Morganton Council says proposed zoning legislation is overreach

Morganton officials unanimously voted Monday night to oppose state legislation they say impacts the public’s safety and undoes years of planning work.

The action taken Monday makes the Morganton City Council the first elected body in Burke County to take a stand against the legislation.

Summarizing the drafted resolutions, Planning and Zoning Director Wendy Smith walked the council through the meaning of the bills and their impact on Morganton’s development during their regular meeting Monday, May 5.

These bills would impact the City of Morganton’s Imagine Morganton 2040, a multi-year guidebook to development in Morganton that was created with public input.

“We just spent two years doing a comprehensive plan that set the citizens’ visions for the City that was required by state law. Now they’re saying, ‘Don’t worry about what you put together. Here’s the rules for those.’ So, we have some big concerns about that and other similar bills,” Smith said.

House Bill 765 would eliminate elements of site designs that the City now regulates, such as landscaping and roadways.

“In some cases, the language is very vague where it says you need substantial evidence, but doesn’t say what substantial evidence is,” Smith said. “This bill was an attempt to fix Bill 382, that was passed last December, three weeks after the hurricane. A whole bunch of stuff in it that wasn’t related to the hurricane, but it still doesn’t really fix a lot of those problems but goes in and adds a lot more.”

One concern is the bill’s requirement of a minimum of four dwelling units per acre anywhere within cities with a population of less than 125,000 people or more. However, the City does not have water and sewer services in place for those developments.

“We can’t deny that the intent of the bill is obviously to make housing cheaper for people. But if we can’t put sewer there, and you can put in a $50,000 alternative septic system, because you’re on such a small lot, you’re not really making housing cheaper for people,” Smith said.

The bill would also allow for new subdivisions to be administratively approved instead of going through council review.

If a council member took a public stance on an issue, they could not vote on it when it came before the council since it is an item of interest.

“An example might be that if a council member stated a position on something, let’s say, during their campaign for running for office for instance, if that same issue would come before City Council later for a vote while that member were on City Council, this proposed legislation would state this particular council member would not be allowed to vote on that matter due to a ‘conflict of interest,’” PIO Jonelle Sigmon explained.

Additionally, the bill would introduce civil liability for the staff, council, and the Planning and Zoning Commission if someone did not agree with a development decision.

Smith said the bill lays out strict timeframes for reviewing the plans, which would require additional staffing. The proposal mandates that staff give a list of what is missing in a plan within 14 days of submission, but it is vague in its requirements.

If approved, Senate Bill 451 would reduce the education requirements for the related professions, such as building inspectors, landscape architects, surveyors, engineers, and general contractors. Smith said their concern is that general contractors may not be up to date with ever-advancing building requirements, leading to unsafe developments.

Senate Bill 492 would authorize single exit stairways for multi-family residential buildings or depending on the number of units and up to eight-story buildings.

“We’re concerned that (bill) promotes housing development over life safety,” Smith said.

The council members unanimously passed the resolutions opposing the bills. When asked by Councilwoman Wendy Cato whether any member of the General Assembly had contacted Morganton officials, Smith confirmed, “We had not had any other direct communication with any of our representatives.”

Later in the week, Sigmon explained what the City’s lobbyist Jim Harrell, attorney in Raleigh, is doing to assist the City with their concerns.

“The City contracts with Jim Harrell from year to year on an annual basis. Mr. Harrell advocates for the interests of the City on many different issues of importance to the City and its citizens,” Sigmon said. “In the case of the City’s position on the pending zoning and building bills, we would share the Council Resolutions with Mr. Harrell. The Council Resolutions detail specific concerns as to certain proposed bills. Mr. Harrell would share that information with legislators and encourage legislators to take another look at the proposed bills in light of our specific concerns, and the information would be shared in the hope that legislators would fully understand our perspective and our concerns prior to making a final decision on how to vote on the Bills.”

HURRICANE RECOVERY

The Hurricane Helene recovery saga continues, with the City applying for a $1 million grant to help fund the Greenway Boardwalk Rehabilitation Project.

Small businesses in River Village with direct access to the boardwalk were damaged by the storm’s floodwaters. The boardwalk was not insured since “it is not a type of facility which the insurance company would typically agree to insure,” Sigmon said.

City leadership became aware on April 28 of the grant available through the $55 million Small Business Infrastructure Program from the N.C. Department of Commerce. The funding is a first-come, first-served basis for local governments and will be read in the order received. The first round of funds will be awarded on June 30.

The Western Piedmont Council of Governments will help write the grant application.

The cost of demolition, design, and the rebuilding of the boardwalk is expected to exceed the amount of the grant. If the City gets the grant, the money will be used to pay a portion of the project with remaining funds needed that would be pursued through the FEMA process. The reimbursement through FEMA would be reduced by the amount of the grant that is accepted.

The council also approved a $120,730 contract with Arete Engineers for on-call engineering services for the design and construction of the boardwalk. The firm is located in River Village shopping center.

“They have a vested interest in that their offices are at River Village, and they are some of the tenants planning to go back and be back there. This is literally in their backyard,” City Manager Sally Sandy said.

Additionally, the council approved a budget amendment of $130,000 for their storm-related expenses project fund. This fund houses the money for their recovery projects, like replacing equipment or work to repairing systems.

In other news, the council:

• Honored the retirement of Steven Braswell, a part-time public works street sweeper of 10 years
• Gifted service pins to Special Assignment PSO Donny Dellinger (25 years) and CoMMA Maintenance Worker James Hildebrand (25 years)
• Proclaimed May 19-23 as National Public Works Week
• Recognized PIO Jonelle Sigmon for her second-place award in the Writing category for the annual NC City and County Communications conference for her press release, “City Hires First Female Firefighter Since 2017”
• Heard a presentation on Main Street’s 2023-24 impact report (See related story)
• Announced 30-day notices for expiring terms to the boards and commissions
• Reappointed Tricia Evans-Hunt to the Human Relations Commission for a three-year term