Banner Elk Citizens Organize.

A citizens group has formed in Banner Elk, catalyzed by the big proposed Lowe's development ... "Banner Elk Advocates for Responsible Expansion" (BEARE). (Read the article.)

They are peeved by the lack of due process in the planning procedures of local government and by a lack of public notice. (Does any of this sound remotely familiar?) Such citizens groups will continue to spring up in the mountains, so long as local government ignores the pressures of rapid growth. Direct citizen organizing is often the result of no zoning. But Banner Elk has a zoning ordinance ... just not a very effective one, apparently.