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County leaders OK drafting land-use plan
By Derek Hodges
Jackson County’s commissioners voted Monday (June 6) to begin work on a land development plan for the county.
The move was prompted by a letter from an N.C. Department of Transportation official, who said further planning work on the county’s roadways would be delayed until such a plan was developed.
“The idea for this kind of plan is just generally to show what our county looks like at this time and what we think it will look like,” said Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan.
A notebook will be compiled by county officials over the next few months. It will include maps showing current and projected population centers, construction sites and other demographics. It will also include documents showing plans for how the county will handle future development, McMahan said.
“We already have most of these documents ready right now, it’s just a matter of getting it all together,” he said.
McMahan has also asked each of the county’s municipalities to create plans that incorporated into the wider county plan. Completed plans couled then be approved at the next multi-jurisdictional meeting, he said.
Completion of such a plan is important because it could lead to DOT efforts to alleviate congestion on N.C. 107, said Commissioner Conrad Burrell, who is also the Division 14 representative on the state transportation board.
“The situation on 107 is getting serious. I’d say we’ve got a major problem,” Burrell said.
Burrell cited current growth patterns and said the area around Wal-Mart might be the center of town in a few years. A Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse is slated to be built in the same general area.
“That’s the only place Sylva’s got to grow,” Burrell said.
Projections show that by the year 2020, 50,000 cars are expected to drive on N.C. 107 each day in what is already a congested area, Burrell said.
Completion of the plan would allow planning to begin for easing that congestion through various means, including the proposed Southern Loop around Sylva, Burrell said. Money for such project isn’t in the current Traffic Improvement Plan, he said.
Commissioners’ approval of the plan means DOT can begin studying the situation, McMahan said.
In other business June 6:
School improvements – Commissioners approved $541,005 in change orders for work on the existing shop building at Smoky Mountain High School.
“This is work that can be accomplished this summer and there is money in the budget for it,” said county Manager Ken Westmoreland.
While no solution has been proposed yet to problems that are delaying other construction at the school, the change orders represent work that needs to be completed, Westmoreland said.
July meeting – After approving planned Fourth of July fireworks displays for both Sylva and Cashiers, commissioners voted not to meet on the holiday, which would have been their first regular meeting of the month. Instead, they decided to meet only once during the month, on Thursday, July 14.
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