Black Mountain Brewing owner receives cease-and-desist from town’s planning director

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (WLOS) — In a Dec. 12 Facebook post, Black Mountain Brewing announced that the town’s planning director, Michelle Kennedy, sent owner John Richardson a cease-and-desist. This comes after the town admitted inspection and permitting mistakes involving the brewery’s upper deck on Monday, Dec. 8, during a town council meeting. Kennedy read a statement during Monday’s meeting, saying, “previous town employees made mistakes in administering state law” when reviewing permits and inspections for commercial properties, including the brewery at 131 Broadway Ave. Richardson said he was emailed the cease-and-desist on Thursday, Dec. 11, around 5:30 p.m. BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING DISPUTES TOWN’S TIMELINE OVER UPPER DECK CODE COMPLIANCE ISSUES The brewery shared Kennedy’s letter on social media, which read, in part, “…I will no longer tolerate your continued personal attacks. Effective immediately, you must cease and desist disseminating false and defamatory statements regarding my integrity and/or character (in person, online, in writing or on social media). Should you fail to comply, I am prepared to seek all available legal remedies, without further notice, including civil action seeking injunctive relief and punitive damages.” The brewery stated in the post that asking for accountability and transparency is not a personal attack
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