The Buncombe County Commissioners met for a protracted meeting last night. The lengthy meeting is likely a sign of things to come.
Commission Chair Nathan Ramsey thrice expressed his regrets about the length of the meeting, stating that if he had had his way, everybody could have been on their merry ways. You see, Ramsey voted against the new countywide zoning ordinance in May. Ramsey was honoring a consistently strong outcry from the rural parts of Buncombe County, where people put signs on their property saying, “You Zone, You Gone.” He argued that zoning is unfair because those who know how to work the system get what they want anyway.
Commissioner David Gantt, however argued that by supporting zoning he was protecting property rights. His position was based on the philosophy that zoning gives property owners assurances that externalities, like odors from pig farms or shadows from skyscrapers, won’t be wafting onto their lots.
The commissioners considered forty-five requests for rezoning in public hearings. Fortunately, NIMBY’s haven’t learned how to orchestrate major demonstrations like they do at city council meetings, yet. For the most part, the commissioners agreed with the recommendations of the planning board. Only Ramsey voted consistently for the rights of landowners to do what they want with their own property.
