After nearly four years of trying, a Charlotte-based development company has gotten the OK to build a high-end student housing complex in Cullowhee. 

It’s official: Cullowhee now has zoning standards.

Jackson County planning and code enforcement staff will be pouring through two years’ worth of building permits and retroactively inspecting certain projects after learning no one has been enforcing the county’s Mountain and Hillside Development ordinance for more than two years.

Plans for a 60-unit apartment complex in Franklin are moving forward after Workforce Homestead received approval for a special permit from the Franklin Board of Aldermen.

Cullowhee residents crowded the basketball court at the Cullowhee Recreation Center last week for a chance to sound off during the last public hearing before Jackson County Commissioners take a final vote on whether to adopt the Cullowhee Community Planning Standards.

Earlier this year, it looked like Monarch Ventures, a Charlotte-based company that’s been trying for years to build a high-density 500-bed student housing complex in Cullowhee, could be history.

Plans are under way to build a new apartment complex near — but not in — the town of Sylva, an idea that seemed to meet favor from the planning board when it was presented earlier this month.

A stalled rewrite of Jackson County’s steep slope development rules will remain stalled for months, or even longer.

Maggie Valley is attempting — for the third time — to put together a plan to improve the town’s image, aesthetics and economy.

The proposed development of a 60-unit apartment complex in Franklin may be another sign that the economy is recovering, slowly but surely. 

The new apartment complex could also be good news for those looking for affordable and high-quality housing.