Big town hall meeting in High Point where citizens and four council members —including Mayor Bernita Sims —addressed concerns over the fate of the City Project, which has been the subject of controversy over the past few weeks.
Interesting that the ‘Pink Code’ came up:
(Council member Jay) Wagner gave his perspective on the building codes that have caused conflict regarding the regulations for businesses in the city.
“The state operates under the state building codes of the state legislation and really all cities all over the state are allowed by law to do things that the state legislature gives us,” Wagner said. “We’re trying to figure out what can High Point legally do in revitalization. In March of this year, I went down to the N.C. School of Government and I actually presented the Pink Code to one of their professors, the guru of permitting inspections, and he’s reviewing it and will get us his opinion on what we can enact in High Point. I think the long-term goal of that is to eventually go to Raleigh and see some changes in Raleigh that will allow us to implement aspects or even all of that Pink Code as a pilot program. It is something that we are working on right now.”
The “Pink Code” was proposed to lessen restraints that prevent businesses from opening in revitalized areas due to strict regulations.
“But we’re trying to get our ducks in a row so that we can be ready and try to get that done and that’s where we’re going,” Wagner said. “There are problems in getting permits in High Point and we’re working the best that we can.”
The Pink Code is the best and most cost effective measure HP can put in place to help draw development downtown, as opposed to ‘dieting’ Main Street.
