Zoning Is Back On The Menu
By
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meets today for a special meeting from 3:30 – 5:30 to discuss the court ruling that overturned zoning rules for the county. The judge in the case ruled that the County government hadn’t complied with public notice rules and therefore was errant in proceeding with a vote before a fully-informed public could be heard. After having a look at the video from the massive public hearing, it’s clear that most of the people there weren’t well-informed at all.
The Commissioners have a difficult choice before them. They can either appeal the judge’s ruling to the NC Supreme Court, or they go through the entire process again. Anti-zoning activists will be sharpening their pitchforks either way. Zoning is one of the most basic tools of smart land planning, yet opponents would have us believe that our freedom will vanish should we make rules against having a porn store next to a day care or against having a concrete plant next to an established neighborhood.
When this came up for a vote last time, it was passed 3-2. Carol Peterson, David Gantt, and David Young voted in favor. So it would seem that with Peterson and Gantt still on board and Holly Jones there as well, the pro-zoning contingent can again carry the day. It’s going to take a lot of political will, however, and that’s where you come in. If you want to see the Commissioners utilize the tools of smart land management, then let them know. Lord knows the anti-zoning folks will be making their voices heard.
bill.stanley@buncombecounty.org, commissioner@davidgantt.com, ray.bailey@buncombecounty.org, holly.jones@buncombecounty.org, carol.peterson@buncombecounty.org
More about zoning after the jump
“The constitutionality of zoning ordinances was upheld in 1926. The zoning ordinance of Euclid, Ohio was challenged in court by a local land owner on the basis that restricting use of property violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Though initially ruled unconstitutional by lower courts, the zoning ordinance was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
[...]
“Theoretically, the primary purpose of zoning is to segregate uses that are thought to be incompatible. However, in practice zoning is used as a permitting system to prevent new development from harming existing residents or businesses.”
11 Comments
March 24th, 2009 at 8:54 am
this town has turned into a fucking joke!
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March 24th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The court’s decision was a good one, even though I support zoning.
I had a ground-zero look at the crowd when I attended a few of the meetings, and the ignorance from the anti-zoners was stunning.
But to be fair – the county did such a lousy job educating the public about what was going on, the only source of information was coming from Nesbit & Co.
Re-doing the hearings with proper transparency will help heal a lot of wounds.
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March 24th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I just heard on Matt Mittan’s show that the reason the court kicked out the decision was because the public had 14 days notice instead of the required 15 days.
Oy.
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March 24th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Mtn. X has the skinny:
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March 24th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
concrete plants, adult entertainment, junkyards…
OH MY!
hazardous waste, undesirable, moratorium…
OH MY!
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March 25th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Wow, one whole day!
How much is that one f’ing day going to cost the county?
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March 25th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
This is the second time in – what, two years? – that the commissioners have gotten tripped up over paperwork. Not counting the confusion over selling Pack Square land, there’s the botched last-minute pre-Christmas meeting to endorse an I-26 alternative. And now there’s failing to wait just one more week before making the decision on zoning. I know they’ve all got other things to do, but it’s about time that heads started rolling on the staff. Wanda Greene, how many more times can you botch things?
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March 25th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Greene will continue to screw up as long as her bosses are too incompetent to manage her.
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March 25th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
What else do you expect? It’s just a matter of time before some natural disaster hits this town and the shit really hits the fan when the infrastructure finally implodes! I just hope I’m outta here before that happens.
Just par for the course here in Asheville – Paris Hilton of the South, ya’ll!
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March 25th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Greene and County Attorney Joe Connolly should lose their jobs over this one. Had I succeeded in my bid for County Commission last year, I would have pressed for that change of personnel immediately, based on several other issues. This zoning debacle is just one more failure by both the manager and the legal department.
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March 25th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I have often wondered why Oast on the City side of things still has his job.
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