Eric Plaag, running unopposed, won a seat on the Boone Town Council Tuesday night, according to unofficial election results.

Plaag is a historical consultant with over 20 years of experience in historic preservation.

 He is the founder and principal consultant of Carolina Historical Consulting, an independent consulting firm based in Boone that specializes in researching local and regional histories.

Plaag moved to Boone from Columbia, South Carolina in 2011 and started working with the Watauga County Historical Society, which he discovered in a “dormant” state. Along with the society’s members, Plaag has built up its work and involvement over the years. 

With help from the Historical Society and the Watauga County Public Library, he began the Digital Watauga Project, which aims to preserve historical images and documents of Watauga County.

Plaag joined the Town of Boone Historic Preservation Commission in 2012 and has been the chair of the commission since 2014. He has also served as the vice chair of the Town of Boone Planning Commission since 2018. Since both of his terms on those bodies were ending in 2024, Plaag said he decided to run for town council after years of encouragement from colleagues.

Plaag said he plans to remain connected with the Historic Preservation Commission in a liaison position, but as a council person, he hopes to find solutions that will alleviate the housing issues for the working people of Boone.

“There simply is not sufficient workforce housing in Boone,” he said. “The fact that it doesn’t exist has a cascade effect on the town.”

Plaag said a major cause of housing affordability issues comes from the abundance of housing that isn’t marketable to working families, such as long-term vacation rentals and rent-by-the-bedroom apartments. 

“When that happens, you have a crisis,” he said.

Plaag said he hopes the town council will adopt a long-term planning perspective that will increase housing stock for the working people of Boone.