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Don’t try to fix what isn’t broke
To the Editor:
In recent weeks and preceding the upcoming May 6 primaries, there has been a plethora of letters to this paper attacking the current Jackson County Board of Commissioners and their land-use regulations and subdivision ordinances. Some have even gone so far as to suggest the ousting of the two current board members up for re-election this term. These letters site loss of jobs, county revenue, and even the current revaluation process as “reasons” to elect new and more conservative candidates to the board.
Most of these letters are coming from the Cashiers community and are either written by or for members of the real estate business community at that end of the county. This alone should be a red flag to others as to any sense of unbiased credibility or objectivity. From the very beginning of the moratorium process, these same nay-saying, whining, Bush-and-Reagan free-trade-capitalist Realtors have been singing the same old tune: “the end is near.” They’re trying to instill fear and stir up public sentiment against our county commissioners and essentially blame them for everything that has (and hasn’t) gone wrong in the county since the last election. There have even been insinuations that commissioners have been responsible for the nationwide crash in the housing market. A recent letter from a citizen of Webster tried to blame problems created by the 2008 revaluation process on our board. These folks are going too far and are too quick to lay blame at the feet of a group of locally-elected officials who are trying their best not to destroy Jackson County but to save it from a handful of outside developers and their cadre of sympathetic cohorts in the Jackson County real estate business.
Concerning all this, I simply have this to say: consider the source. And further, we need to give our present commissioners a fair chance to get the new regulations up and running. The ink has barely had time to dry on the paper upon which these regulations were drafted by our local planning board. Every board member I’ve talked to has told me the same thing – “we’re still working on this, and we’re still tweaking the regulations to fit the demands and needs of all the residents of Jackson County. The wheels of bureaucracy turn slow, and it takes time to work these things out.” I, for one, am convinced that the present county commissioners (whom we elected to create restrictive land-use regulations) is working diligently and in good faith to try and do what is best and what is right for this county. There is no reliable evidence to suggest that the economy in Jackson County is in any kind of real recession, despite all the accusations and “fuzzy math” being hurled at us by those (in one end of the county) who have been asked to make adjustments, even a few sacrifices, in their business practices in order that everyone in the county might benefit from the eventual reconfiguration of our subdivision ordinances.
If we let these people have their way, the outside developers will have an open door to walk into our county and irreparably change it forever. And in doing so, they will cause property values to skyrocket (as we have already seen in recent weeks with early revaluation figures) and local folks and longtime residents to have to make compromises and decisions that will be far worse than anything that will become the final word in land-use regulations and ordinances. We hear a lot about “due diligence” these days regarding a large subdivision project over here in the Tuckasegee community. We need to give the current board of commissions their “due diligence” and let them finish what they started. If, at the end of the next voting cycle (in two years) we don’t like what they’ve done, we can start talking about replacing some of the members of the board. Jackson County is not going broke, isn’t broken, and is going to be OK if we can regulate the development and real estate industries here. We need to give Mark Jones and Joe Cowan a vote of confidence and let them finish what they started. I say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Thomas Crowe
Tuckasegee
Legasus development could be dangerous
To the Editor:
My husband and I witnessed the Haywood County ridgetop burn, one of several wildfires recently.
It was startling to see the high ridges above Waynesville silhouetted against the night sky and just below them, flame orange burn lines and smoke.
These ridge tops luckily are sparsely populated. This fire, which started as an out-of-control backyard burn had, as of Saturday (April 19), scorched 450 acres and extended into Jackson County with no fatalities or structural losses reported.
What if this high-ridge brush burn had occurred in a densely populated mountain subdivision, like the planned Cullowhee Mountain Legasus gated community with 800 units on 1,000 acres stretching down what has got to be a fairly steep slope from 4,000-foot Cherry Knob to N.C. 107.
All of us are Nantahala Forest dwellers, and all of us face the special higher risk of wildfire that urban city dwellers do not face. Is this being taken into consideration?
If Cullowhee Mountain were to go up in flames, what would be the risk to the surrounding areas, such as Western Carolina University? Is anyone thinking about this? I hope so. All of us might look to the California wildfires for instruction.
I think as these large and very dense gated communities start to enter our area, all of us need to give these issues some serious thought.
Georgia Newsom
Sylva
Voters need to protect ordinances
To the Editor:
Are you going to vote on May 6? Did you know that many voters have changed their affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated so they can vote in the May 6 Democratic primary to defeat incumbent Commissioners Mark Jones and Joe Cowan?
If you don’t vote, Jackson County may lose the mountain ordinances that our commissioners had the courage to put into place. Mark Jones and Joe Cowan need to be re-elected so those edicts will stay in place to protect our mountains from those that will cut down our trees, develop our land and destroy the mountains we love so much.
Please take that first step out of your home, go to the polls, and vote to protect our future for us and for our children.
Linda Dickert
Cullowhee
Non-residents keep tax rates down
To the Editor:
I’m writing this to clear up what seems to be a popular misconception of much of the citizens of Jackson County and possibly some of our county officials.
While so many want to blame the developers and outsiders for ever increasing property values, that is not what makes the bill you pay go up. The reality is that 70 percent of the real estate taxes are paid by people who don’t live here. This percentage has gone up every time there was a revaluation. Therefore, if it wasn’t for these non-residents buying lots and building houses, every taxpayer’s bill would be three times as much as it is now.
The only thing that can make the actual amount you pay, no matter what your property is valued at, go up, is increased spending. If the county budget remained the same every year, then every time a non-resident bought a lot or built a house, the bill for every resident taxpayer would go down.
And don’t let anyone tell you the budget goes up because of outsiders. The two most expensive budget items are social services and schools, neither of which are used by non-residents. Also, you might want to ask your local volunteer fire department or many other community service organizations where the majority of their donations come from.
One of the results of less property sales and new construction is going to be an increased tax burden on locals.
Beware of what you wish for.
Ray Trine
Cashiers
Downtown Sylva Association benefits whole town
To the Editor:
It is no accident that downtown Sylva presents a unique and beautiful setting that has become the focus and destination of many people visiting these beautiful mountains. Most credit must go to Downtown Sylva Association (formerly Sylva Partners in Renewal) volunteers, town board members and interested owners, merchants and residents, working together diligently to make it happen.
We’ve got to realize it’s a never-ending process, and while uniqueness and beauty in themselves are prizes worth striving for, the favorable economic impact to Sylva and Jackson County cannot be denied.
The process must continue and will, with the understanding and vision show by town board members Maurice Moody, Stacy Knotts, Sarah Graham and Mayor Oliver in their recent strong support for DSA funding, which strengthens the goal of promoting Sylva, its businesses and its people. Great job, ladies and gentlemen. Your active involvement in helping our town is greatly appreciated by residents like me.
Max Browning
Sylva
Choose Jackson County’s future
To the Editor:
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners has been recognized for its efforts in adopting land use regulations by receiving the 2007 Governor’s Municipal Conservationist of the Year Award and by North Carolina land trusts as a 2007 Government Conservation Partner. This was accomplished despite a storm of protest and misinformation. By passing comprehensive land-use planning and a moratorium to pause a tsunami of development requests, Jackson County expressed a vision of the future that is forward thinking, innovative and prudent. This effort must be supported for the sake of future generations who will grow up and live in Jackson County.
On May 6th, the choice for voters in Jackson County is stark. Support the efforts of commissioners who have been recognized for their forward thinking to proactively mold forces bringing the inevitable change to the mountains or sit back and allow unplanned, sprawling development to occur and try to manage it afterwards.
David Bates
Glenville
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