In an effort to preserve and perpetuate the heritage arts and lore of the Great Smoky Mountains and greater Southern Appalachia, the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center has now come to fruition at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. 

September Burton and Taylor Miller opened The Chef & The Baker in Maggie Valley in January 2022. They are a talented couple boasting a multitude of culinary skills. We sat down with September for a Q&A where she shared a little about their lives and the story of their new business. 

The building housing Elevated Mountain Distilling Company, a fixture in Maggie Valley for over five years, is facing foreclosure and the bids have already started pouring in as interested parties jockey to see who will end up with the property.

After years of effort and several failed attempts by multiple town boards, Maggie Valley has successfully passed its Unified Development Ordinance.

A COVID-era sports seating bill has now morphed into a pro-development bill that would hobble the ability of Haywood County’s municipalities to exercise certain zoning and development powers considered critical for directing and controlling growth.

If the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen accepts the proposed FY 2022-23 budget, taxes will remain at $0.40 for the upcoming year without change. With this rate, the town will continue to have the lowest property tax rate of any municipality in Haywood County.

Nathan Clark, longtime town manager of Maggie Valley, is set to leave his post in the coming months. 

After the Maggie Valley Town Board of Aldermen removed a zoning board member with little discussion, two residents spoke during public comment at the May 10 board of aldermen meeting accusing the board of mishandling these types of situations. During this meeting, the board also accepted changes to the bylaws of the planning board that could address some of these issues.

After months of contentious back and forth over the subject of food trucks, an ordinance allowing the mobile vendors in Maggie Valley not only passed — it passed unanimously.

It may sound like some kind of bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo, but trust me it’s not: the processes by which elected boards operate more often than not is a reflection of the wisdom of the decisions that emanate from that public body.