Town plans social district to stop losses
By Randy Foster
editor@cherokeescout.com
Andrews – Stung by the loss of Walgreens – a major retail presence that, along with Ingles supermarket, has anchored Andrews’ west side – town leaders are pushing to establish a downtown social district to help shore up the local economy.
Walgreens closes its doors in Andrews for the last time this week, following the loss of the town’s McDonald’s, a string of locally owned businesses along Main Street and in shopping centers and, before that, the loss of the town’s hospital, manufacturing base and local newspaper, the Andrews Journal, which merged with the Cherokee Scout based in Murphy.
Still, Andrews has had some recent wins. DG Market, a souped-up Dollar General with expanded selections and grocery section, opened in the last year just off downtown. Beside it, Morning Fog, an upscale breakfast and lunch restaurant, has been drawing crowds since it opened, and plans to start serving beer and wine in April.
Fairview Mobile Home Park, an eyesore and attractive nuisance off Fairview Road that closed in April 2023, has been bulldozed. The owner is planning to reimagine the 2.8-acre property with tiny homes and fire pits.
Since 2016, the earliest point from which records are available, there were 320 calls for service at the 21-space, single-wide mobile home park ranging from medical assistance calls to criminal activity and, more recently, trespassing and requests for extra patrols. After the tenants were evicted, most abandoned their single-wide mobile homes and left them to crumble.
Owner Kathy Nichols has been in town watching over demolition work and is working with town officials to develop affordable housing, which might include tiny homes.
James Ellis, a school board member who owns The Compound gym, moved and expanded the venue from its location between Teas and Main streets to Andrews Town Centre shopping center across Main Street.
Also in Andrews Town Centre, Ronnie’s restaurant and bar, which had been a busy place for Andrews police before it closed, is being turned into Frannie’s Comfort Food.
And while Andrews lost its Walgreens, locally owned Turner’s Family Pharmacy is going strong.
Town leaders are working with the promoter of bike rallies in Maggie Valley to do something like that in Andrews starting as early as this fall, but the biggest development on the horizon is the establishment of a downtown social district that will allow adults to stroll about downtown while sipping on alcoholic beverages.
The board of aldermen will be voting on whether to develop a social district ordinance at this Thursday’s regular meeting, which was moved to this date after being postponed. If approved, the town will advertise a public hearing for 40 days and, if everything goes to plan, hold that hearing at its meeting on April 10. If it passes, it could go into effect immediately.
Downtown restaurant owners advised the board of aldermen to set the hours for the social district at 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Specially logo-ed cups will be required, along with other rules and signage.
The district’s boundaries will be discussed Thursday, but may eventually extend from the block containing Hoppy Trout on Main Street all the way to Morning Fog, once sidewalk issues are addressed at Morning Fog.
It would extend from Main Street to First Street but not include Harold H. Hall Memorial Park, which does not belong to the town.
“We need to accommodate businesses,” Mayor James Reid said.
“We can’t afford to lose one more business.”