Waynesville hired a consultant for $54,000 to evaluate its land use planning code. The rules have been praised by Smart Growth experts, but the consultant says they’re convoluted and a headache for enforcers. The town has twenty-nine districts, each with its own rules for things like square footage of signs.
One reason the consultant was hired was because of the unpopularity of requirements that parking lots go on the side or rear of buildings. Citizens have complained they don’t like the ugly CVS building so close to the road. Business owners also do not like that the town requires them to connect their parking lots to adjacent lots to divert traffic off main roads and onto privately-maintained routes.
