PILOT MOUNTAIN — The state still has restrictions on crowd sizes, but the town of Pilot Mountain is going ahead with plans for a public hearing on rezoning request for a housing project expected to draw a lot of attention.
Back in February, the town Board of Commissioners heard about a zoning request from a developer looking to build a multi-family housing unit on 10.19 acres on Golf Course Road close to the intersection of Key Street and U.S. 52.
Southern Properties and Development, a Greensboro company, is looking to create 64 units to house families of low to moderate income, said Town Manager Michael Boaz. He said he had spoken to a representative of the company, Joey Russell, and the name of the proposed housing project would be Legacy Ridge.
Before the board got into the matter Monday night, Boaz read off some emails that had been submitted for the public forum segment.
Chad Motsinger sent in an email to the board saying that it is important that “the constituents voices are also heard when making impactful decision largely affecting their lives.”
He feels that having discussions and a hearing on the proposed housing project via Facebook Live isn’t fair to the seniors who are affected by the project.
“Most in this demographic have very little experience in social media at all and likely do not have a Facebook account. This alone would hold back a large portion of the affected population from having their voices heard and would place a damper on the larger voice of the people.”
A couple of other emails stated that the board should put off the zoning request until such time as the town could hold a regular public hearing.
Art Bullington went in a different direction. First, he said, the town should make a better effort to keep the public informed of what is scheduled to happen at meetings. He said that the agenda for Monday’s meeting wasn’t put up until lunchtime Friday.
Then he said that while the town board may have the legal authority to make zoning decisions on this property, as the land is just outside the town limits in the ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction), Bullington feels the commissioners don’t have the moral authority to make such decisions.
“I asked over a year ago for a policy that follows Mount Airy’s lead and returns zoning power in the ETJ back to county government. To my knowledge there has been exactly zero discussion on that.”
After that, the board dove into the project.
Discussion
To address the two email seeking to have the public hearing pushed off until later, Boaz said the town has waited as long as it possibly can. By the time of this hearing on June 29 it will be more than four months since the zoning and planning board took up the matter on Feb. 18.
At the March meeting Boaz told the board that Southern Properties was seeking government tax credits to help cover part of the construction cost. In order to pursue those credits, he said, “their application is due the first of May so we have to make that decision by then.”
On Tuesday, Boaz said that the town found out that the developer had to have all the paperwork in by May — except for the zoning change. That part could be put off until July.
When the developer applied for this zoning change and was approved by the zoning and planning board, the town became legally obligated to give Southern Properties its due-process right to a hearing, said Boaz. And with that July deadline looming on paperwork, June 29 is as late as the town could go.
If Gov. Roy Cooper eases crowd restrictions before then, the town can change its plans, but right now, the rule is no more than 10 people in a group indoors and 25 outside, Boaz noted. As a municipality, the board could vote to grant itself the right to have more people than that indoors, but folks would still have to abide by the 6-foot social distancing rule.
Restrictions have been a big concern for all of us, said Mayor Evan Cockerham. The timetable has been pushed back as far as we can, and now it is about trying to give every way for people to have their voices heard.
Meeting details
The town manager laid out some suggestions for how the meeting could go.
The board could meeting in either the upstairs or downstairs of Town Hall and allow one person at a time to come inside to give a public statement of no more than three minutes.
Folks could perhaps send in emails or leave voicemails as public comments as well. Those voicemails could be played during the meeting and the comments read aloud.
A total time limit of 100 minutes was proposed for the hearing.
The board agreed that voicemails alone could run more than the 100 minutes and not be fair to the people who showed up in person to speak, so the voicemail method was shot down.
And if there are a great deal of emails that arrive that could do the same thing, Boaz said he could compile the emails together and send them to the board members as a whole, but perhaps just look to read out loud the ones that don’t say similar things.
Commissioner Kim Quinn noted that if the cutoff is 100 minutes, with a time limit of three minutes, then that would only allow 33 people to talk — less if several emails were read during that time as well. What if more people than that want to talk?
If the board sees there are a lot of folks left, then it could choose to extend that limit if it chooses, Boaz answered. Of course, he added, the commissioners don’t really need to hear 57 people say the same things like about how it’s going to greatly impact traffic.
Boaz also suggested that the guidelines clearly state that public comments not include matters of race or income status for those who might live in the housing units.
Mayor Cockerham pointed out that legally the town board cannot base its zoning decision on their incomes or anything else about the possible residents.
If the board cannot consider these things, said Boaz, why allow the topics to be discussed in a public forum?
Commissioner Scott Needham asked why the town should hold the hearing in the small Town Hall instead of somewhere with more space like the Pilot Center.
Normally the town would check with the school district about holding the hearing in the auditorium of the middle school, noted Boaz, but the schools are shut down. Even without social-distancing limits, he said he isn’t sure they could fit the whole crowd into the Pilot Center standing shoulder to shoulder.
What if it is raining that evening and speakers are waiting out on the sidewalk, asked Quinn. If the attendees could be in a place where they could hear all the other speakers, then they would know what topics had already been brought up and could use their three minutes more efficiently instead of repeating what had come before.
Commissioner Hilda Willis said she would like to see a bigger arena so more folks could attend. A PA system could let people hear what is said where they are waiting.
Needham said there could be more people than just the ones who want to speak. They will want to hear what is said and can’t do that if they are waiting outside.
Willis said some provision should be made for folks who don’t have internet access, even if it is only space for 10 or 15 residents. So if the town can utilize a bigger space, then it should.
If 200 people show up for the meeting, then the board can’t accommodate them anywhere, said the mayor. However, the Pilot Center does allow some more folks in.
Boaz said he could check with the Pilot Center and make sure the space is available. Then a notice would need to get into The Mount Airy News quickly because legally a change of venue would have to be advertised at least 10 days before a meeting.
Willis said letters would need to be re-sent to residents about the change.
Boaz said no letters had been sent out yet because the board hadn’t approved his June 29 date yet.
At that point, the board voted for the June 29 date with Boaz checking to see if the Pilot Center would be available for that day.
The ETJ
As for Mr. Bullington’s email about the ETJ, Boaz addressed, that’s a policy issue for the board to consider. The town staff would advise against it.
The people who live in the ETJ are represented by two members of the town planning and zoning board appointed by the Surry County Board of Commissioners, not the town board, Boaz pointed out.
The commissioners have always given a lot of weight to the opinion of the planning board, Boaz said, as well they should since it specializes in these matters.
Speaking of the Planning and Zoning Board, Boaz said the town will be accepting applications for three spots that are coming open on the board in the next few months.
Two seats are for appointment by the town and one seat is for the ETJ and is appointed by the county.
The application can be found on the town’s website.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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