Haywood County Commissioner Wade Francis wants to put the new justice center and jail on Ratcliff Cove, and he’s going public with his opinion in hopes of avoiding accusations of closed-door decision making.

“I believe in buying the site John Queen has offered on Ratcliff Cove Road,” said Francis.

“And I think I should let people know before the fact rather than after. That way they can contact me about what they think,” he said.

Haywood County Commissioner Mary Ann Enloe, however, thinks the Ratcliff Cove site is not a good one. She supported an Oct. 1 decision to move the justice center and jail to a site in Hazelwood. However, the town refused to rezone the property, and commissioners also began eyeing the Queen site.

Enloe says commissioners plan to put up earnest money to buy the Queen property at their Dec. 3 meeting.

“The citizens of Haywood County need to let the other commissioners know their thoughts before Dec. 3,” said Enloe.

Whatever the county decides, however, it may run into problems with the town of Waynesville. Mayor Henry Foy said he is opposed to annexing the area. State law mandates that Superior Court be held in the county seat, which is Waynesville. The area is also zoned residential and would require new zoning.

“No, I cannot see annexing out to Ratcliff Cove Road,” said Foy. “I can’t see that as being beneficial to the town.”

Foy said the courthouse would be nontaxable, adding nothing to the town’s tax base.

He also expressd concern about the future use of the existing courthouse.

“That has been put on the back burner, and it is the top concern for the town. What is their plan for that?” asked Foy.

Foy said a financial impact study of moving the courthouse out of downtown should be done. He said he would vote for the town to pay part of the cost of such a study. As a last resort, Foy said perhaps a vote of the citizens should be held to determine where they want the justice center to be.

“That could be a last resort before we considered annexing,” said Foy.

County commissioners went into closed session Nov. 19 to discuss an offer for land owned by Queen and the Whisenhunts. The property, which includes The Waynesville Drive-In and Queen’s cattle feed lot, is reportedly being offered for about $90,000 an acre. Each of the property owners is reportedly offering 10 acres, for a total of about 20 acres at $1.8 million.

Francis said he usually is very conservative with taxpayer money, but in this case believes that the new justice center and jail should be “the most prestigious building in the county and at the best site possible.”

“I feel we need to go overboard because this is something that will benefit the whole county for 50 years,” Francis said.

Francis said he will vote to buy the land for the jail and justice center but wants to leave county offices — county administration, finance, and tax offices — at the downtown site. However, he said he would not vote against his fellow commissioners if they want to move those offices to the new location.

New estimates put together by the county put the cost of the project at $30 million without a parking deck.

Enloe thinks leaving the justice center downtown is the second best option. Three other commissioners — Bill Noland, Carlyle Ferguson, and Chairman Jim Stevens — have all said a downtown site was no longer a consideration. If they stick to previous statements about not locating downtown, then the Queen site appears to be gaining momentum as the likely choice.

The fact that the proposed Ratcliffe Cove site would be just off the Old Asheville Highway has not gone unnoticed. When Queen offered the land to the county, he mentioned that the road was slated for widening and improving, which would make the facility more accessible to taxpayers.

Queen was one of the leaders of a group of property owners who argued to have the road widened to five lanes from Lowes to the town limits.

If the courthouse was built on the Queen site, it would “free up his remaining acres to zoning other than residential, which in turn would add considerable value to already valuable acreage,” said Enloe.

Haywood County commissioners supported the proposal to five-lane Old Asheville Highway, but the town of Waynesville and other citizens lobbied the Department of Transportation for a road with a divided grassy median, bike lanes and a slower speed limit.

The state decided on a compromise plan, but the issue created a rift between many in the community. Francis, who lives near Ratcliffe Cove Road, said he had no personal motives for supporting building the justice center on Ratcliffe Cove Road.

“This is the best site for Haywood County. It doen’t have anything to do with Wade Francis whatsoever,“ said Francis.

 

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