Neighbors contest Stern driveway variance; hearing continued after standing dispute

The Buncombe County Board of Adjustment heard extended testimony, rival claims and standing challenges on a stormwater variance request for a Fairview property before continuing the matter to a later meeting to allow parties to explore alternate access options.

Planning staff said the application, filed as ZPH2025-00005, seeks permission to allow a driveway to encroach into a 30-foot vegetative stream setback on a 10.1-acre parcel at 99999 Old Fort Road in Fairview that is served by well and septic and located in the steep-slope overlay. Planning coordinator Savannah Glantz said the property is zoned open-use and that the proposal stems from limited deeded access: “The access to this property is limited to a deeded right of way that is less than 30 feet landward of the surface water,” she said.

Victoria Hoyland, the county’s stormwater engineer, told the board the county’s low-density stormwater rules generally prohibit built-upon area within 30 feet of a stream bank and allow only limited, near-perpendicular crossings where impacts are minimized. “They are proposing a driveway within the vegetated setback in a manner that is inconsistent with what we typically will approve,” Hoyland said. She added that the existing logging…