Proposed Black Mountain development prioritizes affordable housing for Helene survivors

Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders seek special use permit to build 56 units on Blue Ridge Road

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 16, 2025

A proposal by Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders is seeking a special use permit to develop 56 dwellings in Black Mountain. If approved, the community land trust would allow local residents impacted by Helene to purchase homes, while the nonprofit trust retains the land. Photo by Fred McCormick

A plan to develop nearly 10 acres of land in Black Mountain for the construction of 56 dwellings, including single family homes and duplexes, prioritizes affordable housing for local residents struggling to rebuild after Tropical Storm Helene.

The development, proposed by Fuller Disaster ReBuilders, would utilize a community land trust model to allow qualified buyers to purchase homes on leased lots. The nonprofit organization, which has rebuilt nearly 20 homes in the region since the natural disaster, will hold a public question and answer forum on the project at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, beginning at 6 p.m., Thursday, July 17.

Located southwest of the intersection of Blue Ridge Road and South Blue Ridge Road, the 9.98-acre pasture was identified by Fuller Center as a potential site on which to build “homes for working people who were affected by (Tropical Storm) Helene,” according to Nathan West, a longtime Swannanoa Valley resident who was hired last November to direct the nonprofit organization’s relief and recovery efforts in Western N.C.

While Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders, a Christian organization founded in 2005 to serve victims of major disasters, has partnered with various community organizations to construct or repair hundreds of homes in throughout the country, the Black Mountain proposal represents a unique approach for the nonprofit, according to West.

“Typically, when Fuller Center goes into a disaster zone and enters this phase of reconstruction, they work with towns they are in and often those municipalities will donate land, or they’re in an area where they can acquire land for a few thousand dollars,” West said. “Obviously, it’s not the same in Western N.C., as far as pricing and land availability.”

West, an area real estate agent with a background in construction and insurance adjusting, began considering a Community Land Trust model to meet accommodate the needs in the Swannanoa Valley.

“During COVID, I started doing some research on affordable housing models and I came across the CLT model and did a little reading on it and put it aside,” he said. “After the storm, I started thinking about how costly it is to purchase land that you can build on. So, I thought it might work if someone could find a parcel large enough to build multiple homes and reduce the base costs of what goes into each individual lot.”

The CLT structure allows a nonprofit organization to acquire and hold land on which homes are built and sold to qualified buyers. In an effort to provide long-term affordable housing, the trust retains ownership of the land.

The approach, according to West, could offer a repeatable model capable of assisting working class families and residents facing possible displacement in the wake of natural disasters.

“This is something that can be used in expensive areas that may have a work force living along rivers, or other higher-risk areas,” he said. “We’re also thinking about people who have lived here for generations, maybe have a home that has been handed down to them, and might make enough to barely survive here. When you think about all the people around this region who need land for a new home because they can’t rebuild on their property, they have no real options around here that make sense.”

Fuller Center, which was awarded an $850,000 grant through the Community Foundation of WNC last June to assist with the development of the site, is seeking a special use permit from the Town of Black Mountain Zoning Board of Adjustment that would allow the organization to exceed the four units per acre allowed within the Town Residential zoning district. Representatives of the organization were initially scheduled to present the request to the ZBA, July 17, before pausing the application process in response to feedback on social media, according to West.

“We do plan to file our application for the special use permit in time for the August meeting, but in an effort to educate the community on what we’re trying to do, we thought it was important to have a public question and answer session,” he said. “We don’t want to force this through, but we intend to move ahead with this project. So, we welcome the opportunity respond to potential concerns.”

If the permit is approved, the organization intends to purchase of the property and begin development of the site, according to West.

“The purpose of this special use request is to stretch our dollars as far as we can take them,” he said. “This will allow us to develop on one side of this property, out of the existing 100-year floodplain, and incorporate a dog park, community gardens and leave around 50% of this land as untouched green space. So this permit not only allows us to increase density, it also lets us use the property efficiently while being better stewards of it.”

The CLT will prioritize Swannanoa Valley residents who were impacted by Helene, according to West.

“We’ll start in the valley and work our way out from there,” he said. “If somebody here owned a home, lost it in Helene, can show they were in good standing and are able to qualify for a mortgage, they will be at the top of the list.”

The goal of the project is to offer homes at a maximum price point of $250,000, with a target range of $180,000.

“We want to help people move forward with an opportunity to continue to live here,” West said.

The CLT structure allows homeowners to sell their homes back to the trust and utilize a percentage of equity earned towards a traditional mortgage. An additional percentage of the equity gained will remain with the trust for the continued stewardship of the property, while rolling over to the next homeowner. The system, which would remain in place for 99 years, is intended to maintain affordability within the community.

The community will contain a combination of one- and two-story dwellings, featuring two to three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“We’re excited about this, because this model allows us to help Helene survivors and for them to continue to live in this amazing place and not be forced out of here with a $2,600 a month rent,” West said. “Most importantly, it keeps the heartbeat of our community here in the valley.”