Protecting the housing industry must be a consideration as land-use regulations and zoning laws are enacted, say many in the construction industry. In fact, they argue that as manufacturing jobs disappear, the construction industry is fast-becoming among the leading job providers in Western North Carolina.

Whether strong regulations help or hinder the construction business, though, depends on who you talk to.

“The future of the home-building industry in Western North Carolina is bright right now,” says Steve Hughes, the head of the Haywood County Home Builders Association. “New regulations just need to be done responsibly so we don’t stall construction and drive up the price of housing.”

Hughes was at a public hearing two weeks ago criticizing some of the amendments proposed for Haywood County’s subdivision and pre-development ordinance. He fears that too strict of an ordinance could hurt the construction industry, which has remained strong throughout the current recession.

A formula supplied by the state Home Builders Association projects that the 417 homes built in Haywood County in 2001 (366 in the county, 43 in Waynesville and 8 in Canton) created 917 jobs and $75.5 million in total income. At that rate, in 10 years the home building industry would create 4,336 jobs and $1.7 billion in total income.

“Throughout history, home building has pulled us out of recessions,” said Hughes.

Mike Carpenter heads the North Carolina Home Builders Association. He says good planning is essential, but local leaders must remain aware that actions they take affect the affordability and the rate of home construction.

“There is a scenario where you could have a detrimental impact on the ability of people to afford homes, like big-lot zoning,” said Carpenter. “When the regulatory process is imposed, we want to make sure it is necessary and not so overly-engineered that it will needlessly drive up costs.”

Good planning, good business

While some fear that zoning and other strict land-use measures will harm construction, there are others who say the opposite. By protecting the environment and improving quality of life, an area remains attractive to potential home buyers and therefore development is encouraged.

John Cleaveland owns a real estate business in Highlands and is a member of the Vision 2025 Committee in Macon County that recently proposed a county-wide zoning plan. The plan is now on hold while county commissioners revise portions of it.

“I totally disagree with those who say tight regulations stop growth. We’ve had tight regulations in Highlands since the 1960s, and I would dare say we are among the most prosperous communities in Western North Carolina,” said Cleaveland.

“It raises property values because people know that there won’t be an eyesore going up next to them,” he said.

The Macon County zoning proposal left 90 percent of the county as open use, he said, and only imposed residential constraints on neighborhoods that voluntarily applied for them, said Cleaveland.

“I feel strongly that with rapid growth we are behind the curve,” said Cleaveland.

Andrew Powell is the assistant planner for the town of Waynesville, which is currently creating a new zoning ordinance that is somewhat radical in its objective. Instead of limiting what kinds of uses are legal in each district, the new proposal will open up neighborhoods and commercial districts for almost any kind of use — as long as the new structure conforms to certain standards and aesthetics.

“We will be allowing more uses in the districts — all we’re asking for is a nice building,” said Powell.

He said that if land-use regulations and zoning are effective in improving an area and bolstering the quality of life, then they almost always encourage growth. He said strict regulations in New England communities — where in some areas building is prohibited on slopes steeper than 15 percent — and in Colorado have done nothing to slow growth and construction.

“It will drive up land values, and if the quality of life improves, then overall development will increase,” said Powell. “The only time you have a negative effect is if (zoning) is done poorly.”

The value of open space

While the debate about whether land-use regulations encourage or discourage growth continues, some argue that leaving land undeveloped is an alternative that also promotes fiscal health.

A report done in 2000 by Jeremy Jones and Susan Kask of Western Carolina University examined land uses in Macon County. The pair selected 1,592 parcels of land from high-, middle- and low-income sections of the county and compared the per parcel average cost of property tax supported county services. The report concluded that tax revenues generated from the typical commercial or residential property did not pay for the services — schools, water and sewer, emergency services, social services, etc. — that these areas demanded. Agriculture and open land, however, were self-supporting and even profitable for the county, the report showed. The report was commissioned by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the Little Tennessee Watershed Association.

“We had the report done because the tax base was increasing, but at the same time taxes were still increasing,” said Paul Carlson in an earlier Smoky Mountain News story about the report. “We wanted to see what the cost of uncontrolled growth was and thought the value of farm land forest land is greater than now estimated.”

The study showed that preserving open space and woodland saves a county tax dollars while at the same time preserving the countryside that creates the jobs and sales revenue derived from tourism.

According to Carlson, the study questions the commonly held belief that more business, more people and more homes make a county prosperous.

“It’s not an issue of fair, it’s an issue of truth. This report disproves a myth,” he said.

Regardless of how one feels about growth, the counties and towns in WNC are having to deal with its effects. Macon is proposing a county-wide zoning ordinance that would protect high-use corridors but leaves 90 percent of the county in open use; Haywood County is amending its subdivision ordinance to strengthen road-building requirements; Jackson is gathering information on what residents want in terms of land-use and smart growth while also considering a polluting industries ordinance; Franklin is looking at its first sign ordinance; and Waynesville is in the midst of a major re-write of its zoning ordinance.

As local governments study these issues, the debate continues about how it will affect the home building that has become an important part of the region’s economy.

“Developers need to be responsible and protect the consumer and the environment,” said Carpenter. “We just need to find the right balance.”