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Tuesday, 27 June 2006 16:27 |
A group of protestors stand outside the Buncombe County Courhouse on
June 20 in reaction to possible zoning in the county. Several of the
demonstrators attended the Board of Commissioners?? meeting afterward
and expressed opposition to what they termed threats to their property
rights. Staff Photo by DAVID FORBES
By MEEGAN KELLY
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on June 20 moved forward on zoning, voting 3-2 to investigate one particular land-use plan, known as Modified Limestone Zoning.
Chairman
Nathan Ramsey and Commissioner Bill Stanley voted against the measure,
while commissioners David Young, David Gantt and Carol Peterson voted
in favor of studying the MLZ plan, one of three options presented to
them.
Many residents, however, opposed the move during the time allotted for public comments.
About 60 residents attended the meeting, many wearing buttons and stickers that read ?®No Zoning.?∆
Earlier, about
25 people staged a rally outside the county courthouse to oppose
zoning, which they said was an encroachment on property rights.
However,
residents also expressed concerns that unchecked development has led to
exessively high tax assessments, as evidenced by the recent countywide
property revaluation, which assessed the values of many properties at
40 percent higher than the previous revaluation.
?®This is just a
skeleton plan,?∆ Commissioner David Young said of the proposed zoning
designations. ?®You??ve got to put some meat on this. They need a lot of
work.?∆
A planning
board, appointed by the Board of Commissioners, met 11 times over the
last five months to analyze the old land-use plan developed in 1998,
keeping in mind new issues that Buncombe County faces as well as any
foreseeable issues and challenges the county still copes with.
Bill Newman,
chairman of the planning board, gave an overview of the MLZ plan. Since
there are no current regulations for condominiums or corporate
complexes, Newman explained, companies can build these whenever and
wherever they want.
He noted that
the proposed plan addresses the issue of governing multi-family units
and leaves 81 percent of county land as open-use.
If the MLZ is
adopted, the Metropolitan Sewerage District would be the primary
service area and everywhere outside the MSD would be open-use zoning.
Landowners would maintain the same rights, except for 11 special uses
that would require extra permitting. Some of those uses include
incinerators, asphalt or concrete plants, slaughterhouses, amusement
parks, shooting ranges and multi-family facilities, such as
condominiums.
The top concerns
expressed by the planning board were steep-slope and ridgeline
development, the type and location of development, utilities and sewer
extensions and the shifting economy and loss of industrial sites.
Young expressed
concerns about ridge-top development and asked if a zoning plan with
overlay would help this issue. With an overlay district, the board
would have to zone the whole county.
?®An overlay
district doesn??t prevent development,?∆ Meg Nealon, who served on the
planning board, said. ?®It adds an extra layer of standards. You can
make special conditions that influence development,?∆ she said.
?®People might
have thought 10 years ago that certain areas were inaccessible, or that
development there wouldn??t happen. But as the property values go up, it
warrants development.?∆
Currently,
Nealon explained, there is nothing preventing the extension of
infrastructure and sizeable projects anywhere in the county.
Construction on ridge tops could interfere with mountain views and
environmentally sensitive areas, contributing to erosion and ultimately
affecting water quality.
A steep-slope ordinance could control the height of a building, the lot size or the density of development there, Nealon said.
Issues
surrounding the style and location of development refer to the ?®linear
pattern of development?∆ and the ?®stripping of communities along their
corridors,?∆ she noted.
?®This is about managing the growth, attracting employers and keeping a balanced economy.?∆
Utilities and
sewer extensions also affect land-use patterns because they invite and
support development and also dictate where development can occur.
The framework of
the 1998 land-use plan focused on three key elements: infrastructure,
environment and economic development. ?®Since then, the agenda has
shifted a little bit. We??re building on the old scenario and applying
a concept,?∆ Nealon said.
She suggested
that if infrastucture were concentrated, it would efficiently and
adequately serve schools and businesses. ?®Businesses need services and,
as the development continues, so will the demand for infrastructure,?∆
Nealon said.
Nealon discussed
expanding the Metropolitan Sewerage District to ?®include the areas
outside of MSD served by sewer to clean up the district and help
formulate a development pattern.?∆ The MSD criteria will delineate
lands that should and should not be used for development.
?®The chairman was right when he pointed out, ?¥where the sewer is, is where developers will go,???∆ Nealon said.
?®There will be
issues we face as long as there??s growth and zoning is just one.
Zoning plus other tools addresses some, or maybe only zoning,?∆ Ramsey
said.
For the zoning
plans to move forward, the planning board will begin to design maps and
hold community meetings. The Board of Commissioners noted that
residents will receive notices if they are being affected and have
several opportunities for input and feedback. Information will be
available at the Pack Memorial Library in downtown Asheville.
Zoning advocates
claim that land-use management should protect the citizens and the
county from unwelcome development. However, opponents seek to limit the
government??s control and oppose what they consider as infringement of
their land use and property rights.
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