What: Public hearing on high-impact industry ordinance
When: May 2 at 5 p.m.
Where: Jackson County Administration Building

Jackson County residents will get the opportunity to air their views on a proposed high-impact industry ordinance during a public hearing on May 2.

The county Economic Development Commission was given the task of creating the ordinance after residents of the Qualla community rose up against a proposed asphalt plant. A year ago, commissioners enacted a moratorium on asphalt plants in the county and instructed the Economic Development Commission to study the issue.

The EDC crafted the proposed high-impact industry ordinance and presented a draft to commissioners at a work session April 18. According to EDC Chairman Tom McClure, the Jackson County Industrial Development Ordinance was modeled in part from an Ashe County ordinance that had been successfully upheld in federal court. The ordinance addresses asphalt plants, junkyards, heavy industry and mining industries.

One point of contention at the work session was the setback for asphalt plants. The ordinance calls for a 500-foot setback for ashpalt plants, a one-half mile (2,640 feet) setback for junkyards and heavy industry and a 1,320-foot setback for mining.

Commissioners Stacy Buchanan and Roberta Crawford questioned the discrepancy in the setbacks.

“If we’re talking distance, I would rather have a junkyard closer to my home than an asphalt plant,” Buchanan said.

“I would be more comfortable with a 1,000-foot buffer for asphalt plants, like the Ashe County ordinance has,” Crawford said.

However, commissioners voted 3-2 to retain the 500-foot setback for asphalt plants. Chairman Jay Denton and commissioners Conrad Burrell and Franz Whitmire voted for the 500-foot setback, while Buchanan and Crawford opposed it.

The regular meeting had to be moved to Courtroom One to accommodate the large contingent of Qualla residents who showed up. Robert Franz, chairman of the Qualla Community Development Council said the vote on the setback discrepancies was bothersome.

He said it was “absurd” that “three of my five commissioners could think an asphalt plant was five times better than a junkyard.”

Franz also told commissioners he felt his civil rights had been violated and that the EDC had purposefully made it difficult for him to attend meetings and/or obtain information regarding the high impact industries ordinance.

Charles Bradshaw, who owns property adjacent to the proposed asphalt site in Qualla, said that eight homes could fall within the 500-foot buffer outlined by the ordinance. Susie Sims asked commissioners to think about the health issues connected to pollution that would be generated by an asphalt plant. She said that a recent Lancet medical journal article asserted that air pollution could actually cause asthma in children. She pointed out that Smoky Mountain Elementary School was less than a mile from the proposed asphalt site.

After the public comment period, chairman Denton told Qualla residents he would stay after the regular meeting to discuss the ordinance.

“Sometimes I don’t like the things I have to vote for,” Denton told the group.

He said without zoning the county had no way to control growth.

“I would vote to zone the county tomorrow if I had the vote. If you don’t have a law people will do whatever they want,” he said.

Franz said he was concerned with more than the proposed Qualla plant. He said he wanted to see an ordinance that would protect all Jackson County residents.

“If we have to have an asphalt plant, let’s have the best — the cleanest plant possible, and let’s keep it away from kids. Let’s do it right, Franz said.

After listening to the group, Denton said he would study the setback language more closely and reconsider his vote on the 500-foot buffer.