Candidate hopes to Spann communication gaps
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com
Editor’s Note: The following is part seven in a multi-part series featuring candidates in the upcoming Boone municipal election.

Bunk Spann considers listening as a major part of his job.

This is particularly obvious when one sees the Boone Town Council member around town, holding a large sign that reads “listening post.”

In his bid for re-election, Spann, along with his sign, visits the Watauga County Farmers’ Market and downtown Boone to chat with residents and hear their concerns, sometimes discussing politics and sometimes shooting the breeze.

One topic of conversation deals with the preservation of single-family neighborhoods. Spann, along with his fellow council members, instituted regulations to address cut-through traffic and residential occupancy violations in area neighborhoods.

“Livability and safety, to me, seem to go hand in hand,” he said, adding that he would strive to maintain those standards if re-elected to the council.

Two more standards Spann stands behind are the steep slope development and view-shed protection ordinances. “There’s often a misunderstanding about the regulation that was actually passed,” he said. “There was so much conversation, so much publicity and so many public hearings regarding the (steep slope) task force’s proposals. Unfortunately, rumors get passed around from time to time.”

Like so, Spann wishes to debunk misinformation about the steep slope and view-shed ordinances, saying they don’t prohibit development in such areas. The steep slope regulations, he said, regulate development on designated steep slopes to protect health and safety, requiring geological analysis before development can proceed in some cases, while the view-shed ordinance limits density of development and protects the scenic beauty that gives Boone its natural character.

“When you’re coming to Boone you want to see the mountains,” he said. “Citizens have said again and again, and in our comprehensive plan, that they want to protect the character of Boone, and part of that is the beauty of the mountains. It’s the number one economic driver in the community.”

Growth is not a bad thing, he said, but if a town does not manage it and determine what sort of growth should occur, then it will become “Anywhere, USA.”

“And I believe with all my heart the citizens of Boone don’t want Boone to be ‘Anywhere USA,’” Spann said.

To Spann, the environment is a paramount issue, even in his capacity as a private citizen, having helped spearhead a local Riverkeepers initiative to protect the Watauga River.

As a council member, though, Spann favors communication among the High Country’s various institutions, including Watauga County and Appalachian State University. The development of a new Watauga High School, and the measures taken to ease the burden on the surrounding neighborhoods is what Spann calls “maybe the best example of elected officials – the county, town and board of education – working together for the common good.”

“I think it’s a great example to being committed to an open process that involved all the stakeholders and allowed us to come to a discussion as a group in the long-term best interest of the community,” Spann said. “When you want to do something that’s going to require major support, you’ve got to involve people from the very beginning … in a process that’s open, systematic and thoughtful.”

Like so, Spann said he sees real value in intergovernmental meetings and that he would encourage continuing the practice. Considering the future holds weightier issues, such as expansion of the town’s water system and the improvement of relations between Boone and Appalachian State University, Spann said intergovernmental communication is more important now than ever.

“The state of North Carolina has mandated that the university grow … Appalachian is among the three or four most popular institutions in the system, and thereby the demand is extra heavy on Appalachian,” he said.

“How do we grow the university in the context of the regulatory system, and how do we work to meet the needs of the university and the town in the context of the regulatory system?”

Spann said regulations create predictability and stability, but both parties need to be committed to working within that system. Town and university officials recently sat down to discuss new regulations in university zoning districts and agreed to move forward on several points.

“The college of education is, perhaps, the most visible of the challenges we face,” Spann said, referring to what has grown into a rather contentious issue. The university has proposed a new building for its college of education that violates numerous town land-use regulations. Spann, however, is eager to make something work.

“How we’ll work our way through that is one of our challenges,” he said.

Another challenge is the reestablishment of the Appalachian Cultural Museum, which was displaced from its former location of University Hall, when Appalachian State established its Institute for Health and Human Services.

Some of the museum artifacts were reclaimed by their donors, while the remainder sits in the upper floors of the old Belk Library on campus. Though the museum has found a temporary location in the Wilcox Emporium, the town is seeking a permanent home at Horn in the West that will incorporate the popular outdoor drama, Hickory Ridge Homestead, the Watauga County Farmers’ Market and the Daniel Boone Native Gardens.

The result will be a cultural complex of sorts, and Spann said this should be yet another opportunity for intergovernmental cooperation.

“The university has talked about how much they’d like to cooperate with the town in supporting the efforts to supply staff and material to the museum,” Spann said. “We’d like to see the museum there, hopefully, and enhancement of the farmers’ market.”

Spann also hopes the complex will be an area heavily visited – by foot traffic. A walkable community is another priority, and the council recently commissioned a walk audit to determine which crosswalks, sidewalks and pedestrian-oriented features needed improvement.

The completion of the greenway trail will add to a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere, and Spann noted he serves on the greenway committee. He said a plan is to expand the greenway towards the Wilson Drive area, adding a bike lane on side of Greenway Road. Eventually, he hopes to see the trail cross the other side of U.S. 321 to create a loop about town.

“I think this council is definitely committed to the enhancement of the greenway and meeting the standards of DOT (Department of Transportation),” Spann said.

A walkable committee fits into the definition of “smart growth,” a concept Spann endorses, which also involves mixed-use. The council commissioned a smart growth audit, which will identify key areas in town regulations that need improvement. The results could see a new form of the Unified Development Ordinance, more in sync with smart growth strategies.

“We’re bringing all those together in harmony, so if we’re successful, we’ll have a synergetic whole here that will allow us to move forward in a comprehensive way, with all the parts working together for the good of the whole,” Spann said.

This will require public involvement, however, and Spann, in turn, said he values open government. “The people’s business should be done under the public eye, with the public fully aware,” he said. “The good ol’ boy system has deteriorated. You have government now that really believes the regulations and policies should apply to everybody and not just a few.”

Spann was not endorsed by the political action committee, Citizens for Change, the members of which fervently oppose the steep slope and view-shed regulations.

For more information, visit www.bunkspann07.com on the Web.