Buncombe County commissioners are once again bending over backwards for the giant, blood-soaked arms dealer, with a massive rezoning to help build its new plant
Above: Anti-Raytheon graphic circulated by locals opposed to massive government handouts to the notorious weapons company. Special to the Blade
Readers, it may come as some comfort to you that in these troubling times, in one of the least affordable places in the entire country, as airbnbs kick out whole communities throughout the rolling mountains of Buncombe County, that elected officials are hard at work on what really matters.
Giving another giant goddamn handout to Raytheon.
Wait, like the weapons company?
Yes. Knife missile Raytheon. Raytheon the murderers of children. Raytheon of the wedding massacres. Raytheon whose explosives and planes are the arsenal of genocide in spots around the globe. Raytheon the $67 billion-a-year, blood-drenched, land-poisoning arms dealer.
That Raytheon.
(Specifically their Pratt and Whitney subsidiary, but it’s still Raytheon).
What are they going to give them?
The Buncombe County commissioners are set to give Raytheon a massive rezoning, over 760 acres owned by Biltmore Farms will be converted from commercial and residential zoning into offices, warehouses and other infrastructure for the giant plant the weapons company is building.
The area is huge, over seven times the size of downtown Asheville. It’s the largest rezoning in Buncombe County’s history. Importantly it takes away land designated for things like housing, which this area is of course famous for having no shortage of whatsoever, and instead gives a massive company’s massive factory even more.
It’s incredibly unusual for this sort of rezoning to be approved without some concessions expected from the developer. Not only is that not happening, county government’s attitude towards the weapons manufacturer has only consisted of “give them everything they want, no strings attached.”
Local graphic against the local Raytheon plant, technically run by its subsidiary Pratt and Whitney. Special to the Blade
Yeah, haven’t the county commissioners already given Raytheon, like, a lot?
That they have. In 2020 the county commissioners voted to give Raytheon a stunning $27 million in tax breaks. Around the same time they passed a property tax hike that ramped up their long tradition of overcharging working-class Black homeowners while undercharging the white and wealthy. The amount of relief the commissioners finally passed, only after a lot of public pressure, was a tiny fraction of what they shelled out to a company whose revenue is measured in the tens of billions.
In 2021 county government went further, agreeing to build the company a $5 million center at A-B Tech to train its workers. During these years rents in the Asheville area shot up by 37 percent, kicking locals out on the street. Others were driven out by the explosive growth of airbnbs, something county government has repeatedly refused to even regulate.
Indeed Raytheon’s horrors don’t just extend to their role in war and genocide around the world — thought that’s reason enough by itself to fight them — but to destroying the environment as well. Over the past three decades the company’s faced over 90 lawsuits for contamination of soil, water and air in areas around the country.
Keep in mind this is one of the wealthiest companies on the face of the planet. It’s not enough for them to build a hell factory right in the middle of the area; they’re insisting locals foot the bill.
Map of the proposed rezoning for the Raytheon plant, from county documents, showing its sheer scale
Why the hell are they doing this?
Their answer would be “jobs,” which has been the standard excuse for letting the wealthy destroy the mountains and exploit the locals since the days of timber and coal barons.
This collapses under the slightest scrutiny. The Raytheon incentive deals are notoriously lacking in any real guarantees that the giant company will follow through on its promises. They didn’t commit to paying high salaries to their rank and file workers, and the hundreds of jobs promised include temporary positions that will disappear as the plant’s built. Their record of union-busting also indicates that even if workers press for better conditions the company will crush them.
Indeed, the Raytheon deal was so ridiculously favorable to the company that Facing South did a whole expose on how unusually bad its terms were. Even incentive deals in notoriously conservative Henderson County had far stricter conditions.
The real answer is corruption. Local political officialdom, back to Vanderbilt, basically revolves around selling off as much of the local area as possible to make rich people happy. This deference goes deep, and is revealing about who governments actually serve.
On a more individual level, county officials frequently try to go on to larger political careers or have jobs — such as lawyers or consultants — where being on good terms with a very rich company can come in handy.
How can we try to stop this?
This afternoon locals are holding a publicly announced demonstration at 4:30 p.m. in front of the county building (200 College Street) where the commissioners will be meeting starting at 5 p.m.
However, naturally not everyone can make that, so it’s worth remembering that you can call most of the county commissioners up directly.
Brownie Newman, chair 828-243-0107
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara 828-242-6672
Terri Wells 828-712-7735
Amanda Edwards 828-280-6600
Parker Sloan 336-413-2395
Indeed, phone zaps even if they approve it are still a good idea; anything that makes supporting the same weapons company whose products are currently massacring civilians in Gaza, Yemen and many other places as miserable as possible is justified.
Past that, any tactics locals decide to use to fight back against Raytheon should be supported and encouraged. If this company is not stopped we’ll be dealing with the damage for generations to come.
—
Blade editor David Forbes has been a journalist in Asheville for over 18 years. She writes about history, life and, of course, fighting city hall. They live in downtown, where they drink too much tea and scheme for anarchy.
The Asheville Blade is entirely funded by our readers. If you like what we do, donate directly to us on Patreon or make a one-time gift to support our work. Questions? Comments? Email us.