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'They're trying to kick us off the mountain;' Off the Grid owner concerned about NC business

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Updated: Jul 02, 2018 11:42 PM EDT

BEECH MOUNTAIN, NC (WJHL) - A Tri-Cities business owner says Beech Mountain town leaders are trying to run him out of town.
We're talking about the owner of a business called Off the Grid.
It's the same business with a location on Highway 19E in Elizabethton that offers thrills for adventure seekers, like zip-lines, rappelling, and baseline jumps.
Off the Grid also has an operation in Beech Mountain, North Carolina - where the company offers high country UTV or utility vehicle tours.
The town is looking to amend a current ordinance that regulates golf carts and UTVs so that you'll only be allowed to ride to and from the golf course on certain roads.
The second ordinance plans to restrict certain roads from non-local traffic.
Off the Grid's owner tells us with these changes, he won't be able to run his business where he makes 1/3 of his profits.
Monie McCoury loves interacting with his tour guests.
"We get the whole family that comes out for clean, wholesome, family fun," McCoury said.
He even took us out on a route guests would take, "as you can see, we run between 19 and 20 miles per hour," McCoury said.
The routes goes through neighborhoods, where McCoury says he's courteous.
"Say hey, we're going to come by you now. We're going to go by real slow," McCoury said.
But, he says if the town council votes to make changes, he can't ride on those roads.
"They're saying there is noise this, or they're driving by their homes. And we get that. But these are no more noisy then any of these ski buses," McCoury said.
Beech Mountain Mayor Renee Castiglione says it's not personal.
"We're doing this because our residents and our citizens are asking us to do this," Castiglione said.
She said there's been multiple complaints over months time.
"They come speeding by, multiple times a day, it's not safe, and it's not okay. We have children, we have multiple children that live on our road," resident Jessica Lerner Stokes said.
Mayor Castiglione considers this a public safety issue.
Back at Off the Grid, the business nextdoor says they're happy to be neighbors.
"Monie has bought in a lot of customers and his customers are really supportive of our business," Dean Wheeler at Rascals said.
Tour guests we spoke with afterwards said they loved the adventure.
"I think that would kind of take away from the community. It's something different, a lot of people don't get to do," Casey Laffey of Florida said.
This is not a done deal.
The Beech Mountain Town Council will vote on these two ordinances coming up next week on July 10.
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