Revitalizing Southeastern Communities
Land-of-Sky Regional Council in Asheville, NC Takes On
Brownfields with Regional Planning
The Land-of-Sky Regional Council in North Carolina is utilizing some exciting and innovative tools to
address environmental issues in the region, including technical and financial assistance to local
governments and potential brownfields property owners. Additionally, they have been successful in
removing certain barriers to the redevelopment of brownfields properties by assisting property
owners in obtaining liability protection when merited.
A multi-county local government planning and development organization, Land-of-Sky is one of 18 such
organizations in the state. It serves a region that includes the counties of Buncombe, Henderson,
Madison and Transylvania. The region is characterized by a mixture of isolated rural areas, small
towns, urban communities, and rapidly growing suburban or "fringe city" areas, with a combined
population of 344,472. In its mission statement, Land-of-Sky Regional Council commits to "work with
local governments, the Region's leadership and state and federal agencies to foster desirable social,
economic, cultural and ecological conditions" in the counties served.
Regional Councils lend a "competitive advantage" to small and rural communities that find themselves
vying with large cities for limited state and federal funding, said Ron Townley, Senior Planner for Land-
of-Sky. By pooling their expertise and resources in the largely Appalachian region, local governments
unable to underwrite new initiatives can pursue state and federal grants to address critical
environmental issues.
Through its Regional Brownfields Initiative (RBI)—a partnership of economic developers, local officials,
bankers, environmental planners, realtors and community members—the Council has assumed an
active role in brownfields redevelopment. The RBI is an outgrowth of a Brownfields workshop hosted
by the Council at a local convention center. A follow-up survey indicated a preference among
participants for processing Brownfields grant applications through the regional council. The Regional
Brownfields Initiative crosses jurisdictional boundaries to forge multiple and diverse partnerships that
will serve the region on a long-term basis.
Land-of-Sky's RBI is guided by its Brownfields Advisory Group. Members of the Advisory Group are
local officials, community organizations, business owners, and regulatory and legal experts, among
others. The Advisory Group identifies properties with possible contamination that have good
redevelopment potential. Besides site selection, five workgroups select and oversee the work of
consultants and a financial manager, and conduct an education and outreach program.
In its initial proposal to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, two areas were targeted for
Brownfields assessment grant applications. One area, the French Broad Riverfront adjacent to

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downtown Asheville, borders neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates and lowest median family
incomes in Buncombe County. The other, an abandoned lumber treatment facility in the Town of
Fletcher, is slated to become the new town center and central business district. Land-of-Sky was
awarded two new assessment grants of $200,000 each in 2004, and revolving loan fund grants totaling
one million dollars.
Contact:
Ron Townley
Senior Planner
Land-of Sky-Regional Council
828-251-6622

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Revitalizing Southeastern Communities
Selma, AL Uses Brownfield Redevelopment to Sustain Small-Town Heritage
When one thinks about rurai America's landscape, the word "frontier" comes to mind. Just as the
definition of the word frontier suggests, rural America is the compilation of regions at or beyond the
edge of settled areas. These regions are often considered to be largely undeveloped or depending on
one's view, underdeveloped.
As the U.S. edges toward the projected population of nearly 400 million in 2050, these rural regions
are bound to keep growing. Within these regions some small metropolises, not quite rural, are
cropping up and more or less functioning in rural isolation.
Micropolitan Statistical Areas
In response to this phenomenon, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget developed a classification
to quantify growth and allows these small cities to enable statistical consolidation with metropolitan
areas, as needed. It's called the micropolitan statistical area, and generally encompasses a county that
has at least one urban population cluster with a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 49,999.
Simply stated, a micropolitan area is a functioning small community isolated from other metropolitan
areas. In addition, the definition identifies cities and includes well-distanced suburbs, where many
city-employed people have their homes. These micropolitans are sometimes referred to as
"commutersheds."
There are currently 674 counties with micropolitan areas, according to a USDA Economic Research
Service 2003 report. These micropolitan areas tend to retain a common residential preference for
small-town, healthy living that is neither large-urban nor completely rural and are at a distance from
metro areas. The residential small-town preference makes managing growth and combating sprawl a
top priority.
Often, these growing micropolitan areas rely on the expertise of local government planning divisions
or regional planning organizations such as a council of governments (COG) to ensure that
transportation and community development growth designs keep quality of living standards
intact. Many of these local or regional planning divisions have found that redeveloping brownfields
preserves the small-town lifestyle that attracted residents in the first place.
Selma. Alabama
The rural-urban continuum community of Selma, Alabama (population 20,5 12) is one of these
micropolitan areas. The town has used brownfield redevelopment to sustain their small-town persona
and heritage and to improve their environment.

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Selma is tucked away some 45 miles west of Montgomery and 80 miles south of Birmingham.
Overlooking the Alabama River, Selma is part of the Alabama-Tombigbee river economic development
region and is the only micropolitan among the rural region's ten counties. Selma was founded in 1820.
Since then, the small city has been the site of many historic events, including Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.'s launching of the 1965 voting rights marches. During the Civil War it was one of the South's main
military manufacturing centers.
Selma houses the largest historic district in Alabama. Mayor James Perkin Jr., elected in 2000 as Selma's
first black mayor and re-elected in 2004 commented, "A heritage as rich as ours ought to be preserved
and redeveloping brownfields allows us the luxury to do just that. It also makes our communities
healthier, brings the community together and gives us the economic stepping-stone we so badly need
in our rural environs."
Selma's economic standing has been on a steady decline since 1978 when Craig Air Force Base closed
and a domino effect of manufacturing shutdowns ensued. One of those idled sites was the 50-acre
Honda All-Lock plant, which was gifted to the City.
When the City received an EPA brownfields grant in 2001, they prioritized the Honda plant and two
other sites. They got to work and got the plant redeveloped. The plant is now occupied by
Meadowcraft Inc., which produces outdoor furniture. Approximately 200 new jobs were
created, and the two-year lease agreement will essentially cover the redevelopment costs.
Selma also received a 2002 Underground Storage Tank grant to reclaim three former gas stations. The
overall brownfields revitalization objective in Selma is being met, which is to sustain the small-town feel
and honor its heritage while managing growth.
Contact:
Kelly Novak
NADO Research Foundation
202-624-7809
knovak@nado.org

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Revitalizing Southeastern Communities
Rural Community of Cowpens, SC Becomes a National Model
Town of Cowpens, South Carolina, is proving true the adage that small towns come together when
there is a crisis. A manufacturing plant closed in 1990, this town of 2,000 was faced with the loss of
more than 400 jobs, as well as an abandoned building containing unknown amounts of contamination.
The 228,000-square-foot clothing plant was once the largest employer in Cowpens secured by an
agreement between the county and the manufacturer's parent company to guarantee $10 million in
industrial revenue bonds. When the parent firm sold the clothing company to a group of investors who
shut down the Cowpens plant in 1990, the clothing company defaulted on the industrial revenue
bonds, leaving the county holding title to the abandoned property.
Inside the dormant facility, town officials discovered 85 drums of industrial chemicals, with no
responsible party to pay for cleanup. Operations at the plant had also contaminated the site's
groundwater with tetrachloroethene, a substance similar to dry cleaning fluid-and to add to the
problem, the former plant is located between the town's elementary and middle
schools. Contamination prevented developers from buying and making any attempt to clean up and
redevelop the site.
To help the town address these problems, EPA awarded Cowpens a $200,000 EPA Brownfields
Assessment Pilot Grant in May 1997; the town was one of the first small communities in the country
to win such an award and services were aimed at the revitalization of the abandoned plant.
A national environmental cleanup company agreed to test the contents of the 85 drums and remove
them from the site. The drum removal was performed free of charge in December 1997. This was just
the start of many contributions from the community. A local environmental company performed an
asbestos and lead paint survey on the facility and estimated the costs associated with
cleanup. This was approximately $25,000 worth of free service. A local roofing company conducted an
evaluation of the roof, estimated to cost $5,000, also free of charge. A video survey of the facility's
sewer line, locksmith services, and environmental contest award money from the
Lions Club were also conducted.
The Pilot also leveraged funding from the University of South Carolina at Columbia, which provided
$55,000 for technical services related to the design and development of a proposed Industrial Ecology
Park on the 70-acre site. The $1,500 the town provided to initialize the Cowpens Development
Corporation Fund. Study worth $5,000, and Clemson University conducted a Retail Business Survey
worth $5,000; both free of charge. In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expended
approximately $40,000 to conduct a groundwater sampling investigation on the site and in the
surrounding community where contaminated groundwater was believed to have migrated. A $6,000
grant was secured toward emergency response ground studies and electromagnetic surveying.

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All of these contributions were realized due to the dedication of the town leaders and the project
leader. More of the EPA brownfields grant money was put towards the complex soil and groundwater
investigations that were necessary at the site. Critical to the plan was the formation of the Cowpens
Development Corporation and their taking title to the property. The South Carolina Department of
Environment & Health Control worked to resolve issues related to the contaminated groundwater at
the site.
The Town is hoping that its successful approach to this former manufacturing site can serve as a model
for brownfields redevelopment in small communities across the country.
Contact:
Mayor John T. Hill
City of Cowpens
864-463-3201.

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