Planning Board needs your comments

The following was posted by the WNC Alliance on Facebook:
 
Buncombe County Planning Board is Considering Changes to Steep Slope Ordinance-Public Meeting January 22 at 5:30pm.

Five new members have been appointed to the Buncombe County Planning Board. This nine-member Board is reviewing the county subdivision ordinance, which includes the steep slope provisions passed in 2006 and 2007. Some proposed changes may help protect mountains from inappropriate development, but others will reduce existing protections. Less protection for our mountains from the impacts of development is not what the Commissioners promised when they passed the steep slope law and is not right!

Please tell the Planning Board and our Commissioners that strict enforcement of existing law is expected and less protection is unacceptable!

The Planning Board will have a special meeting on January 22 at 5:30 at the Buncombe County Permits and Inspections Meeting Room at 30 Valley Street to discuss the proposed changes. We encourage you to attend. In addition, please contact the Planning Board and Commissioners to express your views. A suggested e-mail is at the end of this alert.

The Proposal

The Planning Board's proposal includes the following changes related to allowable land clearing in hillside developments and other issues:

Doubling Land Clearing Limits on Very Steep Slopes

The most significant change proposes to double --from 15%, as currently allowed, to 30% -- the amount of land clearing that can take place in an area with a natural slope above 35%. The previous Board had not been applying land clearing limits according to the meaning and intent of the existing regulations, and now the new Board is considering a change to make the law less protective.

Changing "Natural State" Restriction

Another proposed revision would change an ordinance section adopted in 2007. It would eliminate the requirement that land outside of the allowable clearing areas must remain in a "natural state" (its condition prior to development), replacing it with a vague, undefined requirement. This is especially troublesome, because the Planning Department used the "natural state" ordinance to issue a violation notice to a developer who sprayed herbicide over many acres of his development last summer. (See Mountain Xpress article at this link: http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/070908the_green_scene/) Why would the Board want to change a law that it has already found necessary to use?

Positive Changes

Two good proposed changes should be supported. One would reduce the number of houses allowed to be built in steep slope developments.

The other relates to determining whether a potential development site has an adequate water supply if it is to rely on private wells. There are a growing number of examples of developers who start to build subdivisions, only to find there is not enough water to support the home sites. The Planning Board is considering including a "strong suggestion" that the developers investigate for water supplies, but making it a requirement will do a better job of protecting our mountains if it turns out that water cannot be found.

How you can help!

Attend the special Planning Board meeting on Thursday, January 22 at 5:30 at the Buncombe County Permits and Inspections Meeting Room at 30 Valley Street to voice your concerns over the proposed changes.

Also, you can contact each Planning Board member and Commissioner. Tell them the land clearing proposals are a bad idea, and that making the law less protective is wrong.

Below is contact information for the Planning Board and Board of Commissioners. Here is a sample e-mail that you can send:

To: The Buncombe County Planning Board
cc: The Board of Commissioners

I am writing to express concerns about proposed changes to the steep slope law that the Planning Board is now reviewing. Some proposals would change current law and make it less protective of steep slopes. We can't afford less protection from the impacts of development on our mountains. The Commissioners promised citizens that our steep slopes would be protected when the law was passed, and it would be wrong to break this promise.

The changes proposed to the land clearing limits are a bad idea. One proposal would double the amount of clearing allowed on very steep slopes (above 35% average slope). This is exactly where the most protection is needed, and I don't understand why you are even considering less protection. I am also concerned about the change proposing to eliminate the part of the law that requires undisturbed land to remain in its "natural state". Keeping our natural habitat is essential to maintain the character of our mountains.

I understand you are proposing to allow less density in steep slope development. I strongly support this change. I also support a requirement that developers investigate proposed subdivisions for water availability. I don't want our mountains to be scarred by a development that has to be abandoned because water can't be found.

Thank you for considering my views.
To e-mail the Planning Board members, click here.