Asheville Real Estate Journal
Coggins Farm Land Development and Plans
“ Irreplaceable natural treasure, worthy of protection and deep stewardship.”
An opinion piece by Ian Booth appeared in The Asheville-Citizens Times and caught my eye. As a land broker at-heart concerned about worthy conservancy of historical lands, I noted that Will Hamilton of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, reported that only two percent of the landmass in western North Carolina is farmland.
Booth wrote: “The proposed ‘new standard’ is actually a throwback to the old model of sprawl and habitat loss. As pointed out by noted economic development leader Becky Anderson in her presentation at last spring’s Four Futures for Mountain Farmland symposium at Warren Wilson College, a pristine historic family farm is more than property.
An irreplaceable natural treasure, worthy of protection and deep stewardship
“The 169-acre Coggins Farm™ is currently under contract to a developer, Case Enterprises, but there has been no sale of property. The current development plan was approved by the Buncombe County Board of Adjustments in April 2014, but a group of concerned neighbors appealed that decision to Buncombe County Superior Court in May. The case was heard by the Superior Court judge and they ruled that the County and developer needed to take the plans back through the County planning process for further review.”
As of February 2015, Case Enterprises shifted development plans for Coggins Farm™, calling for the entire 169 acre property to be subdivided into 99 private lots. Below, you will find a map of the current undeveloped Coggins Farm™ land, alongside the subdivision map, and previously proposed development plans released in April 20According to a community survey you can view at the above link, the “vast majority of participants (over 95%) strongly agreed that having working farms in and around Asheville improves the way of life here in WNC. Nearly as many (90%) found it very important to preserve additional farmland and open space in the Asheville area.
NOTE: A public meeting to present an alternative plan for the Coggins Farm in East Asheville will be held at the French Broad Food Cooperative at 7 PM on Thursday, May 7. This is a launch project for our efforts to preserve farmland, open space and rural communities near Asheville.
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