The Village of Forest Hills has voted unanimously to place a six-month moratorium on new building permits in its newly created extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ.)

Forest Hills Mayor James Davis said the moratorium was needed to give the planning board time to review the ETJ and offer recommendations on how it should be zoned. Council passed the moratorium at a brief public hearing Monday, Jan. 14, at the Catamount Inn. Only one citizen addressed the council.

James Hooper and Jim Dukes are planning a 13-acre development at the intersection of North Country Club Drive and N.C. 107 in the ETJ. Hooper expressed his concerns to the council.

“It seems this is just another step making it difficult for property owners to plan. When it comes down to zoning and working with our plan, we hope for cooperation to do what’s reasonable,” Hooper said.

Hooper said there was no town of Forest Hills. “You’re simply a subdivision. If you’re going to run a town with services, you will need development for a tax base. We plan to do that in good taste and create something pleasing to Forest Hills and pleasing to all the residents of the county. If you restrict our development, you could do a disservice to the county.”

Before Monday’s hearing, Dukes and Hooper said they and James Epley of Charlotte — who is developing Catamount Hollow, a 144-unit apartment complex — had offered during ETJ discussions held late last year to consider voluntary annexation into the Village of Forest Hills. Dukes said that would have made taxes immediately available to the village (taxes on property in the ETJ, outside town limits, do not go to the town.)

The Village Council chose not to discuss annexation. Epley already has building permits for Catamount Hollow and will not be affected by the moratorium.

Davis said various parts of the ETJ would lend themselves to various purposes. He told Hooper planning board meetings were open and invited him to meet with the board.

“We don’t want you to think we’re being totally arbitrary. We have to consider all points of view, and it will take time to do that. We want to see how your plans fit in with our plans for the development of Forest Hills,” Davis said.

Former Forest Hills Mayor Irene Hooper, asked the council if there was any way other than a moratorium to address the issue, and if a moratorium was invoked did it need to me six months long.

Davis said the board was following the suggestions of the League of Municipalities and the Council of Governments in initiating the moratorium.

“We have asked the planning board to get back to us as early as April, if possible,” Davis said.

Council member James Wallace noted it took six months for the Village of Forest Hills to come up with a zoning ordinance for the town. He said when he came to Forest Hills the entire area was residential, but suddenly development is everywhere.

“We need a voice,” he said.

Hooper and Dukes said they filed development and sediment and erosion plans with the county in June 2001. According to Hooper, they plan to move forward with development even if it means litigation.

Davis said after the meeting it was too early to tell if the planning board would recommend any commercial zoning in the ETJ. But, he said, “It would not be ruled out. It would not be logical to say all the ETJ should be R-1.”