Vance County resident John Yount began the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting of the Vance County Board of Commissioners by asking assembled members why they would want to buy a horse they already own.
Yount told commissioners that the county had passed a zoning ordinance in 1977 and that ordinance has not been repealed.
Yount produced a copy of that document and a copy was obtained by Home in Henderson. During last month’s meeting of the commissioners, it was indicated in the discussion of the board that the ordinance applied only to the ETJ (Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction) for the brief time the city did not exercise zoning jurisdiction over it after it was created for that purpose.
Yount advised the board that the ordinance does not say “ETJ” in its text. He also claimed that it is illegal for the county to only zone the ETJ.
A cursory reading of the ordinance by Home in Henderson confirms that the term “extra-territorial jurisdiction” is not used in the document.
The speaker also inquired as to the location of a zoning map that is supposed to accompany the ordinance. He quoted the ordinance, stating that the map “shall be in the meeting place of the County Commission”.
Yount asked commissioners why it was spending money to develop an ordinance when it has had zoning for the past 29 years.
Yount made reference to people living in mobile homes on Stagecoach Road without proper roads and “a federal lawsuit going on about that”. He implied that the situation could have been averted if the current zoning ordinance had been enforced.
“Where have you been for 29 years?” he asked commissioners.
After his presentation, Commissioner Deborah Brown stated that she would like to see County Manager Jerry Ayscue answer Yount’s question about the map. She asked that the board direct Ayscue to retrieve the minutes of the meeting, get Yount’s questions, and respond to Yount.
Commissioner Tommy Hester said that Yount should get a copy of the previous meeting’s minutes as well.
District 3 Commissioner Danny Wright offered that he would like to see the map as well.
Chairman Tim Pegram stated that he did not vote for the zoning ordinance. Brown expressed incredulity that Pegram could remember the vote.
The motion to have Ayscue address Yount’s questions passed without oppostion.