The mountain community of Highlands, located on a 4,000-foot high plateau along the southern edge of the Appalachians, is blessed with a rich history and magnificent scenic beauty. It’s the kind of beauty and culture that makes it appealing to the masses. The kind of beauty and culture that invite accelerated growth and development.

“In 1960 Highlands was no different from any other town in Western North Carolina,” said Maureen Lackey, town planner and zoning administrator.

“But Highlands chose to have some foresight and take advantage of the fact that people were coming up here because of the natural beauty,” Lackey said.

According to Lackey, Highlands has had zoning since 1965, land-use planning since 1989, a watershed ordinance since 1994 and sedimentation and erosion controls since 1997.

“One of the reasons I wanted to work in Highlands was, as a planner, you want to work somewhere that has some type of planning in place. There is not a lot of planning elsewhere in the county,” she said.

Lackey, who has a master’s degree in public administration from Western Carolina University, has been town planner in Highlands since January 2000. She says there is a lot of community support for zoning and planning programs.

“Most of the people I deal with are concerned about the environment up here. They realize they moved up here because of the environment and want to protect it,” she said.

She noted that in 1988 a land-use committee worked for a year to come up with a plan that would allow Highlands to grow and co-exist with the natural environment. The study indicated that 70 percent of the land in Highlands was not suitable for all types of development. Steep slopes, numerous streams and fragile, easily eroded topsoil mandate good stewardship.

Water quality is of particular concern to the community, Lackey said.

“We have to rely on the water that hits the earth, right here, to provide our water supply.”

She said while the town’s watershed and erosion and sedimentation ordinances were patterned after state regulations, they were more stringent. State regulations call for an erosion plan if a property owner is going to disturb a minimum of one acre. Highlands requires a land disturbance permit at a minimum of 3,000 square feet.

This provides Lackey an opportunity to meet with the land owner, to discuss best management practices (BMP) and to make sure property owners understand the permitting process.

“The state calls for the protection of certain streams in the watershed that it classifies as natural trout waters, but our goal is to see that sedimentation doesn’t get into any creek because every creek eventually leads to the town’s or someone’s drinking water,” Lackey said.

Macon County does not have any type of county-wide land use planning. There is a county-wide watershed ordinance and a floodplain ordinance, and the board of commissioners has been studying an erosion and sedimentation ordinance.

At a recent joint meeting between the town of Highlands and Macon County commissioners, town board members urged the county to adopt a stringent erosion and sedimentation ordinance. They argued that their efforts to preserve the town’s water supply were in vain without county-wide compliance because streams don’t stop at the city limits.

Lackey said she felt the county was moving forward, especially in the area of water quality. She also noted that Sam Greenwood, county manager, said the county looks at Highlands as an example because of the years of experience with land-use planning.

While planning and zoning do go hand in hand, Lackey feels that people often confuse the two. Planning simply establishes what uses will be allowed in certain areas, such as commercial, industrial, residential or multi-use. It is to ensure that a Burger King or factory doesn’t suddenly pop up in a residential neighborhood, Lackey said.

Zoning ordinances are more specific regulations that delineate what owners may or may not do with specific properties. Lackey said she understands the argument some individuals have with some zoning restrictions, but she feels property owners have as great a responsibility to the community as the community has to them.

“No town or county or state is saying you have to give us your property. What they are saying is if you are going to expect roads; if you are going to expect water and sewer; if you are going to expect police and fire protection, then you have to share in the cost. When one builds anywhere, it is one’s responsibility to make sure they are giving to the community, as much as the community is giving to them,” Lackey said.

Dave Clary has been a resident of Highlands for nearly 30 years. He has served on the planning board for over 10 of those years.

“Highlands is not like anyplace else,” Clary said. “Other communities look to Highlands as an example.”

He said he was one of the first to ever apply for a building permit in Highlands. “The contractor and I drew the plans on a paper bag.”

As Highlands has grown, planing and zoning have become more sophisticated, but the goal is still the same — to try and work with people in the best interest of the community, Clary said.

Highlands has become the town it is because of “the local yokels” in charge, he said. Highlanders care about their town and work hard to preserve its integrity.

Lackey said the planning board encourages certain types of development over others. The board offers advantages to cluster developments in lieu of standard subdivisions. Clusters provide more open space and less paving and are better for the environment, according to Lackey.

She said she also likes to see mixed use on main street.

“If someone purchases an old building on main street, we would rather see a combination of retail and living space rather than all commercial. It creates a greater sense of community,” Lackey said.

Lackey is working to keep Highlands on the cutting edge with regard to land-use planning. At the Monday, April 23, planning board meeting she presented the board with a rough draft of proposed amendments to the erosion and sedimentation control ordinance that would create a Mountainside Overlay District. The amendment would create districts depending on the steepness of the slope to “ensure that new development is sensitive to the existing natural setting and topography and that the erosion protection design minimizes the erodibility of soils in the town of Highlands.”

Lackey told the board the amendment was needed because BMPs were not developed with mountainous regions in mind.

The board discussed the amendments and decided to study them further and return to the next planning board meeting with suggestions and ideas.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News