Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
WLOS has the story: Neighbors living on Richmond Hill are complaining about the construction of a new National Guard Armory. The construction crews aren’t honoring prescribed buffers, according to the neighbors, and the traffic is horrendous.
WLOS says the city of Asheville and reps from the National Guard will be on the scene Thursday to check things out.
The construction of a new armory at Richmond Hill was a controversial issue a few years ago when City Council agreed to the deal. There has also been a track record of problems with construction at the site dating back to 2006, which WLOS failed to mention. Here’s part of a City Council staff report:
August 31, 2006 Background:
Richmond Hill Park is located on 171 acres overlooking the French Broad River in west Asheville. The first phase of park development was planned to feature a disc golf course, a ball field complex, playground and more than 145 heavily wooded acres featuring miles of walking and biking trails.
Asheville City Council approved the transfer of approximately 12 acres located within Richmond Hill Park to the NC National Guard for its new armory on September 13, 2005. In return, the National Guard agreed to perform the clearing and grading work on the site. The Technical Review Committee reviewed and approved the construction plan on March 20, 2006. In May, development of the baseball field complex was delayed due to a National Guard scheduling conflict; the additional time will be used to raise construction funds, to look at alternate sites for the fields, and for continued citizen involvement and feedback.
The first phase of construction at Richmond Hill Park includes grading for the paved entrance road into the park, a gravel parking area at the end of the entrance road, grading for a future restroom facility and the relocation of the disc golf course. Tree cutting on both the first phase of Richmond Hill Park and the National Guard armory site was completed in June. No additional land will be cleared for this phase of development. A majority of the grading work on the Richmond Hill Park site is now complete; grading on the National Guard armory site has not started. Inspection by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR)
August 23, 2006: The City of Asheville received notification from NCDENR of erosion and sediment control violations related to the clearing and grading work at Richmond Hill Park to prepare the site for an entrance road, parking lot, disc golf course and future restroom facility. The violations were due to failure to follow approved plans; insufficient measures to retain sediment on site; failure to take all reasonable measures; inadequate buffer zone; and failure to maintain erosion control devices. Immediately following notification, Parks and Recreation staff met with consulting engineer McGill and Associates to begin to clean up and stabilize the site. Parks and Recreation staff also began an internal review of the work on the project.
“Protecting the area’s natural resources is an important goal for the city,” said Irby Brinson, director of the Asheville Parks and Recreation Department. “The management of the construction project at Richmond Hill Park has not met the community’s expectations or our own expectations. Our erosion and sediment control measures will be improved.” Fortunately, the sedimentation damage was discovered early and city staff took immediate action to minimize impact on the site. The NCDENR report classified the damage as “slight.”
Actions taken to mitigate the situation: City staff and its consulting engineer began implementing corrective measures almost immediately. The city has contracted for onsite administration of the project until it is completed. In consultation with NCDENR, a plan developed on August 24 identified the following priority actions:
