A petition is circulating that urges county commissioners to form a Cullowhee community planning council.
The petition was started by the Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor, or CuRvE.
“Cullowhee is the fastest-growing district in Jackson County,” said Mary Jean Herzog, a CuRvE steering committee member and Cullowhee resident. “It is an unincorporated town without the benefit of zoning and its growth needs to be managed. Cullowhee needs a planning council that is an official entity established and recognized by the Jackson County commissioners.”
A community planning council would curb unregulated growth in Cullowhee.
Cashiers has such an entity. A plan was passed in 2003 to govern commercial development in Cashiers. Cashiers has two districts: a “village central” and a general commercial zone. Jackson County commissioners created the five-member Cashiers Area Community Planning Council, which is tasked with reviewing and overseeing development guidelines in concert with the county planning board. The council also votes on requests for conditional uses and variances in Cashiers.
The plan set growth regulations, such as building setbacks, and lighting and sign standards. The only type of development that was banned outright was cell phone towers in the Village Center district.
Creating a community planning council in Cullowhee would require gathering the signatures of one-third of the property owners who would be in the planning district. The designated zoning area would have to be at least 640 acres and be made up of at least 10 separate tracts of land.
It is not evident whether Western Carolina University would agree to be in the required 640-acre planning district.
“It would be more difficult without them, but it can still be done,” said Robin Lang, a supporter of a Cullowhee community planning council. “Now we have to get property owners to understand this is their property values.”
Lang, a business owner in Cullowhee, said she is concerned about sprawl in the community.
“Cullowhee is growing. As the university grows, Cullowhee is going to grow,” Lang said.
Herzog said there is clearly support for a community planning council, citing the well-attended meetings CuRvE sponsored in the spring that attracted 250 people plus, the formation of small groups focused on specific initiatives and a meeting held Jan. 26 that more than 60 people attended.
These “are all clear indications of huge community support for the establishment of a Cullowhee community planning council,” Herzog said.
Jeanette Evans, owner of the Mad Batter Bakery & Cafe, said a planning council would allow Cullowhee to qualify for grants and other sources of funding for sidewalks, bridges and more.
“It’s a great tool to facilitate the continuity of infrastructure,” Evans said.
