Commissioners backing off training center, shooting range on Macedonia Road

SALUDA — For six weeks, many residents and business owners in Saluda have battled to save their way of life, the peace and beauty of the area, and their livelihoods from a police training center they believed would have destroyed all three.

On Wednesday, it appeared that their efforts had paid off.

In their Wednesday meeting, the Henderson County commissioners voted not to exercise the contract to purchase 99 acres on Macedonia Road. The county had placed a contract on the property located at 2328 Macedonia Road as a possible location for a law enforcement training center and shooting range.

In addition to over looking the Green River and being next to the North Carolina Game Lands, the property is bordered by several residents who moved there for the peace and quiet, the wildlife and an outdoor lifestyle.

“It’s hard to believe what the last six weeks has involved and what it has been like,” said Susan McHugh, who lives next to the Macedonia Road property. “I’m glad the commissioners listened to the citizens and made a good decision to walk away from the property.”

Item F on the consent agenda for Wednesday’s meeting requested the board to,  “. . . direct staff to not complete the purchase of Macedonia Road site.”

With no discussion, the Henderson County commissioners accepted the consent agenda.

Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt said he recommended the commissioners suspend further work on the project until the incoming sheriff assesses and determines the overall needs of the department. On May 8, challenger Lowell Griffin defeated incumbent Sheriff Charles McDonald for the Republican nomination for sheriff, who will now run unopposed for the position in November.

“What happens on that river [Green River] affects the downtown businesses,” said Cathy Jackson, a Saluda realtor who has served on the Saluda Business Association, the Saluda Downtown Foundation and publishes the online newsletter, “Saluda Lifestyles.”

Because the property overlooked the Green River, any shooting or environmental threats coming from the property would affect the tourism on the river, which is much of Saluda’s business, Jackson said.

“So much of our tourism happens on the river,” she said. “White water kayaking, rafting, camping, hiking.”

“We all depend on the outdoor activities for our businesses,” said Melanie Talbot, who has owned Green River Barbecue in Saluda for 35 years.

Talbot said she was concerned  that if the law enforcement training center and shooting range was built, it would have affected her business and therefore her employees.

“I have quite a few single mothers and entire families [who] work for me,” she said. “They rely on the income from the restaurant.”

Nancy Wilson, who owns Camp Wayfarer for children, expressed great concern that the shooting range would have affected their camp activities as well as the peace and the interaction with nature that the young visitors came for.

“We’re all celebrating the commissioners’ decision, because the Macedonia Road site was illogical and not at all appropriate,” she said.

“This is the best outcome we could have hoped for,” said Sara Bell, owner of the Gorge Zip Line Canopy Adventure and Green River Adventures. The zip line operates a ridge over from the Macedonia Road property, and would have been affected by the shooting range.

“Watching Henderson County go through this process has made me so thrilled to be a Polk County resident and business owner,” Bell said. “We’re so lucky to have the leadership we have. It makes Polk County feel very transparent.”

Molecular biologist Alex Harvey lives next to the Macedonia Road property, and hikes it regularly.

“We’re very happy with the outcome and the decision the county made,” he said.

McHugh, her husband Tom, Harvey, Jackson and others who formed the group, Save Saluda, are now considering what is next for the property.

They would like to place the property in a trust, make it part of the game lands, or, in some other way, be able to preserve its beauty, its abundant wildlife, the 100-year-old trees and the clear fresh spring water that flows abundantly from several creeks to feed the Green River.

However, as McHugh and Harvey have both said, such an undertaking would cost a lot. They are not sure what will happen, but for now, the hawks, the deer, the bobcats, the blueberry bushes, the old forest and the healthy grove of Hemlocks appear safe.