BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A conflict has been brewing between the town of Black Mountain and local business Black Mountain Brewing since the town building inspector shut down part of the brew pub over Labor Day weekend.
Read our summary of the controversy here.
John Richardson, an owner of BMB, spoke with 828newsNOW about the deck closure and finding a potential path forward between Black Mountain and his business.
8 years without issue
According to Richardson, the problems with town management this September took him by surprise, considering the brewery had stood for eight years without issue.
“It has not been fun. This is not what we thought eight years ago, when we envisioned creating a place for the community to come together and get to know each other over a beer,” Richardson said. “‘We’d worked hand in hand with the planning and zoning department of the town over the last eight years to build this place. Like, even from our due diligence, you don’t buy a commercial building and do this unless you have the right to do it.”
Richardson said that BMB worked closely with the former head of Planning and Development Services, Black Mountain Town Manager Josh Harrold, and Assistant Town Manager Jessica Trotman to bring their business to life.
“Josh Harrold was head of planning and zoning throughout the due diligence. He left three weeks before we actually closed on the property, and then after that, Jessica Trotman, who’s now the assistant town manager, has been head of planning and zoning ever since then,” Richardson said. “So, she’s approved every inspection. She approved all the engineered drawings. Well, I say she. Her department. But, it was under her watch that we were able to do all this, and it’s just kind of crazy that it has come to this.”
Past versus paperwork
In a press release issued by the town after community backlash on Facebook, officials acknowledged that “questions have circulated in the community regarding the permitting history of the covered deck at Black Mountain Brewing.” The press release featured a detailed timeline of permits and paperwork from August 2017 to November 2025…