Recently elected Jackson County Commissioner Mickey Luker has dropped a lawsuit he filed in June contesting a permit denial handed down from the Jackson County Department of Public Health.

Surrounded by piles of debris, old wood and gravel, Joe Rowland sees opportunity. “This is the inevitable next step for us,” he said.

Co-owner of Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City, Rowland wanders around a four-acre lot at the end of Depot Street, less than a block from the flagship brewery. Purchased by Rowland in early 2016, the property consists of an abandoned warehouse (formerly the RC Cola bottling company) and large open field. Initially, the 11,000-square-foot building was going to be used for Nantahala’s equipment storage, barrel aging program and bottling line. But, as time went along, an idea for the remaining 3,200 square feet of unused space crept into the minds of Rowland and Co. — a restaurant and indoor/outdoor brew pub.

The year was 1966; “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” was on the big screen, “Bonanza” was on the small screen, and an Irish guy from Philly had just arrived in Maggie Valley to open Joey’s Pancake House.

SEE ALSO: The Book of Joe 

America’s fascination with cowboy culture had not only elevated the Lorne Greene television show and the Clint Eastwood movie to the top of their respective charts that year, but had also elevated a western-themed amusement park called Ghost Town in the Sky more than 4,600 feet up to the top of nearby Buck Mountain three years prior.

Brenda O’Keefe has dozens, if not hundreds, of stories about the people who have passed through her life at Joey’s Pancake House since 1966.

Cashiers recently completed its own effort to address food trucks with an ordinance approved by the Jackson County Commissioners last month. 

After seeing the showdown over food truck rules playing out in Waynesville, Sylva is gearing up to take a look at its own code of ordinances, hoping to forestall any such drama in its neck of the woods. 

The Mad Anthony’s food truck debate culminated last week in what will go down in the annals of Waynesville lore as “The Battle of Branner Avenue” — the story of a local businessman who did almost everything wrong but was in the right, and the town that did almost everything right but was in the wrong.

An ongoing debate over food trucks and pushcart vendors in Waynesville made its way to the town board last week, but a vote was delayed after it became evident town board members differed on their views.

New rules for where and how food trucks can set up shop in Waynesville attempt to balance the popular and growing food truck movement with the signature small-town character and established economy already here.

With the quiet evening sun fading behind the Great Smoky Mountains last Thursday evening, a single building glowed bright at the bottom of Miller Street in downtown Waynesville.