Biltmore Company seeks property rezonings

Jason Sandford March 21, 2014

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

The Buncombe County Planning Board will consider a rezoning request from the Biltmore Company at the board’s April 7 meeting. The Biltmore Company wants three lots, designated with the names Fish Pond Road, Biltmore Estate Drive and Brevard Road rezoned from commercial service district to conference center/resort district.

The last major development on the Biltmore Estate was completed in 2010, when the estate opened Antler Village and remodeled its winery. The Inn on Biltmore is the Estate’s upscale, four-diamond hotel on its property, opened in 2001. (Biltmore history here.)

Last September, I reported the hot talk of the time – that Biltmore Estate was planning to build a second hotel on its property. A spokeswoman at the time said the estate is constantly looking and assessing new opportunities, but that there had been no green light yet given to a hotel construction project. She reminded me that a few years back, Biltmore had unveiled plans to build a second hotel, but the recession arrived and those plans were shelved.

I checked back with the Biltmore spokeswoman this week – still no confirmation of any development plans.

See the attached pdf of the planning board agenda for details below:

buncombe_planning_board_april_2014

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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10 Comments

Big Al March 24, 2014

“theOtherBarry says…Never been to this place. What’s all the fuss about?”

Do you mean the Biltmore Estate? If so, I don’t think there is much to fuss about. I lived here 3+ years before I ever visited, waited until Christmas to get the best “bang for my buck” and that visit will do me for the rest of my life. Just no biggee.

I will confess that I was never all that excited about the estate, initially seeing the Vanderbilts as robber-barons, the worst that unbridled capitalism could produce (and I am in no way a bed-wetting liberal anti-capitalist crybaby, just someone who recognizes excess) but my opinion of the Vanderbilts has softened after learning of their somewhat progressive attitudes towards the local economy, their interest in the estate’s self-sufficiency, and their efforts towards forest conservation through effective management.

I still think the big house itself represents excessive self-promotion within the gilded gentry of early 20th-century America and the ticket prices are far in excess of the experience. My favorite part of the visit has always been the farm, and I regret that there are no local equivalents outside of Biltmore Estate that do not charge so much.

Reply
1. thunderhead March 27, 2014
  
  “I lived here 3+ years before I ever visited”
  
  That tells me all I need to know. You’re not a local nor do you have a true appreciation of localities. Have you ever wondered why WNC isn’t like the rest of Appalachia? When George came here, he brought work and education, and paid well over the average rate for his employees, and left an outstanding print in all of WNC. He initially came because land was so cheap here like it is in all of Appalachia and left the area 100x greater than it was prior. Even today, the Biltmore is one of the largest employers and charity donors in the area. I’m sorry you could see the deep appreciation of the estate over your ego. Maybe you should work on that.
  
  Reply
Nate March 22, 2014

What are the differences between “commercial service” and “resort center” zoning anyway? Does it have to do with what you can actually use the land for, or is it a taxation thing, or what?

Reply
Jeremy March 21, 2014

Based on the Buncombe County GIS, Those three parcels are the whole estate. The 1st (Biltmore Estate Dr) is the property that the House, Inn, Winery, etc falls on. The 2nd (Fish Pond Rd)is the area just behind the gardens and covers the fish pond all the way down to the big public stables down by the river. The 3rd (Brevard Rd) is all the property on the other side of the river where the vineyards are. I would have thought all this would have already been zoned Conference Center/Resort Dist.

Reply
Ashley March 21, 2014

I was over there recently and they have torn down the kitchen garden near Antler Hill Village. I asked an employee and she said it was for parking for the new hotel. So basically they’re going to build the new hotel right on top of Antler Hill and just below the original Inn.

Reply
1. hauntedheadnc March 21, 2014
  
  Oh, goody! I hope it has a huge parking lot, because nothing enhances Victorian elegance quite like a giant sprawl of parked cars.
  
  Reply
  1. JTC March 21, 2014
    
    yesssss!
    
    Reply
  2. Ashley March 21, 2014
    
    Hahaha. Exactly. If they get rid of the animal farm, that’s it for my yearly pass.
    
    Reply
    1. hauntedheadnc March 21, 2014
      
      I gave up mine when they took a bunch of rooms that had been on the regular tour for as long as I’ve been going there off the regular tour and put them on one of the special “pay-even-more” tours.
      
      Reply
      1. theOtherBarry March 22, 2014
        
        Never been to this place. What’s all the fuss about?
        
        Reply