Natural gas gets go-ahead
Planners approve federally funded fueling station
By Leigh Kelley Times-News Staff Writer

Area motorists could soon have a new way to fuel up after planners gave the green light to the Henderson County Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station.

The Henderson County project involves the construction of a CNG fueling station on 3.65 acres near the intersection of Fourth Avenue East and Williams Street, at a county motor pool garage across from the City Operations Center.

The project won the endorsement of the Hendersonville Planning Board on Monday, but not before board members shot down a proposed 8-foot-wide greenway and insisted on a concrete sidewalk instead.

The project is being funded by $1.2 million in federal stimulus money through the state Department of Transportation, said Marcus Jones, Henderson County's director of engineering. A total of $350,000 will cover the cost of building the CNG fueling station; the remainder of the funding will go toward the purchase of four transit buses that will run on compressed natural gas instead of diesel or gasoline, he said.

The city is considering buying a dump truck that would run on compressed natural gas, Jones said.

The proposed project site is zoned C-2 secondary business and R-15 medium-density residential, said Sue Anderson, city planning director. The CNG fueling station is considered a service station, a permitted use in the C-2 secondary business district, she said.

The City Operations Center is on a parcel to the southwest, zoned C-2 secondary business, Anderson said.

The station would be on land used by Henderson County's central services. It includes a garage, rescue squad and maintenance operations. An existing fueling station and storage tanks are already on the property, Anderson said.

Plans call for a concrete pad for above-ground storage of the natural gas compressor unit, a separate pad for a compressed natural gas dispenser and a driveway to allow access to Fourth Avenue East.

The compressed natural gas station would be open to the public and would operate much like a regular gas station, said Will Buie, an engineer with Lapsley & Associates, the firm in charge of the project. Motorists could insert a credit card at the dispenser, then fill up their vehicles. The station would be accessible around the clock, he said.

"It (compressed natural gas) burns cleaner, is more environmentally friendly and is less expensive," Buie said. "There are already a few of them in the area. One is on Hendersonville Road in Arden across from Diamond Brand, and the second one is run by the city of Asheville, and that one is located across from McCormick Field."

The only issue planners raised about the project was the possibility of installing the asphalt greenway instead of a 5-foot-wide concrete sidewalk. One of the considerations for not putting a sidewalk on Williams Street is that it would help the city meet its goal of having greenways leading into the city, Anderson said. Greenways allow for more varied forms of usage, including walking and bicycling, she said.

But that option is inconsistent with what the city usually requires, said Planning Board Vice Chairman Steven Orr.

"My bone of contention is, we go to all these other developers and say you have to do this, you have to do that ... and then we come along and do this," Orr said. "I think it is a good idea (greenways), but to do this this way sends the wrong message, and it doesn't look good either, in my opinion. We're making an exception, and that is the problem."

Buie and Jones said building the sidewalk would require a little rebudgeting for the project, but that the costs aren't wildly different.

Board members approved the project with the stipulation that the sidewalk be installed instead of a greenway. The final site plan is subject to approval by city staff, Anderson said.