Brevard council hammers out zoning plan

BREVARD — A proposed compromise zoning ordinance for 640 acres in PisgahForest got the thumbs up from Brevard City Council Monday.
The zoning plan was unveiled during a joint meeting between the council and Transylvania County Commissioners in the Rogow Room at the Transylvania County Library.
The process began initially as the city was considering its options for Extraterritorial Jurisdiction extension.
Extraterritorial jurisdiction under state law allows a city government to extend its boundaries without annexing an area. The city can extend its zoning authority up to 1 mile beyond the city limits. PisgahForest residents expressed concern that they would rather be regulated by the county than the city and a joint city/county committee was established last year to explore options.
In May, Brevard City Council members cited the DavidsonRiverVillage development and the properties fronting U.S. 64 between N.C. 280/276 and Davidson River Road as primary areas for growth in the near future. At the time, council members said they were motivated to take action on a possible ETJ by the fear that uncontrolled growth would occur if some kind of zoning were not in place.
Council members praised the proposed zoning ordinance as being a good management tool.
“Committee members had their own personal feelings on this, but they sat down and crafted a plan that works for everybody,” said Councilman Rodney Locks. “They’ve done good work and I think the city is happy with what they’ve done.”
In the report presented Monday, the planning board is recommending an Open Use form of zoning in order to minimize the impact on property owners who are not located on N.C. 280 or U.S. 64.
Eleven high-impact “special uses” fall under county regulation, said Transylvania County Planning Director Mike Thomas. Those uses include industry, solid waste management facilities, mining operations, concrete and asphalt plants, incinerators, junk yards, slaughtering plants, amusement parks, chip mills and motor sports facilities. These are not outlawed for use in the Open Zoning, but would be subject to conditions set forth by the county. Prohibited uses are adult entertainment establishments, hazardous waste facilities and radioactive waste facilities.
The proposed zoning ordinance also creates two districts — a Corridor Mixed-Use District comprised of U.S. 64 and NC 280 and an Open Use District that would include parcels that touch or border the U.S. 64 and NC 280 corridors.
City Councilman Mack McKeller said he was pleased with the proposed zoning ordinance presented Monday. He said that the city will still pursue extending its ETJ to a few small parcels in the U.S. 64 and NC 280 corridors that already have city water and sewer lines. But the area is far from the scale that the city was talking about including in a possible ETJ when the issue first came up a couple of years ago, he added.
“The (county) planning board went to work, rolled up their sleeves and, very much in good faith, did a really good job in putting together an ordinance that will address our (city’s) concerns,” McKeller said. “This means if the county adopts the zoning ordinance that was proposed, as far as I’m concerned, the ETJ issue goes away.”
Brevard Mayor Jimmy Harris said a review of the proposed zoning ordinance by city staffers, city planning board and council members left a “satisfactory” impression.
“The city council allowed the county to see if they could come up with a document that would satisfy the citizens of Brevard, that would allow us to extend our utility system,” he said.
“Our utilities are an expensive part of infrastructure that requires a lot of maintenance, and city residents don’t want it abused, so we manage it and at the county’s request, we were asked to look at a document. We find it quite satisfactory and we agree that it is a good management tool and we accept it as presented. This puts them in a good position to take action on it. We urge them (commissioners) to move forward with it.”
The proposed zoning ordinance could be on a county commission agenda for the March or April meeting.
By Leigh Kelley
Times-News Staff Writer

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Posted on 2/24/2010 11:10:05 AM