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County to hold public meetings about new zoning plans |
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Tuesday, 09 January 2007 |
By COBY MANGUM
All public input will be taken into consideration before a finalized zoning plan is proposed to county leaders, two representatives from the Buncombe County Planning and Development Department told the Board of Commissioners on Jan. 2.
The planning department has scheduled a series of public meetings throughout the county beginning Jan. 22 that will allow property owners to meet one-on-one with department officials and learn how the proposed zoning changes would affect them.
"(The
meetings) will give people the opportunity to say, ‚ÄòI think you‘ve made
a mistake‘ or ‚ÄòI think you‘re correct,‘" Jon Creighton, planning
department director, said in his presentation to the commissioners.
Many county
residents have protested zoning since the commissioners asked
Creighton‘s department to begin drafting the plan last June.
In addition to
the meetings, the planning department will begin sending letters this
week to the 115,000 people who own property in Buncombe. The letters
indicate which of three scenarios their land would be placed under if
the new zoning ordinances are adopted.
Property in the City of Asheville and in county municipalities will be unaffected, Creighton said.
Property in the
Metropolitan Sewerage District service area will be what Creighton
called the "intense zoning area," wherein residentially zoned areas
would not allow non-residential uses and set-back requirements would be
enacted.
Land in all
other parts of the county not already zoned would become open-use
zoning areas, in which all uses are allowed, but certain uses — which
Creighton called exceptions — are regulated.
Three of the
commissioners questioned the format of the scheduled public meetings
and wondered how negative feedback would affect the planning
department‘s efforts. Creighton responded that all suggestions would be
documented and then later considered by department officials as they
moved forward in drafting the plan.
"We really want
people to come," Creighton said, adding that the meetings would not
follow any timetable and that each was open to anyone interested,
regardless of where in the county their property is located. Calling
the county directly is another option for those unable to attend any
meeting, he added.
The community
meetings on proposed zoning changes are scheduled as follows (each runs
from 6 to 9 p.m.): Jan. 22 at Valley Springs Middle School, Jan. 23 at
Owen Middle School, Jan. 25 at Enka Middle School, Jan. 29 at Reynolds
Middle School, Jan. 30 at Cane Creek Middle School, Feb. 1 at North
Buncombe Middle School and Feb. 5 at Erwin Middle School.
Planning
department member Jim Coman joined Creighton in addressing the
commissioners, going into further detail about the aims of zoning
changes.
He said that
zoning would not prevent affordable housing in the county and added
that his department was still considering whether or not to include
multifamily housing and condominiums as exceptions to open-use zoning.
The 10 exceptions already decided upon include incinerators, mining operations and slaughtering plants.
Coman said that he believed zoning changes will direct development away from farmland.
Following a
question from Chairman Nathan Ramsey, Creighton said that existing
businesses will be grandfathered in, regardless of zoning changes made
under the new plan.
The planning
department‘s presentation ended with Coman telling commissioners that
he enjoyed his job, to which Commissioner David Gantt joked, "Don‘t
anyone tell him about that bull‘s eye on his book."
Several citizens expressed concern over the proposed zoning changes during the public-input period.
Resident Jerry
Rice warned commissioners that the county lacks the staff to take care
of the permitting that would be called for under the new plan and that
the county‘s infrastructure would not hold "what you see coming (under
the zoning plan)."
He proposed a
survey to be included with the letters, an idea that was seconded when
another resident wondered why the county couldn‘t hold a referendum on
the zoning issue.
"What are you afraid of?" he asked the commissioners.
Another resident
asked for a stand-alone ordinance or moratorium that would temporarily
prevent multifamily homes and condos in non-zoned areas until the
proposed zoning plan goes to vote.
The zoning proposal could go to vote as early as the first or second week in April, planning officials said.
In other action, the commissioners:
• Heard a report
from newly elected Sheriff Van Duncan, in which he introduced members
of his command staff and reported that coverage in the area was
expanding.
• Were presented
with the Fiscal 2006 report from the county finance department, in
which Finance Director Donna Clark reported that 70 percent of the
county‘s debt was in public schools, Asheville-Buncombe Technical
Community College and the airport.
Clark also said
in her presentation that net assets in the county had increased by $1.6
million over 2005 and that Buncombe‘s 98.9 percent tax collection rate
was the highest among comparable counties in North Carolina.
• Received a
year-end report from the county‘s budget manager, Diane Masologites, in
which she reported that some three-fourths of the county‘s investments
in 2006 had matured within six months or less and that overall returns
have continued to grow steadily since 2004.
Upon
recommendation from Commissioner David Young, Masologites agreed to
compile a comparative report that will benchmark Buncombe‘s investment
philosophy and yield against other large counties in the state.
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