Residents of Tuckasegee in Jackson County heard first hand from River Rock developers last week they would do everything possible to protect the mountains and their cherished way of life as they build the 1,800-acre gated community.

The developers pledged to employ low-impact, environmentally friendly techniques at every bend in the road: an organic golf course, a ban on outdoor watering, limits on outdoor lighting to protect the night sky, and conservation easements on as many as 700 acres considered unbuildable due to steep slopes.

“We are talking about establishing a model for how you develop in the mountains,” said Jim Pitts, the president of Legasus, the company developing River Rock.

That didn’t make it any better for most residents, who aren’t happy about the hundreds of homes that will be added to their neck of the woods over the next 15 years, the projected build-out phase for the development.

The developers hosted a roundtable discussion last Wednesday (July 16) with neighbors in the area and key environmental players in the county, including the Watershed Association for the Tuckaseigee River. About two dozen people attended to hear from the representatives of River Rock.

Pitts said the community will have little impact on the permanent residents of Tuckasegee.

“For the most part, these are second homes. The majority will be using these homes for weekend and summer use,” said Pitts. As a result, they will be using up little of the region’s precious ground water, a major concern for an area that relies on a limited underground water table for its wells.

But the transient nature of second-home owners posed another concern for some — a fear that the sense of place, identity and community would be eroded.

“The whole dynamic of people coming in from the outside for a couple weeks, a couple months, into a rural community seems very unnatural to me,” said Thomas Crowe, a resident of the area. “As a gated community they will be isolated. We are talking about something that operates on its own outside the gamut of the original community. In the long run, I am concerned Jackson County is going to be altered forever over time by this sort of dynamic.”

Pitts pointed out that the developers had come to residents of the community voluntarily to create a dialogue.

“There’s good developers and bad developers, and we’ve always considered ourselves good developers,” Pitts said.

Many residents are skeptical, however. River Rock sought an exemption from the county’s development regulations before they went into effect last year, succeeding in their application to be grandfathered in.

“Why were you so anxious to get this grandfathered in before the county ordinances?” asked Mary Jo Cobb, an area resident. “That did not sit well with many people.”

But Pitts said they will adhere to the spirit and intent of Jackson’s development regulations, mirroring them in most aspects. For example, rules will dictate how much land can be disturbed on a lot and will require each lot to capture its own storm water.

One area in which River Rock deviates from the county regulations is density. River Rock will have more homes than would be allowed if following Jackson’s ordinance. That concerned residents about how visible the houses would be.

“It’s very disturbing to look up and see the whole side of the mountain developed — very, very undesirable,” said Vance Millsap, a local farmer.

Pitts said there will be rules of how many trees homeowners can cut down, overseen by an architectural review board.

“We aren’t going to allow people to go in and clear big vistas for views. We are going to help them create vista windows,” said Pitts.

River Rock is one of five developments in Jackson County by a company called Legasus. Together, the developments total 3,500 acres. The others are located in Glenville, Little Canada and Cullowhee. River Rock is the largest of the five.