From time to time, it’s good to take a long, hard look at what is put in the official scorebook.
Although our leaders claim that the seed of zoning Vance County was sown in the 1996 Land Use Plan and is just now ready to be harvested, the real truth is that our 1977 commission passed a county-wide zoning ordinance. We have been completely zoned for 29 years. Didn’t know, huh? Don’t feel bad or alone. Only recently was this fact discovered. Most people didn’t know. But a few did! (Leaders may try to avoid responsibility by saying the 1977 ordinance only dealt with the ETJ. That is not true. The ordinance covered then and covers now the entire county, according to attorneys that have recently reviewed it.)
Since the county was zoned in 1977, no one — not our commissioners, not our county managers, not our planning/development employees, not our county attorneys — even bothered to enforce the law. Why not, you might be wondering? In 1977, most of Vance County was rural farmland and the 1977 zoning ordinance had no negative impact on farmers or their land. It did not empower developers and realtors to play the system and profitably control the land in Vance County. In addition, and probably more crucial, is the fact that each of our county commissioners since 1977, including the seven in office today, has failed to enforce the law.
Our commissioners took an oath before God to enforce the laws of North Carolina and Vance County. Failing to enforce the 1977 zoning law is a clear violation of their oath and dereliction of duty. Such infractions do not command trust. Maybe they will command attention from federal authorities.
Let’s look more closely at the scorebook. From 1977 to 2006, the zoning law was ignored. In 1996, county leaders launched a multi-million dollar spending spree, beginning with the creation of a land use plan and culminating in the current proposed zoning ordinance. They spent money like drunken sailors on shore leave, with one exception: drunken sailors spend their own money. For 29 years, the zoning law has been ignored. And now we have to deal with a new proposed zoning ordinance.
Had it not been for the vigilance, extensive research, courage, and integrity of a few property owners, this restrictive, debilitating monstrosity would have become law last March or April, notwithstanding the fact that several commissioners and planning board members had neither studied the document nor researched its consequences. Only now are our commissioners planning a retreat to do their due diligence, read and study the proposed ordinance, and set an agenda for once again trying to sell this economic reality-altering drug to the public. The first time they tried to sell the most recent ordinance, they assumed we would buy anything. They were wrong! Patently obvious (to all but our commissioners, planners, economic development puppets, and their handful of real estate puppeteers) is the fact that an overwhelming majority of Vance County citizens do not want the county zoned. The majority knows that the free market plans infinitely better than government.
If 5,000 citizens were to come to a commission meeting to oppose zoning, our commissioners would, calculator in hand, conclude and announce that 40,000 citizens must like zoning because they didn’t show up. Such reasoning is fallacious at best, political lying at worst. (“Political lying” might be redundant.) Our leaders must have been the only ones in high school band marching the right direction. And they’re wayward and alone again.
But they press on, oblivious to facts, to research, to truth, to alternatives, to economic laws, and to their own constituents.
As a matter of fact, the NC Farm Bureau is not in favor of this ordinance. Their attorney has expressed serious concerns about several aspects of this zoning effort and its effect on farmers. According to local Farm Bureau leaders, Vance County farmers are split on this issue and many stand to lose greatly if this ordinance is passed. In addition, NC Department of Agriculture representatives have questioned the legality of this ordinance and the probable effects on local farmers.
Hovering in the shadows for 29 years, they are now flying headlong toward that zoning flame. It burns bright with the promise of a highly manipulatable zoning process, a zoning board for hire, widely expanded government power, fewer and fewer property rights for individuals, higher housing costs, higher business costs, higher living costs, a huge step backward for minorities, and greater tax revenues to feed the already bloated and ever enlarging government tick. Simply put, a small handful of people will control every square inch of Vance County, rightful owners be damned. We literally do not matter to these people. Talk about the tail wagging the dog!
The past few months have produced quite a political spectacle. When their secret land grab plan was discovered last November and we got to see inside their little shop of horrors, their leopard started to show its true spots. On December 5, 2005, citizens asked for and ultimately demanded to see the proposed zoning ordinance (which was presented to the commission in August 2005). Our commissioners, all seven, voted before God and all present to hide the document, a violation of state law. The next day, when asked about their vote, our county attorney said that there was no such document, even though they voted the night before not to release it.
Begin the political circus. Bowing to public and legal pressure, they finally released the document. Only then did citizens start to learn what evils awaited them.
For political cover, since they had never sought substantive property owner input, our commissioners handpicked nine people to advise them. This Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) was formed as their rubber stamp, but it was not to be. The CAC pointed out many problems, potential illegalities, and serious negative consequences of the proposed ordinance. That is not to mention the suspect methodology and the commissioners’ blatant refusal to meet with, answer questions from, or dialogue with the CAC.
In a last ditch effort at political cover, fraudulent joint meetings between the planning board and CAC were held to make the public think that the train is on the right track. Lies were told about the nature of the meetings and who called them; and those lies made the paper. Perhaps most egregious was the answer to a planning board member’s direct question to our senior planner. When asked, “Did the commission call this meeting?” he responded, “Yes.” This particular question and answer are on videotape, and videotape doesn’t lie. No commissioner ever made a motion calling for a joint meeting, nor did the commission vote on such a motion. Again, videotape doesn’t lie, and each commission meeting since December 2005 was videotaped. When asked about the consequences of a county employee lying on the job in his official capacity, the county human resources administrator said there are no discipline procedures in place to cover such an offense. Vance County has existed since 1881 and we have no policy regarding or punishment for dishonesty/lying. Maybe we’ve had a policy for decades, but no one has cared enough about decency to enforce it! It makes you wonder what borderline illegal or outright criminal acts have been covered up and allowed to continue over the years in Vance County. Are we beginning to see a pattern here?
To compound the idiocy and arrogance, our county manager stated publicly that the CAC didn’t matter, a sentiment echoed by several commissioners on September 5. He even said in a national publication that Vance County is going to implement zoning. And recently, having refused repeated requests, our county leaders took over two weeks to produce the 1977 zoning map. Stretching to the point of breaking the law is getting to be a habit with them.
Fact is, our commissioners and their handlers don’t like being told the truth and chided for their misbehavior. In a childish effort to avoid truth and accountability, they are impudently covering their ears. The truth has that effect on tyrants and charlatans.
Vance County property owners, truth be told, this proposed zoning ordinance is one huge land and power grab. A handful of powerful people want to control your land, to prevent you from developing your land, to develop your land as they see fit, and to profit handsomely from it. All this is to your financial peril and detriment. You are nobody to them. All they want are your tax dollars and your land.
If they had a gun to your head and demanded your land, they would go to jail. But they can accomplish the same thing with a zoning ordinance and it will be perfectly legal — not right, not decent, not honorable, not ethical — but legal. Stealing is stealing no matter who does it. And we’re about to be savagely mugged with an ordinance created by and for two small, special interest groups — bureaucrats and real estate developers. State Senator Doug Berger, on his recent visit to Henderson, warned against such an event by saying that zoning should only be implemented if our leaders are trustworthy and it is good for all citizens, not just a special interest group. It seems that this ordinance fails on both counts.
Rockefeller said it is better to control something than to own it. Our leaders and their handlers must be in complete agreement with that philosophy. While we are paying for, caring for, improving, and struggling to pay oppressive taxes on our land, they are making plans for our land, plans which won’t involve us and will make them millions of dollars. Zoning ordinances never make you freer; they never get less restrictive; they get tougher and tougher on us, not on those who manipulate the process and control our land; and they never go away.
There is a glimmer of hope. Mr. Tim Pegram, Chairman of the County Commission, recently broke ranks with the special interests and said that zoning is wrong for our county. For your wisdom, for your words, and for your courage in speaking the truth, Mr. Pegram, I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Vance County citizens, I urge you to rally around this courageous gentleman by telling your commissioner to listen to him. The six others (and their real estate puppeteers) are hell-bent on controlling every square inch of Vance County through zoning. That much power in that few hands, especially untrustworthy hands, is a recipe for disaster. Since they are terrified to let us vote on the issue, there is but one way to stop the coming train wreck. Call, write, or speak to the commissioners. Tell them you value your life, your land, your liberty, and your future. Tell them you were smart enough to buy your land and you’re smart enough to manage it.
You’ll probably have to yell. Remember, they have their hands over their ears.
Rusty McMahon, Vance County