week of 4/23/03
 
 
 
  Subidivision rules key task for Smart Growth Task Force
By Don Hendershot

Who: Smart Growth Task Force, Jackson commissioners
Where: Room 203, Justice Building
When: May 8, 6 p.m.
What: Brainstorming work session to begin developing goals.


The newly created seven-member Jackson County Smart Growth Task Force has been charged to work with planning consultant Gerald Green to create a subdivision ordinance for the county. That task was originally assigned to the county planning board, but commissioners have not yet chosen that board.

Jackson County Commission Chairman Stacy Buchanan said the board felt a sense of urgency regarding a subdivision ordinance because of large developments planned for the county. A subdivision ordinance would be an integral part of any comprehensive land-use plan, he said, so it fit nicely into the scope of work for the Growth Task Force.

The task force members include Mark Jamison (chairman), Jay Spiro, Mickey Henson, Jim Dukes, Gary Buchanan, Richard Wilson and Robert Shelton, who met with Green for the first time April 17. Jim Dukes was absent.

Green told task force members it was their job to manage growth, not stop it. “We know where we want to go, but we haven’t chosen to take that difficult road that gets us there,” Green said.

Jamison said it was important to preserve the character of Jackson County’s local communities and that, “we have the chance to determine our own destiny.”

Some of the issues discussed last week include road standards, water and sewage, soil and water protection, preservation of open space, and land for public facilities and emergency vehicle access.

Wilson, a former Jackson County firefighter, said emergency vehicle access was already a problem in the county. “There are places now, we can’t get pumpers to. A lot of homes in this county are unprotected,” he said.

The board also discussed “minor” and “major” subdivision standards. There appeared to be a consensus that the board didn’t want to create a lot of regulation regarding “family transfers” of land. At the same time, it was pointed out that property deeded to family members is often resold and that even if it stayed in the family certain standards like emergency access and proper septic and water requirements should be met.

Spiro, a real estate attorney, said he envisioned a basic plan. “It will grow as needs and problems arise. We need to engender the support of the community,” he said.

Green pointed out that the first subdivision regulations in the country were developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. They were developed to protect the buyer, he said.

Jamison said a proposed 2,100-acre development along Bear Lake in the Little Canada area of Jackson County was “the motivation to get things moving” on the subdivision ordinance. Developers are planning a high-end residential development with more than 500 homes. Jamison and others on the board wondered what kind of impact such a development would have on county resources and services.

Jamison said it was the task force’s job to provide county commissioners with a road map. “I would think the process would involve an ordinance, some administrative procedures and a set of recommendations. The idea is to not just pass an ordinance and walk away from it.”

Greene, a former Buncombe County planner and a consultant to the Cashiers Commercial District Task Force — will meet with the task force again in about a month. In the meantime, the task force and commissioners have scheduled a work session for 6 p.m., May 8, in room 203 of the Justice and Administration Building. Vicki Greene of the Southwest Commission will be present to help commissioners and the Smart Growth Task Force “brainstorm.”