Steep-slope regulation hearing draws diverse opinion

By Frank Ruggiero

ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

As one audience member commented, it was democracy in action.

The town of Boone’s special public hearing on proposed steep slope development regulations yielded a turnout of more than 380 last Thursday at the Watauga County Courthouse.

The majority spoke in opposition of the proposed regulations, which included a geologic hazard map that would color-code the town and its extraterritorial jurisdiction based on slope steepness and underlying geologic factors, as well as a similar view-shed map that would indicate properties located 100 feet above major valley floors, both imposing regulations.

Local attorney Tom Speed called the proposed regulations “a lawyer’s dream,” expecting they would result in litigation against the town.

“When I was limited to two minutes (to speak), I eliminated all the nice things I had to say,” he said.

Though the overwhelming majority expressed opposition for the regulations, several turned out to support them.

“I did wear my bulletproof vest tonight,” said Banner Elk resident Julia Heinlein. “If we want to pursue the natural beauty of our community, we must finalize a smart growth plan and listen to the recommendations of the steep-slope task force.”

She described the task force as unbiased, which drew laughter and murmurs from the audience, to which Heinlein responded, “I didn’t come here tonight to feel like I was in grade school.”

She continued, saying if people don’t take charge and control the growth in North Carolina, “we’re just going to become another Florida with little beauty left.”

Heinlein added that public safety should be a priority when it comes to new housing.

John Heinlein of Banner Elk acknowledged the task force was tasked with a difficult job.

“They set about it in an unbiased way and came up with a lot of recommendations that are quite controversial, as most people believe, but I think are well-founded,” he said. “Perhaps the map needs more scrutiny, more attention to investigation, but do not throw out the good recommendations — fine tune what’s already been established and go from there.”

Resident Andy Mason spoke in favor of regulations to limit high-density development on steep and potentially unstable slopes and protecting the view-shed. While the first addresses health and safety concerns, including storm water and run-off, he said the next deals with the town’s character.

If the council were to proceed, Mason suggested the language should be narrowly focused to limit the impact on single-family homes, especially in neighborhoods.

Tom Adams of Boone said land in a geologic hazard zone would devalue a home, in that a real estate agent would be required to divulge the fact that the home is in a hazard zone.

Regarding the task force’s suggestion that landowners could apply for a variance for exceptions to the regulations, Adams said, “I can tell you from experience that getting a variance is a very difficult thing.”

Geologist Louis Acker spoke on the cost of geotechnical investigations on property.

The task force had estimated that a geologic survey could be conducted on one’s property, if it were located in an orange or red hazard zone, to determine whether or not it was geologically stable for development at a cost of $250 from a local geologist.

Acker told how the proposal requires a geologist find within an orange zone that there are no preexisting landslide deposits, which he said is not too difficult. The proposed regulation also requires that the geologist find no daylighting fracture sets, which Acker said is extremely difficult. “It can’t be done unless you have large exposures already there and, in my experience, natural exposures aren’t good enough.”

Soil would also require drilling, and Acker said he could attest to the fact there are radical changes in soil depth over distances that will require drilling.

As for the task force’s 15 percent definition of steep slope, Acker said the number “has nothing to do with slope stability, and there’s nothing inherently unstable about slopes of 15 percent.”

Resident Jerry Williamson called the public hearing “democracy at its best,” saying he was glad to see the town listening to its people.

He acknowledged the task force has devoted a year and a half to developing the regulations, and said, “I hope that all of you can reach a compromise on this that’s reasonable, and I believe that you can, keeping the focus on what started this — high-density development on a very steep slope.”

Williamson said a reasonable step would be to exempt single-family homes from the proposals and was treated to applause form the audience.

Jim Deal, chairman of the Watauga County commissioners, asked the council and planning commission to sit down and write out its goals for regulating steep-slope development and then write what impact those regulations would yield.

Deal added he was concerned about the potential impact on the existing Watauga High School property, which the county had intended to sell, as well as the recently acquired property the county will use to build a new high school. “That will [affect] every single taxpayer in Watauga County,” he said.

Resident Mike Lamb offered a particularly wry comment, saying, “I would like to meet the idiot that decided to populate Boone in the first place. Had we known there were so many hazards around here — it’s scary.”