Glen Alpine denies request for deannexation of property

Glen Alpine’s Board of Aldermen packed a lot into Monday night’s meeting, from discussion about allowing golf carts to a suggestion for a public property ordinance.

But the most talked about issue came at the end of the meeting: the board denied support of resident Tim Suttles’ request to deannex his 20-acre property on Lail Road.

Suttles uses 15 of those acres to produce hay. During the board’s August meeting, Suttles said that he produced 720 bales during his last cutting.

In order to be deannexed, the board would have to pass some sort of formal request to the N.C. General Assembly, which would ultimately make the decision whether to approve or deny the request.

However, the request didn’t make it that far because the majority of board members voted against signing a formal resolution of support.

The request wasn’t popular among other residents either. Soon-to-be Mayor of Glen Alpine Kevin Herron, who is running unopposed, was in attendance at Monday night’s meeting and spoke in opposition to the request for anyone to be able to be deannexed from the town.

“My thoughts on that, board members, is you bought the house. It was in Glen Alpine. You’ve lived in Glen Alpine. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go but a half mile down the road and there’s somewhere else,” Herron said.

However, he said, for instances like farming, he hopes that people will ask the right questions because they may be able to qualify for tax deductions.

According to the N.C. Cooperative Extension, farmers can benefit from laws that allow them to reduce certain taxes, including lowering their property taxes through a program called Present Use Valuation. To qualify, parcels must be five acres if used for horticulture, 10 acres if used for crops or livestock, and 20 acres if used for forestry.

Suttles did not attend the board meeting Monday evening and while board member Sheila Perkins said she would rather have him in attendance to be able to speak on the issue, she and the other board members went ahead and voted to move the item to decision after a closed session.

“The homeowner has been here for the past three meetings, and he’s raised concerns, and he’s talked to people individually, and he’s talked to us collectively, and he’s asked for an answer,” Mayor Pro Tempore Luke Boone said. “I’d like to give him that answer tonight.”

Perkins had to leave at the end of the closed session to pick up her child, so she did not vote on the issue. Board member Jason Miller voted against denying the resolution, saying he was “undecided.” Boone and board member Reid Scott voted in favor of the motion denying support for any town resident deannexing.

GOLF CARTS

Police Chief Kirk Penley brought forth copies of golf cart policies for board members to review from Morganton and Drexel. Morganton has a golf cart policy and Drexel approved a new policy in July, allowing residents to register their golf carts for use in the downtown area.

“I’ve had several residents around asking about golf carts, and we’ve even had golf carts on the road, where as of right now, golf carts are not allowed on our roads,” Penley said, but residents who have them still want to be able to use them to drive around town.

Miller said he brought the idea for an ordinance before the board before, but it was shot down due to concerns with U.S. 70. Penley said that golf cart users would not be able to drive on U.S. 70, but they would be able to cross the road.

Like the Drexel ordinance, Penley said residents would have to register their golf carts with the town’s police department to ensure they are street legal. They would also have to purchase a permit annually and would only be able to drive them on town streets that are 35 miles per hour. The board did not make a decision about whether to implement a policy.

PUBLIC PROPERTY

During his code enforcement update, Curt Willis from the Western Piedmont Council of Governments suggested that the town look into adopting an ordinance addressing rules for public property.

With the new park under construction at the corner of Bridge and Linville streets, Willis said an ordinance would be proactive to keep people from sleeping in the park.

The City of Morganton recently passed what’s been called an “anti-camping” ordinance. Morganton’s ordinance, inspired by New Hanover County’s ordinance, prohibits people from occupying public property from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. According to Morganton Public Safety Chief Ryan Lander, the ordinance will address crime happening during night hours on the Old Courthouse Square.

The Town of Drexel passed their ordinance at their September meeting, which prohibits camping in the downtown park or any other public areas. It also prohibits occupying any public facility after the hours posted.

Willis suggested that the board plan a public hearing on the ordinance and get it adopted before the park opens around Thanksgiving.