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Sylva agrees to voluntary annexation
By Emily Elders
Sylva officials agreed unanimously Thursday (Jan. 18) to approve a voluntary annexation request for a 10-plus acre parcel on Barnes Road, directly off of N.C. 107, emphasizing their lack of responsibility in providing water and sewer to the property at any point in the future.
Robert and Ruthena Morgan of Southwest Ranches, Fla., who own the property, applied for voluntary annexation in December. No public comment was made at the hearing held before the decision, which was tabled at the Jan. 4 meeting.
Board member Danny Allen and town attorney Eric Ridenour were not present.
Voluntary annexations allow parcels to be added to a town’s limits, but do not require any town services to the property except access to rural fire department protection, which this property already has, and the ability to access a main line for water and sewer, which is provided by lines along N.C. 107.
Board member Maurice Moody said he wanted to be sure the town would not be responsible for providing water and sewer to the property.
“If there’s no obligation there for us to pay for that, then I don’t think it could hurt us to pull that property in,” he said. “We want the town to grow, and if we want to grow, I don’t see how we can refuse an offer like that.”
Town Manager Jay Denton replied that statutes do not require the town to provide water and sewer to the property.
“You’re not going to have to give them water and sewer, but keep in mind that it could be an incentive you could provide should they sell it to someone like a developer,” he said. He clarified before the vote that to state that the town was not obligated to provide water and sewer in the annexation agreement would be redundant, as that is already outlined under state law.
Officials also agreed that a policy should be developed regarding future voluntary annexations. Denton agreed to contact UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Government for help drafting that policy.
– In other business Jan. 18:
– After considering the matter for several months, town leaders denied Lyle and Gladys Clark’s application to allow storage units in a B-2 district.
The Clarks, who have been represented by their son, attorney Keith Clark, had proposed a high-end, climate-controlled storage unit facility on their 2.85-acre parcel at the intersection of Business 23 and Wilkes Crescent Drive.
Storage units are currently not permitted under the B-2 ordinance, nor are they considered under conditional use permits.
Keith Clark argued that the business suited the character of the surrounding area, and claimed he made several adjustments to his plans in order to please the board.
– Auditor Mitch Crisp presented board members with an overview of the town’s annual audit. Copies were given to officials, but Crisp said he wanted to emphasize a few details.
“This is the first year we’ve seen a lot of steady growth and pretty conservative fiscal management,” he said. “Your staff should be complimented keeping up with these things.”
Crisp said that the town’s revenues exceeded expenditures across the board, and that their net asset position had increased $487,000 from last year’s figure.
“To use some conservative optimism, I think we may have moved out of some relatively flat years into a more positive time,” he said.
– Moody brought up some concerns he has with current zoning discussions.
“We’re getting a lot of requests for variances, conditional use (permits), and so forth lately,” he said. “I think we ought to get somebody out here to help us look at these things.”
Moody said he had spoken previously with Denton about asking someone from the School of Government to join board members for a planning and zoning work session to review current ordinances.
By consensus, the board directed Denton to contact the school and work on a date for the session. Moody then suggested delaying the Feb. 1 hearing for a proposed residential planned unit development overlay.
“If we put that off, maybe we’ll know a little more about the general things (zoning basics) before we make a decision,” he said.
Board member Harold Hensley disagreed.
“They can lead us in lots of different directions in planning and zoning, but we should be able to make up our own minds,” he said.
The hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, prior to the regularly scheduled meeting.
– Mayor Brenda Oliver reported that she had attended a workshop on green building and was impressed with the results.
“This may be a direction we need to look at,” she said. “It’s a little more expensive up front, but the fuel cost in the long run is cost-efficient.”
She said she had brought these materials and some information about pervious asphalt (pavement that minimizes stormwater runoff) to Public Works Director Dan Schaeffer. She said she’d like to see that type of surface used in the repaving of the town’s municipal parking lot on Railroad Avenue.
Pervious asphalt reduces rainwater runoff and increases infiltration, and Oliver said better absorption of water would help alleviate contamination issues with Scotts Creek.
Oliver also reported that the Sylva proposal for a new post office, which had been in processing at the facility’s management offices in Greensboro, had been sent to their Washington headquarters the previous week, and that the application process there typically takes up to six weeks.
– Denton requested that the board schedule a budget work session in order to go over plans for the coming year.
That session is set for 9 am. Thursday, Feb. 15, prior to the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Denton advised the board that he would be proposing a few things differently.
“It’s time for new ideas, and we need to spend some time on these,” he said.
He outlined his goal of increasing the capital improvement plan from a one-year layout of goals to a five-year layout.
“We need to look at trends and start building these CIP’s,” he said. “I’ve already met with our department heads to start looking at what we’re going to need within the town, our infrastructure needs, and goals of that nature.”
Denton also reported that Victor Lofquist has been retained as the engineer for the proposed Scotts Creek Bridge, which will span the creek between Poteet Park and the town’s municipal lot on Railroad Avenue. Surveyor Joel Johnson will be doing the floodplain survey. Denton said he anticipated getting the bridge in by May.
– Planning Director Jim Aust reported that four new business applications had been filed. These included Smoky Mountain Pet Services at 1364 East Main Street; Saints European Skin Care and Spa, at 1134 Skyland Drive; Groovy’s, a retail apparel store at the East Sylva Shopping Center; and Annie’s Food and Spirits, a restaurant and lounge in Unit B-2 of the BP Aztex shopping center near Exit 83 off U.S. 23/74.
– Schaeffer reported that the streetlight project on Asheville Highway near the hospital is nearing completion ahead of schedule. He said the bores were currently being done, and that the light poles had arrived at the contractor’s office in Asheville. He anticipated being finished by the end of January, and that the projected end date had been set for Feb. 28.
– Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison said his department had voted to present Detective John Buchanan the 2006 Officer of the Year award for his work on the recent domestic violence case in which Bonnie Woodring was shot to death by her estranged husband, Woody Woodring. Jamison said his department created the award a few years ago to recognize employees who had made noteworthy contributions through the year.
He also stated that among his reports for the month were two mental health commitments, and that he wanted to let town officials know that the state is currently reviewing legal ties between mental health and law enforcement in an effort to solve some of the problems that have recently arisen in that area. Jamison said he had spoken with Rep. Phil Haire about the issue, which will come up during this legislative session.
“It’s becoming a bigger issue in Jackson County, and it will take a lot of money to fix this kind of thing,” said Jamison. “The problem is that there hasn’t been enough communication yet.”
Oliver agreed that it’s a concern for Jackson County, citing the presence of several major mental health groups and facilities here as part of the issue.
“It’s a unique position for the county, and I know it’s been a strain on your department in the past,” she said.
The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, with hearings prior at 6:00 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
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