Clyde acquires 36 county floodplain parcels, opening door to parks and greenways
By Deanna Sipe
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CLYDE, N.C. (WLOS) — The Town of Clyde has acquired 36 parcels of land from Haywood County that are located in the floodplain, with the potential for the land to be opened up.
The land previously owned by the county was bought with federal money following storms like Ivan and Frances in 2004 and Fred in 2021.
“What we did was, the state would buy these properties through the federal money that they received, and the state would deed them to the county, but they would be heavily restricted; in other words, there can be no buildings put on them,” said Haywood County Commissioner Kevin Ensley.
According to Ensley, for nearly 15 years, the county has maintained the land or leased it out to residents for $1 per year to garden on, but now that’s changing.
Ensley says there’s potential for parks and ball fields among other recreational ideas for the parcels.
Karen and Bruce Brumbaugh, who have lived in Clyde since 2019, bought their home from owners who experienced Ivan and Frances, choosing to elevate the house after the two storms.
Following the buying of their home, the Brumbaughs have experienced both Fred and Helene.
“So, on the ground floor, Fred probably came four or five feet up on the ground floor, so everything we had on that ground floor kinda got trashed. There was a lot of damage to the garage doors and stuff like that, but it really wasn’t all that bad,” Bruce Brumbaugh said.
Helene hit three years later, causing much more damage to the Brumbaugh home.
In the months following Helene, the Brumbaughs say they worked with a Haywood County contractor who worked through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help get the Brumbaughs money to fix their home. The Brumbaughs say a Haywood County contact has approached them for buyouts.
“I think we go in on the next bundle of people who are waiting on buyouts. I think everything’s moving a lot faster since Helene, cause some people were still waiting on buyouts from Fred, so I think things have started moving along a lot better,” Karen Brumbaugh said.
The Brumbaughs are saying they would consider a buyout.
“We would consider it; I mean it would have to not be an insult what we were offered. From what we understood, the buyouts should come with an offer that was the value of the home and property the day before the event,” Karen Brumbaugh said.
Until then, the Brumbaughs say they want to see the land kept safe.
“My biggest thing is the maintenance of whatever they do and the patrolling of it, so it stays a safe environment for everybody,” Karen Brumbaugh said.
They would also like to see it maintained.
Ensley says the properties included in the 36 parcels do not include any properties or homes affected by Helene, as the county is still waiting for the Helene buyouts to come along and that could lead to more properties becoming available.
“To build in Clyde now you’re gonna have to elevate so high in those areas that it almost becomes unfeasible because of the amount of area you’d have to elevate, probably in some areas 12 feet,” Ensley said. “So, I think a lot of people after Helene saw how high the flood was, they decided to sell.”
Ensley says that the Town of Clyde’s property tax revenue was decimated by the town, causing it to look for other areas outside of the floodplain to rebuild homes, and that the newly acquired parcels could potentially help.
“I think the town is actively trying to find property outside the flood areas to expand their tax base with, you know, maybe parcels that are available being able to build back on those so people can live in Clyde again, but that’s one problem that they’ve had was the tax base, and this is not gonna help that other than it maybe have parks and other amenities that might be able to draw people to Clyde to where when these new houses are built they’ll be able to get folks to come back to Clyde,” Ensley said.
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