I despise land use public hearings. If I were famous, somebody could snip that quote to “destroy” me without reading further.
Anyhoo, I support property rights. I do not like what a lot of people do with their property. I don’t like how in Swannanoa people decorate their front lawns with old kitchen appliances and junk cars. I used to look at the trees and flowers on the other side of the street every time I walked past a house with what I thought was an ugly serpent painted across its front. I find other things to look at when I pass houses with big displays of scrappy pseudo-African art in the yard. I accept it is a big world with a lot of diversity. Some houses cause me to marvel with delight at the color combinations, architecture, and landscaping. We need to compromise to keep the peace. I shouldn’t have to repeat this, but it does not sink in: Your rights end where mine begin. Your rights end where mine begin. Your rights end where mine begin. Your rights end where mine begin. Your rights end where mine begin. I’ve never been a fan of shoulding on others.
I’ve never been a fan of spectacle, either. I like hearing fact and logic presented so as to inform. I despise circus antics designed to sway opinion. They make me think of Nazi Germany, not in any revisionist PC sense, but in the murderous racist sense I was taught about in school. They make me think of sucker schemes I was warned against as a child.
That leads me to the latest public hearing held by Jackson County’s planning board.
There was oratory, music, verse and visuals. The props ranged from staid PowerPoint presentations to water conservationist Roger Clapp brandishing a large pickle jar filled with muddy river water to show what unhindered development could mean.
An estimated 200-250 people came unopposed to oppose deregulation through amendments to the steep-slope ordinance. They thought their right to a pleasant viewshed should trump whatever some poor old cuss, who purchased, pays taxes on, and maintains a parcel, wants. Once again, in the old-fashioned world of property rights, he who built his house upon a flimsy foundation would be responsible for damages caused to his neighbors’ property when his house washes off.
People have a right to be, and a right to go about their business, and it is impossible in this temporal sphere to bend light rays to please everybody’s sense of aesthetics. Some tolerate diversity and go about their business. Others mind others’ business using “diversity” only as a wildcard adjective. The latter have a lot of time to attend meetings. Many claim, in the name of science and data, what they want should be imposed on others. The lamb is for lunch.
As if that weren’t enough, the majority at the planning meeting wanted the opposition to step aside.
[Currently, the planning board consists of] three builders, one real estate agent, a surveyor, a professional planner, a farmer, an insurance agent, a retired engineer and a retired manager/technical service expert for the world’s largest chemical company, BASF.
Thomas Rain Crowe of Tuckasegee demanded those in building or related trades, such as real estate and surveying, step aside from the debate. Bill Kane of Cullowhee charged there are “serious conflicts of interest” at play.
