Gas station developers to remove prominent Black Mountain maple tree
Residents voice opposition to landscaping design on N.C. 9
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
August 14, 2025
Plans to construct a gas station at the intersection of N.C. 9 and Vance Avenue in Black Mountain include the removal of a prominent maple tree. While the development is allowed by right in the highway business district, multiple local residents and business owners are opposing the plan to remove the prominent tree. Photo by Fred McCormick
The planned development of a Circle K, at the intersection of N.C. 9 and Vance Avenue, will include the removal of a prominent sugar maple tree, Town of Black Mountain officials confirmed, Aug. 11, when town council gathered for its regular monthly meeting.
The design, allowed by right within the highway business zoning district in which the property is located, has been the subject of opposition for multiple local residents.
Developers met with Town representatives for a pre-application meeting about the vacant property in August of 2023, followed that October by a technical review that included the fire marshal, zoning administrator, stormwater technician, building inspector and public works staff. An application for a commercial permit for the 1.87-acre lot was submitted last October, and approved, July 18, as a use by right in the highway business district.
While the design, which extends from N.C 9 and bisects the historic preservation district to Black Mountain Avenue, includes plans to plant 13 trees and 237 evergreen shrubs, it requires the removal of the tree.
“We are only able to say yes or no based on the ordinance that’s in place,” Black Mountain Planning Director Michelle Kennedy told elected officials. “It really doesn’t matter what our personal opinions are, or what community opinions are, we have to go back to local and state regulatory ordinances or laws.”
The maple tree was planted as part of a landscape design in 1990, according to Kennedy. Developers must remove it to build stormwater infrastructure on the site, she added.
“This is not a 150- or 200-year-old tree. It’s a relatively young tree, but it’s a big tree,” she said. “It was a landscape tree, like the landscape trees Circle K will be putting in for this project.”
The plans submitted by the developer, she added, go “well beyond” the minimum requirements for the zoning district.
“As town staff, our only option is to approve the project,” Kennedy said.
While some citizens have expressed their opposition to the removal of the tree with signs along the sidewalk on N.C. 9, five local residents voiced their concerns to town council in the August meeting.
Charissa Gulotta, co-owner of Louise’s Kitchen, which occupies the oldest wooden building in town and sits adjacent to the proposed designed, questioned the appropriateness of a gas station in that location.
“I understand progress and that our town will grow. I want it to; I have a restaurant,” she said. “But, I want us to be thoughtful about that growth. Do we need another gas station? And, what about the effects on the neighboring businesses, the environment and its impact on our town?”
Gulotta advocated for more transparency and better communication regarding future developments.
“We could find a way to make a policy to inform businesses and residents about developments while there is still a chance to do something about it,” she said. “We didn’t find out all the ways this would impact us until so very recently. And, that’s been challenging to deal with.”
Mandie Carter, a lifelong resident of Black Mountain, described a feeling helplessness.
“I just want you to reflect on how you will feel when you pass by that single place and it looks nothing like what it looks like now,” she said. “It will be full of neon lights, it will be empty and it was a decision that was made without transparency to the community.”
Reid Pomeroy, another lifelong resident of the town, contrasted the decision to remove the tree with the community’s reputation for being “neighborly.”
“Taking down that tree and ruining the landscape of part of our town is the opposite of neighborly,” she said. “I’m not here tonight to speak against having another gas station, but rather to speak out against the lack of cooperation, kindness and respect this project has shown our town. It truly is a matter of respect.”
Stephanie Wilder, owner of Chifferobe Home & Garden in downtown Black Mountain, made an emotional appeal to the elected leaders.
“If I were a business owner investing that much money into building a facility in this town, I wouldn’t want to enter into it with ill will,” she said. “The people of this town will have ill will against that business.”