Residents, conservationists tell committee to tighten Mountainside Overlay District amid proposed Paris Mountain resort

Three members of the public told the Transportation and Land Use Committee on Jan. 22 that the county should strengthen protections for the Mountainside Overlay District to prevent commercial encroachment on Paris Mountain.

Peter Weeks of Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains said investors had purchased “147 acres along the ridgeline of the Blue Ridge adjacent to Sky Meadows State Park and the Appalachian Trail” and warned the parcel could be turned into a restaurant, spa and hotels if county standards are loosened. “This development is going to have a very bad precedent,” Weeks said, citing estimates of water use and concern about the monetization of the mountains.

Lost Creek Winery owner Todd Henkel told the committee draft rules that limit land disturbance to about 600 square feet would block small agricultural businesses from building necessary farm facilities. “Even at that modest scale our facilities require space,” Henkel said, describing typical winery slabs and farm buildings that together require roughly 4,500 square feet of slab area.

Tia Erman of the Piedmont Environmental Council urged the committee to keep 300‑foot spring and sensitive‑feature buffers and to retain tree‑conservation requirements, saying buffers and county oversight are needed to prevent unauthorized grading and erosion on steep slopes. “If we do not wish to see a mountain covered in these resorts… this is the moment to act,” she said.

The remarks came as staff and supervisors prepared a set of proposed modifications to MOD rules; several later committee votes moved smaller‑scale relief into administrative channels while retaining heightened scrutiny for larger or high‑impact projects.