<< Back 5/1/02 Jackson takes stab at land-use planning SMN Straw houses work great for a few days or in conditions that are just so, but eventually they fall apart. The high-impact industry ordinance Jackson County will discuss at a public hearing on Thursday has similar characteristics: it will serve to regulate asphalt plants and other troublesome development, but the need for such a directly focused ordinance shows just how badly Jackson and other WNC counties need comprehensive land-use plans that are fair to taxpayers and development interests alike. The proposed ordinance is the direct result of the county’s attempt to regulate the asphalt plant Mark Fortner wants to build in Qualla. The plant is close to many homes and a school, and residents in the community rose up in against Fortner after they learned of his plans. Commissioners instructed their Economic Development Commission to first look into the impact of the proposed plant and then to develop a proposed ordinance. And so the EDC went to work. It visited other asphalt plants, talked to officials in other counties, and finally came up with a proposal that would regulate businesses like asphalt plants, junkyards, and heavy industry. The proposal is modeled after a similar ordinance in Ashe County, one that has withstood court challenges. It includes buffers between homes and some of these land uses, including 500 feet between asphalt plants and homes. That is 500-feet less than required in the Ashe County law, a fact that many from Qualla simply could not digest. The vote to keep the buffer at 500 feet instead of increasing it to 1,000 feet was 3-2, revealing a crack in the solidarity of the board concerning some aspects of the ordinance. Let’s not be misunderstood. The ordinance is a valid way to regulate some of the most troublesome type of land uses. It will provide a stop-gap measure in a county lacking a more comprehensive land-use ordinance. And although the buffers would be more effective if they were increased, the ordinance will help. In the end, though, a more comprehensive plan is what Jackson County needs. Next door in Macon County, an attempt at doing just that imploded after many citizens rose up against the plan. Some in Macon argue that those opposing the ordinance were being misled by opponents to believe that all kinds of existing land uses would be outlawed. That, in fact, was not the case. In Waynesville, a land-use plan based on smart growth principles is working its way toward completion. The first phase was approved last week, one that sets the vision for the town and a work plan for the next 20 years. In a few months the second phase, a comprehensive map that will break the town into nearly 30 mini planning districts, will be adopted. The plan allows nearly any use in any district. What it does, however, is impose standards on aesthetics, noise, buffers, etc., according to what is the predominant and most-desired use in any of the districts. It is being held up as a model, and perhaps counties in WNC may be able to use aspects of it to fashion their own vision. Jackson’s leaders are right to try and protect their citizens from high-impact industries and insulate developers of these businesses from the whim of future commissioners. But they could do one better if they took a more comprehensive approach to land use rather that going at it piecemeal.