Steep slope task force advocates moratorium

By Frank Ruggiero

The Boone Steep Slope and Multi-Family Task Force approved six recommendations to go to the Boone Town Council, one of which includes the word “moratorium.”

The task force met Tuesday to review its recommendations and approve them for the town council’s January meeting. Before the review began, task force chairman Harvard Ayers told how the committee had arrived at six recommendations to remedy the multi-family housing aspect of task force’s charge, compiled through meetings with experts on the subject, plenty of discussion and public input.

The first recommendation states, “Develop ordinances that encourage the development of housing stock and mixed use neighborhoods that would appeal to retirees, professionals, families and students.”

Number two reads, “Create mixed use neighborhood districts, where dense and medium dense development is designed and desired to occur.” The third recommendation says the town should “hire a consulting firm of town planners to help with the long term global envisioning process toward the future of the town of Boone.”

The fourth states, “Require a performance bond for multi-family developments,” while the fifth reads, “Institute a moratorium on multi-family steep slope development until the Steep Slope and Multi-Family Task Force can make its recommendations in early 2006.

The final recommendation says, “Make an annual appropriating to a town fund for the purpose of creation and preservation of green space and conservation easements.”

Task force member and town councilman Dempsey Wilcox, who had to leave shortly after the meeting commenced, took the opportunity to say he was very happy with five of the six recommendations. The one he did not prefer was number five, regarding a moratorium.

“I really think your moratorium is bad PR for the town,” Wilcox said, adding, the existing water shortage is enough of a discouragement for multi-family housing building on steep slopes. “I think it’s a bad idea.”

Wilcox said he felt the task force was not meeting its charge for recommendations on the matter. Council, he continued, recently had a “long and hard and contentious debate” on a failed steep slope development moratorium. A moratorium on the approval of multi-family housing of 24 or more units, on the other hand, was approved and the task force appointed to seek a remedy.

“Steep slope (moratorium) was not approved by the town council, and I would hate to see this body throw that recommendation back at the council,” Wilcox said.

Ayers broke down the review process, recommending task force members move and second to adopt a recommendation one at a time, and then have each member share his or her thoughts on the matter before voting.

Member Sean Krause was first to speak on the first recommendation, the short-term vision of which was to, “Discourage the continuing development of single purpose four bedroom, four bath student housing.”

The recommendation’s purpose is to increase the town’s long-term viability by encouraging mixed-use neighborhoods to appeal to all sorts of residents, rather than solely students.

Among the options to be considered with the recommendation are “developer incentive packages, management and lease requirements, tighter noise and behavioral ordinances, and partnering with ASU to develop responsibility codes for students living off-campus.”

While he said it was a good recommendation, Krause disliked the mention of “four bedroom, four bath” in that it was too descriptive. He said he’d prefer the topic to be addressed elsewhere.

Member Judy Humphrey agreed with Krause’s assessment, saying the direct reference added too much emphasis.

Member Richard Campbell was in favor of the recommendation, but said it should express that the town is not proposing any changes to existing R-1 (single-family residential) zones, when discussing mixed-use neighborhoods.

Member and mayor-elect Loretta Clawson liked the recommendation, but said the town attorney will have to peruse the document before the town council decides on it. Member Bob de Camara said he’d like to see the recommendation encourage involvement with the development community.

Member Larry Bordeaux referred to the purpose’s second paragraph, which says, “The four bedroom, four bath model is designed to appeal exclusively to students. This increases the likelihood that a development will be taken off the tax rolls by the university, and promotes the segregation of students within the larger Boone population.”

Bordeaux said there has already been a lot of friction between the town and Appalachian State University, and that such a sentence could instigate even more. He said the only way a privately-owned development can be taken off the tax rolls is if it is sold to the university.

Member Steve Owen said the term “encourage” should be better defined, while member Caroline Bond suggested that “ASU Judicial Affairs” should be used in the third paragraph rather than simply “ASU,” when referring to the town working with the university on the development of responsibility codes for off-campus students.

Wilcox said the recommendation, for students’ sakes, shouldn’t openly oppose student housing. Member Gayle Turner and Ayers agreed to include friendly amendments to the recommendations before they reach council.

Krause suggested changing the wording to “promote the integration of ASU students into the larger population.” With the modifications, the task force unanimously agreed to recommend the recommendation to council.

Krause started the discussion on the second recommendation, regarding the creation of mixed-use neighborhoods. The recommendation’s short-term vision is the creation of four mixed-use overlay districts in downtown Boone, the Shadowline area, Hardin Park, and the Homespun Hills/N.C. 105 corridor.

The language says dense development in mixed-use neighborhood districts “will stop the inevitable, unwanted and inappropriate development that will occur if we do not plan for the built future in which we want to live.”

The recommendation’s purpose is, “Increase commercial and residential density in areas with existing services and infrastructure,” while promoting the long-term development of distinct mixed-use neighborhoods with jobs and commercial services within walking distances, defined as a radius of a quarter mile, of residences.

Krause said he agreed with the majority of the recommendation, but that, “The short-term vision is fairly descriptive in its approach.” He said he’d rather have the vision say this is a possible solution, rather than the solution.

He then referred to a paragraph in the purpose, which mentions that, “Buildings should be constructed along existing roadways, and not on steep slopes.” Krause said this was too restrictive, and suggested using “and minimized on steep slopes” instead.

Member Loren Raymond said he was in favor of the entire recommendation, while Campbell again said there should be guidelines that specify any such development would not encroach into existing neighborhoods.

de Camara suggested mentioning “reducing traffic speeds” in the portion which discussed pedestrian-oriented roadways for the mixed-use districts. Owen said he’d prefer the document to say “sustainable development” rather than “sustainable growth,” being that “development” sounds less daunting.

Bond referred to part of the definition of positive growth, which reads that, “Commercial services, such as a gallon of milk, a video rental, and a cup of coffee are within walking distance of the residences.” She said this seemed “incredibly idealistic” and that it was, “Like something you see out of a movie – this perfect neighborhood.”

Krause suggested mentioning methods of incentive for developers in mixed-use districts, such as reducing the parking requirements, while Clawson thought “downtown Boone” should be replaced with “central business.”

The task force agreed unanimously to recommend the language to council.

For more on the Steep Slope and Multi-Family Task Force’s recommendations to the Boone Town Council, read Monday’s edition of the Watauga Democrat.

• Frank Ruggiero may be contacted at ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com.