on the tractor, I was fine," Davis said.

Competitors had to draw numbers to determine the order they'd compete. Out of 34 competitors, Davis drew No. 34.

"That was exactly the number I wanted," Davis said. "I had to wait till the end, so I got to watch everybody. I knew what I had to beat when I got on the tractor."

Harrison's time was 5 minutes, 8 seconds, and his total score was 191.6.

"He won the event pretty handily. I couldn't believe it," said Jason Livingston, the agriculture teacher at West. "The next person behind him had well over 200 points."

Livingston said Davis was "an outstanding representative for the Mills River farming community and the school."

"This is a pretty cool deal. ... It was one of our goals," Livingston said. "One of the goals of the kids is to build our brand and our program here and try to gain interest from a diverse of students here at the school. By Harrison winning this, it sheds some light on what we do."

For Enka's Frady, the margin of victory was much closer, his agriculture teacher, Kevin Franklin, said.

"Coleman won by 19 points, which is a fairly close margin," Franklin said. "The competition is very hard on your nerves. We watch all 34 competitors and then have to wait for the results. It is very satisfying to know the students' hard work and preparation paid off."

Frady said a lot of practice and instruction from Franklin helped him get the title.

"My (agriculture) teacher Mr. Franklin taught me the course and how to do it and after that, I just kept practicing and practicing till I did not mess it up," Coleman, who said he plans on going to a four-year college for a business degree, said. "I would have to say my biggest inspiration would be Mr. Franklin."

A Greensboro developer hopes to construct nearly 300 new apartments in 11 buildings in Enka, dubbed Hawthorne at Holbrook.

Plans on file with Buncombe County and set to go before the Board of Adjustment April 13 show 11 three- and three-to four-story split buildings on almost 32 acres of open grassland and woods between Interstate 40 and Holbrook Road.

Developers Hawthorne Residential Partners need a special use permit from the county to move forward with the project, set for an initial appearance before the county Board of Adjustment April 13.

The site is currently zoned EMP, or Employment District, described in county code as "intended to provide appropriately located sites for employment concentrations," though including "supportive activities such as community service, commercial service, and residential uses."

According to the application, the EMP district allows up to 12 units per acre, or a total 391 units on what the application lists as a 32.6-acre site, compared to the 299 proposed in the plan.

Listed as 36 Crowell Road, the entire, undeveloped parcel is listed at more than 62 acres, according to Buncombe County records, assessed at $5.3 million.

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Plans show a 31.8-acre "Tract 1" on the western portion of the parcel where the development is planned, as well as a 34.8-acre "Tract 2" where site plans don't show any construction.

The permit application says developers are under contract to purchase the property before construction starts, and that once completed, developers will manage the property.

According to its website, Hawthorne Residential Partners operates more than 42,000 apartments across more than 170 properties in eight states across the southeast.

Also listed on its website are four apartment complexes in the Asheville area: Hawthorne at Mills Gap and Hawthorne at Southside, both in South Asheville on Mills Gap Road and Turtle Creek Drive respectively, as well as Hawthorne at Bear Creek on Bear Creek Lane and Hawthorne at Haywood I on River Birch Grove Road.

Construction for Hawthorne at Holbrook is set to start in fall 2022 and wrap up about two years later, according to site plans.

Those plans show a main entrance on Holbrook Road, near a planned clubhouse and pool, with plans elsewhere on the site for a dog park, garages, car charging station, bike and kayak storage, and grill and gazebo area.

An included traffic impact analysis, which calculates traffic based on 350 units, recommended improvements to four nearby intersections, anticipating 1,623 new daily trips generated by the development, including 142 peak a.m. trips and 137 peak p.m. trips.

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The study recommends aligning proposed access points across from Marathon Lane and Homestead Way on Holbrook Road, where it recommends at least 50 feet in an exclusive right-turn lane along Holbrook Road.

At the intersection of Monte Vista Road and Holbrook Road, it recommends a 100-foot left-turn lane along Holbrook Road and modifying an existing traffic signal's operation to accommodate it.

“Several intersections in the study area, particularly around the I-40/Smokey Park Highway interchange, are currently experiencing failing levels-of-service,” the analysis says.

It notes that the North Carolina Department of Transportation has plans to improve the area through its project I-2513, the Interstate 26 connector project, part of which is improvements to the I-40 interchanges with Smokey Park Highway, I-26 and I-240, and Brevard Road.

That project, according to both NCDOT and the traffic analysis, is set to begin right-of-way acquisition in 2022 and construction in 2024.

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Those listed improvements, the analysis says, “are subject to more review and discussion with the developer, Buncombe County, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation before becoming part of the conditions for the necessary driveway permit applications.”

Derek Lacey covers environment, growth and development for the Asheville Citizen Times. Reach him at [email protected] or 828-417-4842 and find him on Twitter @DerekAVL.