By JIM GENARO

Planning, education and communication are the keys to minimizing flood damage, Black Mountain Alderman Mary Leonard White told the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 4.

In addition to her role as an alderman, White serves on the Asheville-Buncombe Flood Damage Reduction Task Force.

White noted that large-scale floods such as the one that hit Buncombe County in 2004 are relatively frequent occurrences. Between 1916 and 2004, the area has seen nine floods of that magnitude, she said.

She said that while planning and implementation of physical measures to minimize flood damage is important, ìeducation and communication between and within communities is just as important.î

White stressed that local governments have a responsibility to protect their citizens from flood damage.

ìWe love being here, we love living here,î she told the board. ìWe have to share the beauty. We have to share the responsibility.î

Among the recommendations that the task force submitted to commissioners was funding for a buy-out program that would purchase land along the floodway ó the area adjacent to rivers and streams ó to prevent it from being developed.

However, she said, areas in the flood fringe ó the land adjoining the floodway ó are also at risk during the worst floods, and the county should make efforts to ensure that there is ìno net infill in the flood fringe.î

White noted that the state of North Carolina plans to release new floodplain maps this October that will help municipal governments plan for floods better.

She said that the task force has looked extensively at the Wilma Dykeman Riverway Plan, which compiled 20 years of planning materials developed by the nonprofit group RiverLink.

That plan, she said, encourages development away from the floodplain.

However, a lack of emergency procedures for floods also is a problem, White told the board.

ìThere is not an emergency-management plan for the people that live below the dam,î White said.

ìThose citizens are not being protected the way we feel that they should be.î

She noted that during the 2004 floods, people living in the floodplain were warned by workers who ran from house to house telling them that a flood was likely.

White urged communication and cooperation between the various muncipalities and the county.

ìFlood damage protection is not an impossible goal,î she said. ìIt can be done if we work together.î

After the presentation, Commissioner David Gantt commended the task force for its work and emphasized that lack of planning can be more expensive than flood preparation.

ìWeíre gonna end up paying, just like weíre paying for New Orleans and every other flood. Weíre just not paying directly,î he said.

The commissioners agreed to consider the plan more throroughly at their upcoming retreat.

In other action, the board:

ï Authorized the Register of Deeds office to close for one or two days to recover from a computer database crash that happened over the Labor Day weekend.

The officeís database is used by hundreds of people daily, including lawyers, surveyors and others. It contains records about marriages, births, deaths, land sales, military discharges and other vital information.

Workers at the office had to record deed-transaction information by hand Monday. That information now has to be entered into the computer system, after technicians fixed the server.

Officials do not know what caused the crash.

ï Rejected 3-2 a proposed change to the countyís zoning ordinance that would have allowed rooming houses and vacation rentals as conditional uses in areas zoned RLD.

The RLD designation requires that lots have no more than one single-family home per acre. While the proposed change would not have increased that density, it would have allowed for inns and vacation homes to be built there.

Chairman Nathan Ramsey and Commissioner Bill Stanley voted for the change.

Zoning Administrator Jim Coman said that the countyís Planning and Development Department opposed the change.

ìIf you allowed this, you could build very large bed and breakfastsî in RLD areas, Coman said.
During public comments, resident Jim Kelton said he owns a property on which he keeps a number of park-model recreational vehicles that he hopes to rent out as vacation rentals.

In his experiences attending county meetings, Kelton said, he has ìcome away with the impression that ëvacation rentalí is a dirty word.î

But he said that prior to moving to Buncombe County from Florida several years ago, he had long wished to own a vacation rental that he could come stay at.

He also explained that park-model RVís are ìlog cabins on wheelsî that look just like actual log cabins.

However, Coman responded that RVís are ìnot built to any codeî and therefore are not safe for permanent housing.

Gantt noted that the current zoning allows for rooming houses and vacation rentals in 80 percent of the county and that the areas under consideration are ìenvironmentally sensitive.î

However, Ramsey argued that the change would not affect the environment because, under the current rules, land owners like Kelton could subdivide their properties and sell individual acre lots.
ìMy personal view is (that) we are basically forcing him to sell his land.î

ï Voted 5-1 to amend the countyís zoning ordinance to prohibit the use of travel-trailers as permanent housing.

Ramsey, who opposed the new rule, said, ìWe had a neighbor who lived in an RV for a very long time.î†