Boilerplate granting administrators authority to enter private property on a whim is standard fare in stormwater and steep-slope ordinances. Anyone who bothers to read the lengthy documents feels too despondent about government’s quest for omnipotence to raise an eyebrow – except Jonnie Cure, Haywood County’s champion for holding the commissioners to their oaths of office.
Cure led an assemblage of upset citizens to effectively derail the enactment of an overreaching nuisance ordinance last year. In January, she not only raised an eyebrow, she raised a stink to stall the amending of health codes for what she perceived to be a creative workaround for the ordinance. About a week ago, the matter came back to the health board, and now the county’s health director must procure a warrant before wandering into peoples’ yards to snoop around. Unfortunately, there is a loophole waiving the requirement for “imminent hazards.”