News

County adopts comp plan over public's objections

By Bill Moss, Published: March 20, 2024

County residents who stood before the Henderson County Board of Commissioners during the public comment time on Wednesday implored the board to dump a watered-down comp plan and draft a new version to conserve rural land, preserve the county's farming heritage and prevent urban sprawl.

Ken Shelton, a retired physician and active supporter of the Ecusta Trail, called the plan "a recipe for sprawl and inappropriate rural development" which would cost taxpayers far more than building where infrastructure exists. "Please don't turn Henderson County into another Charlotte."

Speakers criticized the elected leaders for disregarding the message from more than 7,000 residents who overwhelmingly described rural preservation and controlling sprawl as their top priorities, for dumping language on climate change and flood prevention. Many also pointed out that voters had flocked to the polls to express their frustration in the March 5 Republican primary, terminating the jobs of two incumbents in the process.

"You need to shred that 2045 plan that you have and start listening to the community and make sure what you do has to preserve the integrity of this beautiful place,” Jane Bilello said.

“We know that flooding is a big issue here. What does the comp plan say about that? Absolutely nothing,” said David Weintraub, adding that it also ignored steep-slope regulations and other measures to conserve land.

"We want a plan guided by conservation, not sprawl," said Sharon Willen. "Your action today will either build trust or animosity toward local government."

"You commit to studying lots of things and considering some number of other things, but it is hard to discern what you’re actually going to do," Chuck McGrady, a former county commissioner and five-term state House member.  "And I’ll add that recent actions of the board don’t give me any confidence that the county will follow through on even the meager commitments to take actions that are made. ... Let my close by noting that 'politics is the art of the possible.' There are clearly deep divisions between county commissioners as to how to accomplish the broadly stated goals.   I doubt further consideration of the draft comprehensive plan is likely to improve it."

"You must decide if you're here to do the will of the people," said Mike Reid, who is one of hundreds of Etowah residents concerned about dense development. "Remember the will of the people is what you put you here."

"The current plan should not come to a vote because it is not our plan," another speaker said, citing the many thousands of residents who supported land conservation and sprawl prevention. "Go back, honor your constituents and do this right. Don't spend our tax money to destroy what we are trying to preserve."

“Clearly the citizens of Henderson County have spoken with two county commissioners losing their seats not by hundreds but by thousands of votes," said Konnie Hall of Saluda, who along with her husband has sued to force the First Contact Ministries to close its drug rehab center across the road from their Orchard Lake Campground. "That clearly points to dissatisfaction with the current governing board among the people."

"This is not a land development code and this not a zoning ordinance," said Chair Rebecca McCall. "This is a plan. We hav identified the problem. We have to stidy the problem before we come up with a solution. Yes, there could be some more meat in it, it could be stronger in some places."

She said that in five years she's served on the board commissioners had approved only one large high-density development — the Taproot dairy subdivision and apartments on Butler Bridge Road. The rest of the large developments approved or under way, she said, have been authorized by the city of Hendersonville.

"There seems to be this misconception that we have approved all these developments that are going on that you see and we have not," she said.

Commissioner Bill Lapsley said the draft's red line showing higher density development would encourage high-density development.

"To me that red line needs to be closer to the existing city limits," Lapsley said, suggesting the county "redraw it and pull it in." After moving the line, "We need to make it clear to the city of Hendersonville that we do not want to encourage the expansion of their urban area beyond the red line." Commissioners agreed that staff would use a lunch break to redraw the urban development line so they could consider the revised map when they reconvene. The board also voted to lower the maximum density in in-fill zones from 14 to 8 units per acre.

The board also added a goal to create a water and sewer commission "in coordination with the city of Hendersonville," added between the city and Dana "contiguous agricultural lands"  as agriculture-preserved. "Dana kind of gets forgotten about," McCall  said. "Not all the farmland is in Edneyville."

Commissioner Michael Edney said the land-use plan — how land is zoned — is the next step.

"The implementation phase is going to address the concerns these folks have brought up today," he said. In that phase, Edney recommended the county do away with conditional zoning — which tends to lead to negotiating conditions with a developer — and special-use permits, which allow what homeowners often oppose as incompatible commercial uses in residential zones.

Hill said: "This is a planning document. It's not implementation, it's a guide."

"This is just the first step in the process," Lapsley said. Conditional and special-use permits "have brought a lot of heartache and problems to our community and we need to get those changed ... and the sooner the better."

Andreotta blamed the city for permitting development and annexing newly constructed homes and businesses. "If the landowner says I'll annex in exchange for water and sewer it's a done deal," he said. "They don't need our approval."

 After a lunch break, commissioners returned with a new map that reduced the area set aside for higher density and commercial zoning.

"We shrunk it," McCall said.

At 1:23 p.m. commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the comp plan 2045, pledging to work on the specifics of land-use zones and potentially eliminating conditional and special-use zoning in the months ahead.

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