Black Mountain property owner decries Town’s abatement measure

Fencing installed around former RailYard property to prevent parking violations

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
August 11, 2025

A crew constructs fencing around a lot at 141 South Richardson Boulevard in Black Mountain, as the Town attempts to abate repeated parking violations along Sutton and South Ridgeway Avenues. Photo by Fred McCormick

The decision to erect a chain-link fence around a section of property on South Richardson Avenue in Black Mountain to abate repeated parking violations on Sutton Avenue and South Ridgeway Avenue is drawing criticism from the owner of the vacant lot.

While Town of Black Mountain officials contend the Aug. 7 and 8 installation of the fencing was necessary to address a public safety concern, John Richardson, who owns the former site of the RailYard, believes the measure was heavy-handed.

Richardson, who purchased the 1.09-acre property in 2021, before opening an indoor and outdoor bar, restaurant and live music venue in 2023, closed the RailYard in August of 2024. Citing an “economic downturn,” the longtime Black Mountain business owner closed another restaurant, the Black Mountain Pizza & Ale House, earlier this year.

While the property owner was issued temporary permits to allow him to open the RailYard, officials from the Town planning department were requiring “permanent resolutions” to the conditions of the site by February of 2024. With Tropical Storm Helene causing widespread damage to the area last September, Richardson leased the space to a disaster relief organization through the following March.

He received a notice from the Town of Black Mountain, May 22, citing 10 violations, ranging from the presence of intermodal shipping containers, a leaking grease dumpster and debris in the floodplain, and revoking all permits and the temporary certificate of occupancy for the stage and Phase II of the design. The notice informed Richardson that “parking on the lot must cease and be marked off as ‘No Parking.’”

Nine of the 10 violations were remedied on or before the town was set to begin the process of abatement, June 10, according to Black Mountain Planning Director Michelle Kennedy.

“Those violations were cleared the day we showed up to abate them,” Kennedy said. “The day the Town showed up, the property owner decided to take care of them himself.”

Traffic cones with yellow caution tape blocking the area were put up to prevent people from parking on the property, but the measure proved ineffective, according to a notice of violation issued, July 1, to Richardson.

“You complied with the requirement to secure your property along South Ridgeway Avenue and Sutton Avenue by installing caution tape and cones,” the letter stated. “We deemed this acceptable as long as the property remained secure via this method. As of yesterday evening, the tape and cones have been damaged and removed, and illegal parking is occurring.”

Parking along the southern and eastern edges of the property, both of which border a curve, blocks the view of motorists and pedestrians, posing a risk to public safety, according to Town officials.

The most recent notice received by Richardson required him to “install a more permanent barrier to prevent any further illegal parking” within 10 days. The letter added that failure to add the required barrier within 10 days would result in the Town proceeding with abatement and possible fines up to $500.

“I went out there and replaced the cones with posts, put the tape back up and added more ‘no parking’ and ‘tow away zone’ signs,” Richardson said.

While motorists who ignored the property owner’s directive to not park on the lot share responsibility for the hazard, according to Kennedy, the notice issued to Richardson directed him to secure the property in a way that would not allow illegal parking.

“I don’t know how to do that,” Richardson said. “The letter they sent to me said I needed to make it reasonably clear that parking is not allowed. I think if you showed 10 people a picture of a bunch of no parking and tow away signs, at least nine of them would understand parking isn’t allowed.”

The Town issued a permit allowing the construction of the fence on July 25. While out of town, Richardson received a phone call from an employee, Aug. 7, informing him that a fence was being built around his property.

“I thought they were joking at first,” he said. “I’ve operated businesses in this Town for over 15 years, and I’ve never even heard of anything like this.”

While the owner directed motorists not to park on his property, Kennedy contends the issue is one that was created by RailYard.

“If a car is parked in a place that it isn’t supposed to be parked, that is a Black Mountain Police issue,” she said. “The second part of that is if a property owner has been issued a notification to secure property in a way that stops illegal parking that was created by that owner, they have a responsibility to do so. The RailYard created that as a parking location.”

Richardson disputes that claim.

“People have been parking on that property long before I owned it,” he said. “And, I didn’t create the parking issues in this Town, they’ve been here for as long as I can remember.”

The Town will continue to ensure the property remains secured, according to Kennedy.

“It will remain secured until the property owner approaches us and prepared to secure the property on his own,” she said. “A lien will be placed on the property for the cost of the fence.”

Richardson believes Town officials should work with him to find a more suitable solution.

“I just closed down a restaurant in the middle of all of this and, even though the RailYard didn’t work out, I was trying to bring something new and special to Black Mountain,” he said. “It blows my mind that anyone would believe this is the best use of resources for a town this size, and it’s not something I could’ve imagined just a few years ago.”