|
The deal is contingent on the town of Sylva rezoning the parcel. TWSA board members voted unanimously to pursue purchase of the property during a special meeting Tuesday night (Sept. 4).
Authority members agreed to pay $250,000 for the 2 acres. The Cogdills, who initially asked $275,000, rejected TWSA's first offer of $240,000, King said.
TWSA's three member land committee - King, Marion Jones and Keith Ward - is expected to attend tonight's (Thursday's) meeting of the Sylva Town Board to support the rezoning request.
King said it was his understanding that the rezoning request did not have to go through Sylva's zoning board, but could be made directly to the town board and said he would request time on the town's Sept. 6 agenda.
"If the town doesn't grant the zoning variance, where are we?" Ward asked.
"Back to square one," said Raymond Large, attorney to the TWSA board.
"I think the town should go for this. It's easy for them because all they have to do is rezone; they don't have to annex," Jones said. "We're going to build a nice building. We're not an asphalt plant and we don't have a helicopter and there wouldn't be any loud music at night. We would make nice neighbors."
"What we put there will look better than it does now," said TWSA board member Bobby Beck.
"I think the purchase is a good investment," said Anne Cabe, another board member.
Two other stipulated contingencies are that the Cogdills guarantee TWSA receives 2 full acres and pay for a survey to ensure that the parcel contains the required acreage.
TWSA member Chuck Wooten asked if the property did not need to be appraised. The land committee members said the offer is "fair market value."
"That's good," Wooten said, because "we have an obligation to our customers to pay fair market value."
"Other parcels either cost too much or would require large amounts of excavation," Ward said. "I didn't like the price, but there is nothing better out there."
King said property across the street, already zoned commercial, was selling for $220,000 for 1.5 acres.
"The railroad takes part of that property and we'll need a full 2 acres," King said. "This property is flat and square; we can use every bit of it."
Currently zoned R-1 residential, which means only single-family homes are allowed, the Morris property is on a corner of Allens Branch and Skyland Drive and could be subdivided into up to seven additional lots, said Sylva Zoning Administrator Jim Aust.
The Cogdills inherited the 3,140-square-foot house and adjoining acreage from Morris, who was their great-aunt, said Donna Cogdill. She and her siblings in July requested a zoning change to an R-1A classification, which would allow the home to be operated as a bed and breakfast. That classification also allows cemeteries and libraries in addition to single-family dwellings.
Neighbors of the Morris property attended an Aug. 28 meeting of Sylva's zoning board to voice their opposition to the rezoning application; however, the zoning board took no action because it did not have a quorum.
According to a letter written by adjoining property owners Kevin and Laura Pennington, any non-residential activity on the Morris property would seriously impact their quality of life, negatively impact the value of their property, alter the character of the neighborhood and materially diminish the property values within the surrounding areas.
When the zoning board meeting reconvened Friday (Aug. 31), Aust announced that the Cogdills had withdrawn their application.
Zoning Board Chairman Larry Nestler then stated the zoning board shouldn't rule on such requests at all.
Nestler, a Sylva attorney, said he had determined after reading the bylaws, zoning ordinances and town statutes that the zoning board was authorized only to hear appeals of decisions made by the town zoning administrator (Aust) and to rule on requests for zoning variances.
"For what we considered the other day (rezoning the Cogdills' property), there is no authorization," Nestler said. "There is no procedure for us to rule on rezoning."
Only Sylva's elected town board has the authority to authorize changes to the zoning map, Nestler said, and in the future, all applications for rezoning will go directly to the town board. Town leaders must hold a public hearing before any parcel's zoning classification can be changed, he said.
Sylva leaders three years ago refused to grant a similar rezoning request from TWSA. The authority asked town leaders to reclassify a 7.44-acre Savannah Drive tract from R-1 to I-1 (light industrial) to accommodate TWSA's headquarters.
TWSA bylaws provide that the authority's business office must be located within Sylva's town limits. TWSA board members voted in June to amend those rules in order to relocate outside Sylva.
Because any change to the authority's bylaws must be approved by each of the government entities that formed TWSA 10 years ago (Jackson County and the towns of Sylva, Dillsboro and Webster), Sylva officials were able to thwart the authority's effort to relocate outside the town limits.
Meanwhile, those who live in the neighborhood know what they don't want.
"We don't want a bed and breakfast, and we don't want Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer," said Art Altman, who lives just past the Morris property.
Sylva's board will meet at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at City Hall.
|
Controversy around a new zoning classification for this five-bedroom, 3,140-square-foot Skyland Drive home may continue. Though its owners withdrew an application to reclassify the property for a bed-and-breakfast, Tucksaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board members voted unanimously Tuesday to pursue purchase of a portion of the property. - Herald photo by Lynn Hotaling