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Local News

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From the Blog

Watch the Landslide Hazard Presentation!
I hope you all will view the slideshow from the NC geological survey. It's given ... Read more

Global Water Crisis Leading Toward Privatization?
A segment on C-SPAN this morning highlighted a new documentary film on the growing global ... Read more

Boone Planning Commission Grapples

The following exchange between Boone Area Planning Commission members at Monday night's meeting ... Read more


Open Letter to Town Council from Andrea Capua

Dear Town Council Members: I want to write to express my appreciation for your ... Read more

Regional News
Jackson County Passes Strict Rules on Slope Development
Scott McLeod in The Smoky Mountain News, 8 Aug. 2007:

SYLVA, N.C. --  Jackson County commissioners have given final approval to what are generally regarded as the state’s toughest subdivision and steep slope ordinances.

The approval of the ordinances was followed by a lifting of the controversial moratorium on new subdivisions that was enacted in February to provide county planners time to develop the new ordinances.

Chairman Brian McMahan was the only commissioner to vote against the ordinances. He gave a long statement in which he professed agreement with their intent but argued that they went too far. “Everyone I’ve talked to is in ... Read more
Other Recent News
  • Citizens Plan For Watauga
  • Ashe County Needs Land-Use Planning
  • Regional Council: Slope Development Regs Needed
  • Green Business Plan for Watauga County
  • Partnership Forum Highlights Planning Issues
  • Environmental Preservation Rated Top Concern of Watauga Residents
  • Jackson County Passes Strict Rules on Slope Development
  • Asheville City Council Passes Steep-Slope, Viewshed Regs.
  • Republicans Stall Steep-Slope Bill in Raleigh
  • Chatham Co. Moves Toward Moratorium on Residential Development
    • Planning News From Around the Web
    • DOT, HUD and EPA All Trumpet Smart Growth

      • Anthony Flint reports from the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, where the Feds all spoke about coordinating at the federal level to implement smart growth policies.

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    • Tiki Preservation

      • The Royal Hawaiian Estates, a tiki-themed apartment complex built in 1962, was designated an historic district by the City of Palm Springs.

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    • The Mormon Church Backs Mixed-Use Project

      • City Creek Center is a $1 billion mixed-use development project that some say is a godsend for downtown Salt Lake City, creating jobs during a tough economy. Others wonder how the church's influence will play out in the culture of the project.

      read more

    • Decay in Suburbia

      • Fast Company pulls together a handful of recent reports to paint a grim picture for the suburbs, as the number of people living in poverty rises, housing values decline, and infrastructure built in the 60s and 70s erodes.

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    • How Bill's Hotel Room Saved Some Trees

      • Bill Fulton was prepping for a panel on transferrable development rights programs for last weekend's New Partners for Smart Growth conference in Seattle when he realized the hotel he was in was the beneficiary of just such a program.

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    • Initiative Underway To Suspend California's Global Warming Act

      • California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or AB 32, is known throughout the U.S. as being the landmark state legislation that addresses climate change. It is the target of an initiative that aims to suspend it unless unemployment drops.

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    • NYC's "Bus of the Future" Debuts On Bronx BRT Route

      • What's good for the Bronx turns out to be good for upstate NY. In this case, a Plattsburgh bus manufacturer has received the first orders for what is promoted as the "bus of the future of NYC transit": 3-doors, articulated, low-floor, & low emission.

      read more

    • Resort Planned in Russian Nature Preserve

      • Environmentalists in Russia are fuming over plans to construct a resort in the middle of a nature preserve near the 2014 Winter Olympics host city of Sochi.

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    • Saving Money By Converting Asphalt to Gravel

      • In an effort to cut transportation maintenance costs, some cities are ditching their asphalt roads and going back to gravel.

      read more

    • The Poverty Beneath the Rings

      • Vancouver is playing host to the Winter Olympics beginning later this week. It's a city admired across North America. But it's also home to a pocket of severe poverty and homelessness.

      read more
    Partnership News Updates

    ATTEND THE FORUM ON LIVABLE COMMUNITIES, April 18th
    .:: Local, regional, and national news of interest in Watauga County. - More Local News
    Communities across Western North Carolina face changes that affect our physical, economic, and social environments. We need to find collaborative approaches that will allow us to cope with these changes while preserving community character and livability.

    When communities succeed in finding balance between economic development and a high quality of life for its residents we should learn from them. The Town of Davidson received the 2004 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement in Overall Excellence. The award recognizes communities  that put "smart growth" principles such as open space and farmland preservation, walkable neighborhood design, affordable housing choices, and community visioning into practice.

    In the first of a series of events, the Levenson Program on Growth and Change in Western North Carolina is proud to host the High Country Forum for Livable Communities. At the forum, award winning planners from Davidson, NC will discuss their experiences in planning for livable communities. Regional decision makers and community members are invited to come learn how small communities can maintain a high quality of life while  attracting responsible development.

    "Forum on Livable Communities," April 18, 2007, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m., Broyhill Inn & Conference Center, Boone.

    NOTE: Though this event is free, seating is limited to 200. You are urged to click on "Event Registration" at the top of this page and follow the instructions.
     
    The Changing Landscape in Watauga County
    .:: Land in Watauga County - Watauga Log - Policy Decisions

    2 October 2006 ... In a special session vote (4-1, Dempsey Wilcox voting no), the Boone Town Council voted to regulate development on steep and very steep slopes (30 percent or greater).


    7 August 2006 ... Watauga County became the first county in North Carolina to adopt an ordinance permitting wind turbines for private residential use.


    13 June 2006 ...  The Boone Town Council passed a new moratorium on certain steep-slope development until the taskforce working on the issue can complete its work and make recommendations regarding ordinances to regulate such building.


    16 February 2006 ... The Boone Town Council extended the existing moratorium on multi-family housing complexes of more than 24 units for another three months, while work on a steep-slope development ordinance is being completed. Work is being done on a comprehensive map of hazardous slopes within the town's jurisdiction.


    27 June 2005 ... The Boone Town Council unanimously adopted Commercial Development Appearance Standards governing retaining walls, lighting, and other construction elements. The standards will become effective Jan. 1, 2006.


    19 May 2005 ... The Boone Town Council appointed 14 persons to a "steep slope development and multi-family housing" study committee, to study problems of building on steep slopes and to recommend action for ordinances to regulate future growth.


    22 February 2005 ... By a vote of 3-2 (Honeycutt and Blust voting against), the Watauga County Commission passed a resolution opposing the Bush administration's so-called "Clear Skies" initiative, which would lessen enforcement of out-of-state air pollution currently impacting North Carolina.

     

    17 February 2005 ... By a vote of 3-2 (Wilcox and Eggers voting against), the Boone Town Council passed a 1-year moratorium on multi-unit housing developments of more than 25 units, but the proposed moratorium on steep-slope development died without a second. Instead, the Town Council voted unanimously to study steep-slope development problems and to change the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to correct those problems "within 6 months."

     

    20 January 2005 … Following the completion of a water study which revealed that the town of Boone’s municipal water availability was far lower than previously thought (only 150,000 gals. per day rather than 450,000 gals.), the Boone Town Council adopted a water ordinance that apportions and restricts new tap-ons to residences and businesses within the Town of Boone only. No new developments outside the corporate limits, including those in the Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ), will be given water.

     
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