HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93011_1370 (2)Commissioner Johnson asked if the building plans included an allowance for the Brawley
School Road widening project.
Speer said yes.
Commissioner Tice asked if the North Carolina Department of Transportation had
purchased the right of way.
Speer said no.
Skin Webber (opponent) said he was a land owner on the Brawley School Road
peninsula, and this request had bad timing due to the property owners still experiencing the
effects of past bad planning. Webber said 2008 was the anticipated year for the road widening
project, and this request would only profit the owner -- not the other 18,000 residents in the area.
He said that if the property became commercial, the property value would increase, and this
would make it more expensive for the state to purchase the rights of way.
Commissioner Robertson said everything that could be done had been done to get the
Brawley School Road widened. He said first, however, the state had to buy the rights of way and
state officials had mentioned difficulties in getting this done. Robertson said the state would be
further hampered if the request were approved.
No one else desired to speak, and Chairman Norman adjourned the hearing
OTIO by Commissioner Robertson to deny the zoning map amendment and to make
a finding that denial was consistent with the adopted Brawley Peninsula Small Area Plan and
said denial was reasonable and in the public's interest due to its consistency with the Brawley
Peninsula Small Area Plan; as a result said denial furthers the goals and objectives of the
Brawley Peninsula Small Area Plan.
Commissioner Johnson said the Brawley School Road land wasn't expensive merely
because it would become commercial if the request were approved, it was expensive because of
the residential development in the area that had elevated the land costs as people tried to locate
businesses in the vicinity to tap into the market. He said another reason the road widening
project was over budget was due to the state's mismanagement of the highway trust fund.
Johnson said the project could have been accomplished a long time ago had the Raleigh
politicians used fiscal discipline. Mr. Johnson said the Brawley plan actually called for
commercial development, and a denial would be in opposition. He said a denial to the owners
and their personal property rights was a "trampling" upon individual property rights and liberties.
Robertson said (1) the property was zoned this way when it was purchased and (2) the
purchase wasn't made contingent upon a rezoning to this classification. He said that if the
personal property rights point were taken to the extreme, then all rezoning requests needed to be
approved. Mr. Robertson said the Brawley School Road needed four lanes and the rights of way
had to be purchased before he could, in good conscience, approve the request.
Vice Chairman Tice said she supported the denial because recent conversations with the
Department of Transportation had revealed the road widening costs were exceeding the available
funds. She said rezoning the property to commercial would demand a higher price from the
state, and there were meager funds. Tice said there was an urgency for the road improvements,
and she too, in good conscience, couldn't approve the request until there was relief on Brawley.
Eric Wood said the rights of way could be donated to the county or state.
Attorney Pope said this could not be required as a condition of approval -- it would be
extractive zoning.
Robertson asked if the case could be postponed.
Wood said he would much prefer a postponement over a denial.
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