21 minute read
Cherokee passes casino smoking ban
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER
Casinos in Cherokee and Murphy will be permanently smoke-free following a majority vote from Tribal Council Dec. 9, codifying a policy that’s been in place since the Coronavirus Pandemic spurred a temporary ban on lighting up indoors.
“This is our public health laws, which is in ordinance, which is within your realm, so this is your decision,” said tribal member Lavita Hill, who has energetically advocated for the ordinance change. “What we’re asking you to do, what casino employees are asking you to do, is to make a law ensuring that their workplace remains healthy and remains smoke-free.”
Until a temporary pandemic closure in March 2020, indoor smoking had been allowed at both Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino in Murphy since their original openings. When the casinos reopened in May 2020, indoor smoking was banned as part of Harrah’s COVID safety protocols. Currently, patrons may smoke only in designated outdoor smoking areas.
Big Cove Representative Teresa McCoy, a former smoker, expressed strong support for the ordinance when it was discussed in Council chambers.
“It’s a national thing that people are paying attention to — you can’t smoke in restaurants anymore, airplanes, none of that. Smoking is an addition,” she said. “It’s an option and it’s a killer.”
Principal Chief Richard Sneed said he agreed with McCoy but offered an amendment that would allow Harrah’s to create dedicated indoor gaming areas for smokers. As originally written, the ordinance would have prevented smoking near any casino operations.
“I do get concerned about competition, I do get concerned about if we put something in such a way that it would restrict us to make changes if we had to, based on competition that we know is coming close to us,” said Harrah’s General Manager Brooks Robinson. “Also, I would hope that we might be able to put something in place that might allow some of the actual gaming devices in an environment that would allow smoking.”
Tribal Council approved Sneed’s amendment, which addressed Robinson’s main concern. However, some members questioned how the legislation would impact the satisfaction of customers who want to smoke, drink and gamble at the same time.
“I think the customer should be the first consideration,” said Painttown Representative Tommye Saunooke. “That’s my opinion.”
“It definitely is a consideration, and it’s also a consideration for our staff, because we do want to put them in the best situation possible,” Brooks replied.
However, he said, there is a segment of customers who are upset about the smoking ban and the inconvenience it causes.
Snowbird/Cherokee County Representative Adam Wachacha asked if Harrah’s had done any surveys to determine what a permanent smoking ban might do to customer satisfaction. Robinson said the casino had not done a specific survey on the issue but that reviews of social media feedback showed that the no-smoking rule “is a point we continue to get called out on.”
“Transitioning to nonsmoking casinos has not been without its challenges,” said Harrah’s Regional Vice President for Marketing Brian Saunooke in a follow-up email. “We receive feedback from guests who would prefer to be able to smoke while playing their favorite games, but we also hear from those who strongly prefer the smokefree environment. The long-term impact remains to be seen.”
Hill argued that the no-smoking rule is actually a plus for customer satisfaction, because most players are non-smokers who appreciate breathing cleaner air — only a “small segment” is inconvenienced, she said.
A review of posts on the 6,900-member Facebook group Friends Who Like Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort backs up that assertion. An Oct. 16 post reading “Fingers crossed Harrah’s will remain smoke free” received 203 reactions, of which 199 were either “like” or “love.” Likewise, the flurry of posts after Tribal Council’s Dec. 9 vote had an overall positive tone. The one with the most engagement received 381 reactions, of which 364 were “like” or “love.”
“If were talking about bottom line, let’s just look at our December per capita, which was the highest-grossing ever,” Hill said. “We can’t argue that nonsmoking has impacted us in a negative way when revenue is actually up.”
It’s too early to comment as to whether the casino will create designated gaming areas for smokers, or on what timeline that would happen, said Brian Saunooke. But because both casinos are operating as nonsmoking facilities, no immediate action will be necessary to comply with the ordinance change should it become law. The ordinance still requires Sneed’s signature to become effective, but in light of his verbal support Dec. 9 that signature is likely forthcoming.
Tribal Council passed the measure with eight members in support and four opposed. Painttown Representatives Tommye Saunooke and Dike Sneed voted against it, along with Yellowhill Representatives David Wolfe and T.W. Saunooke.
Woodhouse. But he was livid upon learning that she had taken the $1,000 payment from Cawthorn in August, which he said suggested it was then that the plan was hatched for the congressman to change districts and anoint Woodhouse as his heir.
“My fellow candidates and I have been strong-armed by Michele over these last few months to get out of the race, and we have been denied speaking slots at GOP events by her, and now we learn this,” wrote O’Connell, owner of the storied Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, in a published statement. “Enough is enough … She needs to resign today.”
Woodhouse didn’t respond to The Watchdog’s requests for comment on either the payment or whether she had been promised Cawthorn’s support.
The congressman also has come in for criticism within the conservative ranks. Party activist Cynthia Harman, a longtime Trump loyalist, wrote in the blog, SaveMadisonCounty.org, that “Woodhouse and Cawthorn are con artists, not Patriots. … The money drives their disease of lies and deception. They use the churches to propagate it.”
Even before Cawthorn’s announcement that he was shifting districts, opposition to his renomination was emerging as a serious threat. In addition to Nevarez and O’Connell, recently retired Army Colonel Rod Honeycutt found strong support among the district’s incumbent and former sheriffs, law enforcement officers, other military veterans and backers in Woodfin, where his family has ancestral roots.
Honeycutt, who joined the Army days after his high school graduation and retired 37 years later as a high-ranking officer with two master’s degrees, has avoided criticizing either Cawthorn or Woodhouse. But some of Honeycutt’s supporters — among them many who had backed Cawthorn in 2020 — are unrestrained.
Former Henderson County Sheriff George Erwin, who was instrumental in getting a majority of western North Carolina’s Republican sheriffs to endorse Cawthorn in that election, has publicly apologized for doing so. In an interview for this article, Erwin said that to his knowledge few of those sheriffs will now back Cawthorn because of his actions in cheerleading protesters prior to the January 6 attack on the Capitol to disrupt the presidential-election certification, as well as his blatant refusal to follow the law prohibiting carrying weapons — in Cawthorn’s case a switchblade “combat knife” — on school grounds.
“I am very adamantly opposed to him, and I don’t see how anyone in law enforcement can support him now,” Erwin said. He’s endorsed Honeycutt for the GOP nomination in the primary, now scheduled for May 17. (The North Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the state’s March 2022 primary be delayed, giving courts more time to settle two lawsuits challenging Republican-drawn maps for Congress and the state’s General Assembly.)
The most ironic threat to Cawthorn’s hopes to oversee a two-district domain came Nov. 30 when state Senator Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville declared his candidacy for Cawthorn’s western Carolina seat. Edwards embodies the very Republican establishment that Cawthorn boasted he “would not let happen.”
Edwards’ state senate district overlaps significantly with the redrawn 14th Congressional District, giving him a built-in network of GOP voters and positioning him as the pre-filing frontrunner for the nomination. The senator’s disgust with Cawthorn’s role in that Jan. 6 “stop the steal” rally stems from Cawthorn’s exhortation to the crowd that they should “lightly threaten” any lawmaker who failed to support changes to election law.
“It exacerbates the divisions in our country and has the potential to needlessly place well-meaning citizens, law enforcement officers, and elected officials in harm’s way,” Edwards said in a statement posted to his website.
THE SOLE GOP TEST:
TRUMP OR NOT TRUMP
The emerging opposition to Cawthorn in his current district appears to provide a political rationale for skipping into the new 13th Congressional District, especially knowing he won’t face House Speaker Moore. Although additional candidates may emerge before the filing period for the GOP primary closes at noon Dec. 17, so far, the most experienced rival that Cawthorn may face is Karen Bentley, a former Mecklenburg County commissioner. In an interview with the Watchdog, Bentley, who lives in a western Charlotte suburb, said that while she is realistic about her chances against a high-profile and well-funded candidate, she isn’t deterred. Bentley said she would highlight the “dichotomy between a politician grabbing headlines and one who has a record of governing” in North Carolina’s largest county.
In her favor, nearly 60 percent of the new district’s Republican electorate live in the two counties closest to Charlotte and its media market, Mecklenburg and Gaston. These voters are apt to identify more with the politics of the Republican establishment than with those in the rural western counties where Cawthorn seeks to build his base.
Cawthorn “may have a fight on his hands,” said Republican insider Wayne King, the regional director for then-Congressman Mark Meadows, who resigned to become Trump’s White House chief of staff. Adding to the voterregistration numbers could be still-raw emotions from some Moore supporters who resent the insults Cawthorn hurled at their hometown hero, driving him from the campaign.
Still, as in most of the country, there is one thing that even the most anti-Cawthorn Republicans must not cross if they hope to survive in this uncivil war: to criticize exPresident Trump.
“At this point in time, unless shown a poll pointing otherwise, I don’t see how you can be successful unless you align yourself with Trumpism,” said Bitzer, the political scientist.
“This is very much a cult of personality. Are you for the former president or not? That’s the sole test.” (Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and surrounding communities. Tom Fiedler is a
Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and former executive editor of The Miami Herald, now living in Asheville. He can be reached at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org.)
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
Ghost Town developer Frankie Wood made his case to members of the Maggie Valley business community during a presentation at Elevated Mountain Distilling Company on Monday.
With the air of Custer’s last stand, Wood drew a line in the sand against certain members of the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen and made an impassioned plea to business owners to recognize what he sees as land rights being taken away. His entire case teetered on the connection he made between Ghost Town in the Sky and his other developments throughout the valley.
Organized by the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce, Wood and his allies at Elevated Mountain rallied business owners to answer questions and share details about Ghost Town as well as other projects he has planned. Wood wanted to get their input on what they would like to see in Maggie Valley’s future.
Over 40 people, including Maggie Valley Aldermen Tammy and Phillip Wight, gathered at the site of the former dinner theater to hear what Wood had to say.
GHOST TOWN
Matt Ferguson, chief innovation officer of Storyland Studios — the firm hired to design the new Ghost Town in the Sky — started the meeting off with a detailed presentation of the plans for Ghost Town.
“We’re building a story that touches the emotions, it encompasses all that Ghost Town has to offer, but we want to elevate it from just old west Ghost Town to the ‘in the sky’ part, the uplifting aspect of the story,” said Ferguson.
The plans are expansive, and his presentation included artistic renderings of the proposed project. It included wide-scale modernization of existing assets, the construction of five differently themed levels and the creation of a network of cabins and glamping opportunities for guests.
Level one is imagined as Latitude Landing. This would include the current Ghost Town parking lot which would introduce the brand with a decorative front gate. There are also plans to turn the existing Aframe building into a shopping and dining area and construct a lodge style hotel on the opposite side of the lot.
“We want to use modern technology whether it’s wristbands or it’s tickets on your phone that would allow people to go into the park, go into the core of Ghost Town and just enjoy it as another part of Maggie Valley, without riding all the rides,” said Ferguson.
The next level is currently nicknamed Boojum Territory, after the Appalachian sasquatch legend. This level would be nature themed, with a sense of discovery. The main portion of this level would be the hidden village of the boojum with natural, treehouselike architecture. Outdoor recreation would include zip lines, rock climbing and a roller coaster. An evening light show would imitate synchronous fireflies.
Leading from the Boojum Territory up to the classic Ghost Town would be Cherokee Trail. This level seems to be in the midst of an identity crisis. Despite its name, Ferguson said it would honor the history of the first frontier, celebrating famous pioneers as well as the native people of the area.
“A little bit of a nod to the Native Americans of this area,” said Ferguson.
Next up on the mountain visitors would encounter the original Ghost Town. The effort here is to bring back something as close to the original theme park as possible, with the train, can-can and music shows, cowboy stunt shows and dining. Here there would also be modernized retail opportunities that feature Appalachian crafts and a moonshine demonstration.
“This is all about bringing the Ghost Town back to life, everything you remember and even better,” said Ferguson.
The final level, above the original Ghost Town, is being called Cloud Camp, for now. This level would be dedicated to celebrating the Native history of the area. There would be Native dancing and craft demonstrations as well as Native history. It would also be home to two large roller coasters and a Ghost Riders in the Sky show.
There are plans for a boutique hotel on top of the mountain, themed for the national parks and incorporating Native American architecture.
One attendant at the meeting asked, “Have you been in talks with Cherokee about Ghost Town or how that would impact them, or how Harrah’s and Ghost Town would have any affiliation with each other?”
Storyland has not reached out to Cherokee, though Ferguson said that “absolutely we want to talk with them and collaborate with them.”
One attendant raised concerns about sewer and water at Ghost Town, as the property has never been connected to the town’s sewer and water system.
“The town has made commitments that once we know what we need, they’ll be with us on it,” said David Angel, owner of Elevated Mountain Distilling.
“That’s at a state level, too,” Phillip Wight chimed in. “There’s already grant money, we just have to have that plan in place, we can talk to Mr. (Mark) Pless (Haywood’s state House representative) down in Raleigh. That is available, it just has to be seized upon for the infrastructure of sewer and water.”
The team could not give a timeline or a budget for the project, though Ferguson did say that the park would be constructed in phases and that if they could start tomorrow, the parking lot portion could be completed in one and a half years.
One member of the audience asked Ferguson who would work at Ghost Town and where they would live. Ferguson insinuated that the other properties Wood is working to develop in the Valley are intended for workforce housing. Ferguson estimates that a minimum of 200 jobs would be created from the new Ghost Town in the Sky.
Following Ferguson’s presentation about the park, Amber Keeney, manager at Sippers in the Valley, asked the question that seemed to be on everyone’s mind: “So, there was a mention of needing the local business owners’ support. What would that look like so far as the local business owners and how could they support a project like this?”
Keeney’s family opened the Sippers in the Valley Coffee shop in 2016. They decided on Maggie Valley because of the excitement surrounding the possible opening of Ghost Town at that time. The opening never panned out, but Keeney hopes that this time around it will, and that the influx of visitors will help her business.
Matt Ferguson of Storyland Studios presents plans for Ghost Town in the
Sky. Hannah McLeod photo
OTHER PROPERTIES
Before the next presentation from Angel could begin, an attendee asked how the pieces actually fit together.
“Mr. Wood, many of the projects that you’ve started have had some controversy around them, and they’re smaller projects here in the valley floor. I don’t really see how that relates to the mountain. The issues I’ve heard from other people are things like density issues, a number of houses going in and properties becoming more dense here on the valley floor, which is different in my mind from what you’re suggesting on the mountain. Can you explain some of that? And maybe it would be more palatable if folks saw the investment on the mountain, instead of the valley floor.”
Angel began his attempt to explain the connection by noting the lack of available workforce. This problem, he said, is exacerbated by a shortage of affordable housing. He went on to define a 1031 property exchange, which allows a person to avoid capital gains taxes when selling an investment property by reinvesting proceeds from the sale within certain time limits.
“Developers work with people and want to do that,” said Angel. “One of the things I’ve learned from working with Frankie is he has a network of people who have lots of money to spend because they have lots of money that they’re selling things and bringing in, and they need to reinvest that. So, he works with them as the developer.”
Angel said this is the reason Wood’s name is on some of the properties he is working to develop and not on others. According to Angel, this has been a source of misinformation around Wood’s dealings in Maggie Valley. Wood stressed that much of the information circulating about him was false. He insisted that he was ready and willing to show his plans to the F
community, regularly if it was what people wanted.
“We’ll do it once a month, I don’t care because we’ve got nothing to hide,” said Wood.
Angel also explained to the crowd the nature of PUDs, or planned unit developments. He mentioned that the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen is likely to review what is allowed within a PUD, as well as the possibility of restricting all RV parks and campgrounds within C-1 and C-2 zoning after newly-elected Alderman Jim Owens recommended the move during his first board of aldermen meeting.
The PowerPoint Angel had prepared contained slides with images of several Maggie Valley properties not related to Ghost Town that Wood is working to develop. However, questions from the crowd and exhortations from Wood himself took precedence, and Angel never finished what he had prepared.
ISSUES WITH THE TOWN
The meeting eventually took a turn toward what seemed to be the critical issue for Wood and Angel — their qualms with a slew of zoning decisions by the board of aldermen. Most importantly, they are concerned about the possibility that the board will amend its current policy in order to ban campgrounds and RV parks from C-1 and C-2 zoning — even in the case of a PUD, — until its Unified Land Ordinance is adopted. This will be the first Unified Land Ordinance in Maggie Valley’s history.
“What’s being forced on us right now is basically just a campaign promise to stop RV parks, stop campgrounds and stop anything like that until the UDO is adopted,” said Angel.
Wood claimed that this ruling would affect the RV PUD that was approved earlier this year. However, according to Town Manager Nathan Clark, any ruling to prevent RV Parks or Campgrounds from C-1 and C-2 zoning, even in the case of a PUD, would not overturn previously approved PUDs.
“Because he already has a permit, it wouldn’t affect his building on that land,” said Clark. “At the January meeting, a more in-depth discussion will take place about who is affected and why.”
Wood and Angel were clear about their underlying message — the zoning restrictions aren’t only a problem for Wood and his developments, they are a direct infringement on the rights of all landowners in Maggie Valley.
“How do we slow it down? Because I don’t want y’alls property to be restricted because of what I was guaranteed to do. They’re trying now to restrict everybody’s property. Because it’s the only way they can do it. They can’t just target me like they’ve been doing, so they gotta get all local folks, business owners in this town and go and more or less put a restriction on their properties and devalue your property,” said Wood. “The new aldermen come in, they’re gonna take over, the mayor’s gonna take over, bottom line, they’re gonna tell us what we’re going do with our properties. They don’t want the growth. They made that perfectly clear. A retirement community, that’s all they want. They should have told us that before we spent millions of dollars in this community.”
The argument hinges on the discrepancy between zoning recommendations from the planning board and zoning decisions made by the board of aldermen. Before aldermen can vote on how to zone a certain property, they receive a recommendation from town staff. The town planner works with the planning board to determine what the best zoning is for a property, taking into consideration, among other things, the request of the landowner.
According to Town Attorney Craig Justus, one thing that cannot be taken into consideration during the zoning process is a landowner’s plans for the property.
Wood has had at least one property that has not been zoned according to town staff and planning board recommendations. He claims this is due to personal prejudice. The property, on Campbell Creek, was requested to be zoned R-3, C-2 split zoning. The town staff and planning board investigated, and recommended the R-3, C-2 split zoning to the board of aldermen. Following public input and board discussion, the board did not take the recommendation of staff and zoned the property R-2.
According to Angel, a similar instance happened during the zoning process for Wood’s Ferguson Hill property. Wood had requested R-3 zoning, staff investigated and recommended R-3 zoning to the board, and the board of aldermen decided on an R-1, R-3 split zoning.
Adam Hambleton, a business owner, expressed a similar issue with the zoning process in Maggie Valley.
“So how do we stop that?” asked Keeney. “Because those five people on that board have proven before that no matter how passionate a couple of them are, all it takes is one mayor and a couple of friends to shut it down mid track. No matter how passionate, what papers, what studies …. So how do we prevent that from happening?”
The consensus? Take it to the town board. Urge the board to accept zoning recommendations as they are determined by town staff.
“Get behind Kaitland Finkle [Maggie Valley Town Planner], let her do her research, let the planner do their research and make their recommendations,” said Hambleton.
“They want to build and run this community as a 100% retirement community. But, all your local businesses depend on the tourist people coming through. Well, they’ve made it point blank that it is a retirement community. And I don’t think everybody just wants that,” said Wood.
The call for a public hearing and direction for staff to draft a text amendment is on the agenda for the Dec. 14 board of aldermen meeting, which happened after press time this week. If the motion passes at that meeting, the public hearing will take place at the board’s January meeting.
“I would like for everyone to just realize what is happening in the community. You’ve got people like us that really want the best,” said Wood. “They have stomped me to the ground until they almost pushed me out. And the only reason I haven’t is for some of the good folks like you guys here in this town. That’s the only reason I ain’t done left here. And I’m trying my best to stick it out.”
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