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We need to define problems before seeking solutions
To the Editor:
Sometime in the not too distant future we are going to have a brutal and divisive fight over zoning in Jackson County. There will be no winners when the battle is fought. The outcome won’t matter much because the lasting result will be more resentment, more division and more polarization in the community. The shame of it is that people of good conscience on both sides of the issue will be swallowed up by extremists, and whatever motivation exists to find a common solution to the problems of growth and the deterioration of our local communities and the general quality of life will be sacrificed to ideological rhetoric.
The arguments for or against zoning are pointless. They are arguments about solutions, and as much as it has been talked about over the last several years, we have yet to find a common definition of the problem – much less an understanding of its causes. Our problems of growth and land use are as much about economic development and tax policy as they are about regulation.
Our approach to economic development feeds our current problems. We are far too reliant on the three-headed monster of growth at Western Carolina University, second-home development and traditional tourism. All three of predicate their success not on the use, improvement and sustenance of local resources but on the attraction of outside interests that consume our resources. As long as our economic development is based on a consumptive approach that seeks not to sustain or replenish but to replace and overwhelm, we are going to be consumed by our growth. If we want to retain a rural character then we must include – at least as a component of our economic development – policy ideas that will foster activities that promote and support rural communities. Agriculture, sustainable forestry, micro-enterprise based on forest products and eco-tourism – activities that focus on and promote rural land uses – must be a part of our economic development efforts. If we want to retain our rural communities, then we must find ways of providing jobs and opportunity for our local residents. Those currently driving our current economic development efforts have often seemed more interested in providing opportunities to those outside the community than in addressing our local needs.
Next, we must find a way to address the spiraling cost of land and the sense that land is only useful if developed or if it is engaged in seeking higher economic productivity. Spiraling, speculative land values are good for second-home and trophy developers, but they are death to rural quality of life. We are in a very real danger of becoming just another suburb, albeit one with really big backyards and nice views. Incessant calls to “protect property values” actually drive people off the land. Land is becoming too expensive to hold for rural, agricultural and public purposes. The way to address that is through meaningful homestead exemptions and present-use value programs that encourage and enable folks to stay on the land. Even better would be a change in our current assessment and revaluation system so that folks are not taxed on spiraling values caused by neighboring development.
Finally we need to develop a public policy approach to land use that includes sensible regulations while recognizing the value of non-regulatory approaches to planning. We need to strengthen and enforce our existing regulations on sediment control and watershed development. We need a subdivision ordinance that holds developers accountable for their actions and protects the public health and welfare, consumers and taxpayers. No developer ought to use Jackson County as their personal litter box, and those who reap the economic benefits of development must share the burden of public costs. We also need to find ways to increase public awareness, education and discussion. These are essential because they create inclusion within the community. They also help develop a common language and a means of defining our problems in terms that have common understanding.
The people of Jackson County must not allow themselves to be drawn into a foolish battle that distracts from real issues and real solutions. I am convinced that a majority of folks in this county have at some level a basic agreement that there are fundamental problems with the way we are growing. People must find a way to build on their shared commitment to community rather than allow themselves to be divided by their differences on what solutions may work.
Mark Jamison
Cullowhee
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