40politicsofplanning.pdf

The

Politics

of

Planning:

Where

is

North

Carolina

Heading?

Bill

Holman

InthisarticlelobbyistBill

Holman

_{argues for}

an expanded

state role in

land

use

planning

and

regulation.

He

provides

an

overview

_of

statewide

planning

legislation

adopted over

the

past

decade

in

North

Carolina

and

concludes

that statewide

planning

is

on

the upsurge. Nevertheless, statewide

planning

issues are currently

absent

from North

Carolina

'spolitical

agenda.

He

charges environmentalists

and

planners

toforgecoalitions thatwillredressthissituation.

Introduction

Statewide planningis quietly comingbackinto vogue.

The

1989 General Assembly debated and enacted

more

statewideplanninglegislationthananysessioninthelast fifteenyears.Stateandlocalwatershedprotection require-ments, water resource plans, and solid waste plans were

mandated.

The

questionremains: WillNorthCarolina's futurebe planned orunplanned?

CAMA

Survives

Until 1989 thehigh water

mark

foradvocates ofstatewide planningwasthe controversialCoastalArea

Management

Act

(CAMA).

A

coalitionof Republicans,leadby

Gover-norJim Ho'shouser, and Democrats, leadby Lieutenant

Governor Jim Hunt,Representative Willis Wichard and

Senator BillStaton, successfullypushed

CAMA

through thelegislature in 1974.

A

Mountain Area

Management

Act wasalsoproposedbut defeatedin 1974.

The

Coastal Resources

Commission

(CRC)

createdby

CAMA

reviewed countyland use plans and established areasofenvironmental concern

(AEC)

alongtheoceanfront and estuarine shoreline. State permits are required in

ordertodevelop propertyindesignated

AECs.

The

CRC

alsorequired building setbacksfromtheocean.

But planning advocateswereforced to spend the next fourlegislativesessionsdefending

CAMA

fromlegislative

andlegalattacks insteadof lobbyingforamountainactor astatewidelanduselaw.

October1981wasthe turning pointfor

CAMA.

During theOctober1981specialbudgetsession,Lieutenant

Gover-nor

Jimmy

Green, from behind closed doors, proposed repealing

CAMA

via a special provision to the budget. Green

owned

coastal property that was affected by the

CRC's

setbackrules. NaturalResourcesand

Community

Development Secretary Joe Grimsley alerted the news media andforced

Green

towithdrawhisprovision.

Aftertheabortedsneakattack

on

CAMA,

an

unsympa-thetic legislativestudycommitteewasappointedto inves-tigate

CAMA.

CAMA

opponents leadby SenatorMelvin Daniels(D-Pasquotank)insistedonpublichearingsatthe

coast.

At

publichearings in Carteret,Dare and

New

Hanover counties,proponents of

CAMA,

includingmostlocal gov-ernments,vastlyoutnumberedopponents. Insteadof

gut-ting

CAMA,

the legislative study committee eventually

recommended

that the 1983GeneralAssemblyadopt sev-eral modest

amendments

to decrease permit processing times and strengthen the act.

CAMA

has not faced a seriouslegislativeattack since1981.

Ridgelaw—Legislators

React

While planners, local officials and environmentalists werefightingtomaintaintheirbeachheadatthecoast, in

thefallof1982 aSouthCarolina developerbegan construc-tionofa ten-story high-rise

condominum on

LittleSugar

mountaininAveryCounty.

Although the Avery County Board ofCommissioners

welcomed

thehigh-rise,NorthCarolinianswereoutraged.

Bill

Holman

is a lobbyistforthe Conservation Council of N.C.,

theN.C

Chapter oftheSierraClub,

theN.C

Chapter of

the American Planning Association and the N.C. Public Transportation Association.

TheN.C.

Centerfor Public PolicyResearch recentlyrated

Holman

fifth in its biennial ranking ofthe state'smostinfluentiallobbyists. In 1978he graduated

magna

cum

laudefrom North Carolina State

University with a B.S. in biology.

He

has also hiked the

Spring 1990, Vol.16,No.1 41

Hugh

MortonofWestern North

Carolina

Tommorrow

(and Grandfather Mountain),

Rob

Johnsonof theBlueRidgeGroup

of the Sierra Club and others launchedanadhoc campaignto

prohibitfuture high-rise

moun-tainmonstrosities.

Governor JimHuntand

moun-tainlegislatorsjoinedthe

band-wagon.

The Mountain

Ridge

ProtectionAct of1983, pushed

by Senator

Bo Thomas

(D-Hen-derson),Representative

Marga-ret

Hayden

(D-Alleghany) and

Representative

Dave Diamont

(D-Surry), passed easily.

The

Ridgelawwas the first state law regulating land uses in

mountaincounties.

Little Sugar mountain (peak on left) in Avery County before constructionoftheten-storySugarTop condominiumcomplex.

AH

Quiet

on

the

Land

Use

Front

Outside ofthe successesof

CAMA

andtheRidgelaw,the

state's roleinlanduseplanningandregulationremained

weak

throughthe1980s.

The

Division of

Community

Assis-tance provided technical assistance tolocal governments

upon

requestand the

Land

PolicyCouncilcreatedinthe 1970s was inactive and ineffective. Statewide land use planning and regulation was neither on Governor Jim

Hunt'snorGovernor JimMartin'sagenda.

Water and

Land

Linked:

The

Stormwater

Wars

Land

isprimarily

owned

byprivate individualsand cor-porations,and its use isoften regulatedby local

govern-mentsbutseldombystategovernment. Inprotectingwater

andair,whichare public resources thatitholdsintrust,the

statehasbeguntoregulatelanduse.

The

stateofNorthCarolinaregulatesdischargesof waste into thewatersandairofthestatethrough the Environ-mental

Management Commission (EMC).

Stormwater runofffromparkinglots,streets,farms, feedlots,golfcourses,

and forests carries heavymetals, toxic synthetic organic

compounds, excess nutrients, pesticides, sediment and

bacteria,allofwhichpollute thestate'swaters.

Pushed by Commissioner David Howells, the

EMC

"discovered"thatlandusesnear streamsandlakesmustbe regulated in order to maintain state water quality stan-dards. In1985, after

more

proddingfromHowells,the

EMC

adopted a

new

water supplyclassification andprotection program.

The

EMCs

WS-I,WS-II and WS-III classifica-tions link stateregulationof point sources of water pollu-tion tovoluntarylocal regulationofland uses(nonpoint sourcesofwaterpollution).

Environmentalorganizations,including the

N.C

Coastal

Federation, the N.C. Wildlife Federation,theN.C.Chapterof the Sierra Club, the Conserva-tion Council of

N.C,

the N.C. Fisheries Association and nu-merouslocalgroups, througha

series of permit appeals,

rule-making petitions and lobbying havepushedthe

EMC

toadopt

minimum

statestormwater regu-lationstoprotect

some

waters.

Battles with the Alliance for BalancedCoastal

Management

Butitwasnoteasy. Inthefall

of1985theDivision of

Environ-mental

Management

originally

proposedrulestocontrol ten-inch rainsinthe coastalarea. Politicallypowerfulcoastaldevelopersorganizedthe

Alli-ance for Balanced Coastal

Management (now

the

Eco-nomicAlliance of N.C.) to fight state stormwater rules.

Meanwhile,the

EMC

slumbered.

The

Coastal Resources

Commission woke

the

EMC.

The

CRC

proposedto controlstormwater initsareas of environmental concern.

As

the

CRC

wasabout toadopt stormwater rules at itsJanuary 1986 meeting, the

EMC,

with

some

prodding by

NRCD

Secretary

Tommy

Rhodes,

passedanemergencyresolutionaskingthe

CRC

tobackoff

andallowthe

EMC

todevelopits

own

stormwaterrules.

(The

EMC

metat9A.M.inRaleighandthe

CRC

metat 10

A.M.inDare County

on

the

same

day.)

Inthespringof1986 the

EMC

held hearingson proposed rules to controlstormwater within a mile ofshellfishing

waters.

The

EMC

plannedtovoteontheproposedrules at

itsAugust1986meeting.

At

therequestofcoastal

develop-ers,SenatorHarold Hardison(D-Lenoir)andothercoastal senators and representatives wrote to the

EMC

urging

them

todelay action.

Governor Jim Martin also asked the

EMC

to delay.

Martinpromisedtoproposehis

own

stormwaterstandards

tothe

EMC

GovernorMartin'sscience advisor, Dr. Earl

MacCormac,

calleddevelopersandenvironmentaliststo a

meetingattheArchdaleBuildinginRaleigh.

The

develop-ersrefused tocompromise; Martinquietlydroppedplans

toproposehis

own

standards.

Ata tenseandsuspenseful

EMC

meetinginNovember, the

EMC

adoptedrules requiringone-and-one-halfinches of stormwatertobecontrolledwithin575feetof

shellfish-ing waters.

The

following

November

(1987) the

EMC

relaxed the

rules.

Now

the

EMC

requiresallprojectsdisturbing

more

than one acre (i.e., requiring a state sedimentation and

erosion control plan) in the twenty coastal counties to

EMC

limits the density of development of all projects within575feetofcoastaloutstandingresourcewaters

(ORW).

Operation and maintenance of engineered stormwater systems remainsa seriousproblem.

Further, the

EMC

requiresallprojects disturbing

more

thanoneacreinthewatersheds of other

ORW

andhigh qualitywaterstocontrolthefirstinchof stormwatereither bylimiting density toone-acrelotsorby engineered storm-watercontrols.

In 1988 the

EMC

classified ten mountain streams as

ORW;

state rules

now

requirestormwatertobecontrolled

intenmountainwatersheds.

thatboth shallowlakeswere"nutrient sensitive"and

sus-ceptibletoalgaeblooms.

The

TriangleJCouncilof

Gov-ernment's Water Resources

Committee

began studying anddiscussingprotectionofbothlakes.

Ed

Hollandofthe

COG's

staffdevelopedachecklistofwatershedprotection measuresandguidelinesfor localwatershedprotection

or-dinances.

Political leadership,citizen pressure,state

encourage-ment

and

COG

peer pressurelead tothedevelopment and

adoption of watershed protectionordinances byRaleigh, the city of

Durham,

Durham

County, Orange County,

Wake

County andothercommunities.

HQW-A

New

Classification

InJuly1989,aspartofitstriennialreview ofwaterquality standardsandclassifications,the

EMC

adopteda

new

sup-plementalclassification, high quality waters

(HQW).

At publichearingsin

November

1989,the

EMC

proposedthat

allwaterswithexcellentwaterqualitywhichareclassified asWS-I, WS-II, nativeorspecial native trout waters,and coastal primary nursery

areas be supplementally

classified as

HQW.

The

EMC

also proposed that

HQW

be protected from

wastewaterdischargesand

stormwaterpollution. After a series of exten-sionsforcomment;public

meetings;oppositionby Re-publican congressional

can-didateCharlesTaylor, Tran-sylvaniaCounty andother mountaincounties;

embar-rassingresolutionsby

Gov-ernor Martin's Western North Carolina Environ-mental Council(first

call-ingfor local veto ofstate

waterqualitystandardsand then later reversing itself

andcalling for localinput

B

.EverettJordan

Dam

andLake. Water

intoStatewaterqualityStan- EnvironmentalManagementhasshownthat

dards);the

EMC

classified «"ceP"'Weto algaeblooms.

about1000 milesofstreamsas

HQW

in

May

1990.

The

EMC

has quietlyandsteadily increased thestate's

role in planning and regulating land uses by requiring stormwatercontrols ina fewwatersheds.

And

itis just

beginning.

Watershed

Protection

Inthe early 1980sFallsandJordanLakeintheResearch Triangleregionwerecompleted. Waterqualitydata col-lectedbythe DivisionofEnvironmentalManagement showed

UpstreamVersusDownstreamInterests

But upstream communities havelittleincentive to

pro-tectthewatersuppliesofdownstreamcommunities.

Natu-ral Resources and

Community

Development Secretary

Tommy

Rhodes

proposedenablinglocalgovernmentsto

nominate"criticalwatersheds"totheEnvironmental

Man-agement

Commission

forprotection. Rhodes'"critical wa-tershed"conceptwas simi-lar to the Capacity

Use

Act. Unfortunately,both conceptspitupstreamand

downstream

interests against each other. Or-angeCountynominatedthe water-short

Upper

Eno

Riverto the

EMC

forstudy

asacapacityusearea. Later,

Orange County withdrew

itssupportforcapacityuse designation.

InApril 1987, atthe

re-quest of

Mayor

Avery

Upchurch

andtheRaleigh CityCouncil,

Representa-tive

Aaron

Fussell

(D-Wake)

introduced regional watershedprotection leg-islation;however,

many

leg-islatorsopposed

Represen-tativeFussell'sregional wa-tershed protection bill.

Instead,alegislativestudycommitteeonwatershed

protec-tion, cochaired by Representative Fussell and Senator

KennethRoyall(D-Durham), wasauthorized.

WatershedProtectionWars

The

firstmeeting ofthe studycommittee in

December

1987quickly disintegrated into ashoutingmatch between

Durham

developer Clay

Hamner

andwatershedprotection advocates.

Hamner

claimed that Raleigh was trying to

stifleDurham'sgrowth with watershedregulations. Hamner's

Spring 1990, Vol.16,No.1 43

5000-acreTreyburn development isat the headwaters of

FallsLake,whichisRaleigh's principalwatersupply.

Hamner

said that although he opposed a regional ap-proachtowatershedprotection,hesupporteda statewide approach. Senator Royall of

Durham

agreed, but

many

thoughtthata statewideapproachwaspoliticallyinfeasible.

Duringthespringand

summer

of1988,DavidHowells, chairof theSierraClub'sWaterQualityCommittee,drafted a position paper on watershed protection.

Among

his

twenty plus recommendations, Howells and the Sierra Club

recommended

thatthe

EMC

adopt

minimum

state-wide requirementstoprotectalldrinkingwatersupplies.

The

N.C.ChapteroftheAmericanPlanning Association

(NCAPA)

also supported

minimum

statewide require-mentsto protectdrinkingwatersupplies. Moreover,

sev-eralmajorpoliticalcandidates,theN.C.Leagueof

Munici-palitiesandtheN.C. Association ofCounty

Commission-ersendorsed

minimum

statewidewatershedprotection

re-quirements.

In thefallof1988 thelegislativestudycommitteemet and

endorsed legislation calling for

minimum

statewide

re-quirements.

The

DepartmentofNatural Resources and

Community Development (now

theDepartmentof Envi-ronment,HealthandNaturalResources)droppedits"critical

watershed" conceptandalsoendorsed

minimum

statewide requirements.

NRCD

AssistantSecretary

Mary

Joan

Pugh

metwithenvironmentalists, planners, theLeague andthe Associationto fleshoutthelegislation.

The

support oftheLeague andAssociationwascritical.

Lobbyistsforhomebuilders, realtors,theN. C.

Farm

Bu-reauandothersreviewed butdidnotopposethelegislation.

HB

156-Statewide WatershedProtection

Early in the 1989 General Assembly, Representative Fussellintroduced

HB

156,StatewideWatershedProtection,

which directs the Environmental

Management

Commis-sion to(1)developandadopt

minimum

statewide

require-mentstoprotectwater supply watersheds by January1,1991

and(2)appropriatelyclassifywatersupplies byJanuary1,

1992. Cities andcountieswillberequired to enforcethe

staterulesbyJuly1,1992.

At

therecommendation ofthe

League of Municipalities,

HB

156 created a Watershed ProtectionAdvisory Council appointed bythe

EMC.

HB

156passedthe

House

andSenate withsurprisingease

andlittledebate. It isthemostfar-reachingstatelanduse lawsince

CAMA.

Appropriations are neededtoexpand the DivisionofEnvironmentalManagement'sWater

Qual-ityPlanningProgram and provide technical assistance to

citiesandcounties.

The

EMC

appointeditsWatershedProtectionAdvisory Council, chaired by Raleigh

Mayor

Avery Upchurch, in

January1990. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Director Martin

Cramton

represented planners.

The

council

rec-ommended

aroughdraftof

minimum

requirementstothe

EMC;

the

EMC

sentthedraftrulestopublichearingatits

May

1990 meeting. Eight publichearings are scheduled acrossthestate inAugust.

Two

other remarkablebills,

HB

35,Statewide

Stormwa-terStandards, by Representatives Fred

Bowman

(D-Ala-mance) and Bruce Ethridge (D-Carteret), and

SB

584, LocalStormwaterUtilities,bySenatorFrank Block

(D-New

Hanover)alsopassedeasily.

The

stormwater/developmentdensitywarswillcontinue.

The

question is no longer: "Will stormwater/density be regulatedbythe state?"

The

questionsarenow:

"How

and

when

willstormwaterberegulatedbythe state?

How

will

stormwater

management

befinanced?"

Meanwhile

Back

At

the

Coast

After being prodded into action by the Coastal

Re-sources

Commission

in1986,theEnvironmental

Manage-ment Commission

has steadilyexpandedstateregulationof stormwaterpollution. Whilethe

EMC

has

become more

active,the

CRC,

with the exception ofmilitary airspace, hasdonelittle

on

its

own

initiative.

MaritimeForests

TheSierraClubnominatedBuxton

Woods

inDareCounty, thelargestremainingmaritimeforest inthe easternUnited

States,asanarea ofenvironmentalconcern(AEC). Buxton

Woods'shallow aquifer supplies Hatteras Island with drink-ingwaterandqualifiesasan

AEC.

The

CRC

regulateslandusesinareasof environmental concern.

The

Divisionof Coastal

Management

proposed

two-acre lots for Buxton

Woods,

but after Dare County adoptedalanduseordinancerequiringonlyone-acrelots for the woods, the

CRC

backed

down

and rejected the Sierra Club'spetition.

AtitsSeptember1989meetingthe

CRC

ditchedanother proposalto develop rules to regulatedevelopmentinall

remaining maritime forests.

The

CRC

proposed state

acquisitionof maritimeforestsasanalternative toland use regulation. Environmentalists are advocating both state

regulationandstateacquisitionof maritimeforests.

In

May

1990-on

behalfoftheN.C. CoastalFederation, theN.C.WildlifeFederation,CarteretCountyCrossroads,

andFriends of Hatteras-theSouthern Environmental

Law

Center petitioned the

CRC

to designate eight maritime

forestsas

AECs.

In July1990, the

CRC

decided nottosend thepetition,aswritten, topublic hearing,butinsteadvoted

toproceed witha detailedstudyof ninemaritimeforests.

Upon

completion ofthestudies,the

CRC

willdecide,

on

a

site-by-site basis,whethertocontinue withthe

AEC

desig-nationprocess. Environmentalstsfearthatthis

more

time

consumingprocesscould allow

more

sitedevelopmentto occurintheforests.

"North Carolina

's

coastal

management

program was

once

re-garded

as

a

national

model

. . .

Unfortunately,

the

money and

political

clout

of

developers

is

undermining

the

program.

Representa-tives

Bowman

and Ethridge,

but amilderformof

HB

34wasratifiedinstead.

Governor Jim Martin appointed three

members

of the

Economic

AllianceofN.C.,

Tim

Thornton,Ronnie

Watson

and KentMitchell,tothe

CRC.

Watson

andMitchellwere

appointedtoseatsforrepresentativesoflocalgovernment.

Good

coachingandstrategyby Alliance Executive Director

Ken

Stewartandattorney

Ken

Kirkman

aswellasthe lackof strongenvironmental advocates have slowedthe

CRC.

NorthCarolina's coastal

management

program was once

regardedasa nationalmodel.

The

state'soceanfront setback requirementsandrulesprohibitingconstructionofseawalls arevery progressive. Unfortunately,the

money

and politi-calcloutof developersisunderminingtheprogram.

The

re-organization oftheDivision of Coastal Management, and thelossofformerDivisionDirectorDavid

Owens

andother

staff,have causedalossof

momentum.

InJuly1990GovernorMartin

made

sevenappointments

tothe

CRC.

Fourofthesevenappointees,allsupported by environmentalgroups,werereappointedtofour-year terms. Environmentalistsweredisappointed with theotherthree appointments.

Dan

Besseremainsonthe

CRC,

buthasbeen replacedaschairmanbyJimHarrington,formersecretaryof theN.C.DepartmentofTransportation.

Positive

and

Negative

Trends

Havinglost battlesbeforelocal governments and in the

courts,opponentsofstateand localland useplanningand regulationhave

come

tothelegislature totrytorewrite the

rules. Proponentshavealso pushedlegislation.

Billboards

In1987RepresentativeGeorgeMiller

(D-Durham)

intro-ducedlegislation toprohibitamortization ofbillboardsand requirecashcompensationfordownzoning. Lobbyists for

the outdoor advertising industry

won

House

passage of

Miller's billboard bill, but lobbying by Senator Charles

Hipps(D-Haywood),theLeagueofMunicipalities, the As-sociationofCountyCommissioners,the

NCAPA,

the

His-toric Preservation Foundation and environmentalists de-feated the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rep. Miller didnotpushhisbillanditdied quietlyintheHouse.

A

1989investigative seriesby PatStith ofThe

News

and

Observer (Raleigh) reported thatthe N.C. Departmentof Transportation failstoadequately regulate billboardsand

signs.

The

Boardof Transportation responded by adopting

slightly stricterbillboardrules in 1990.

The

boardstillallows billboardsinunzoned commercialareas.

MAMA

Revisited

InAugust1988, ata publichearinginBoone,conservative Republican Senator

Don

Kincaid of CaldwellCountycalled

for another

study of the

Mountain Area

Management

Act

(MAMA).

Kincaidcalled

on

thestate to

do

more

to protect Elk Creek, Harpers Creek andother

mountain streams from pollution; however, Kincaid did not introduceabillin 1989toauthorizealegislativestudy

of

MAMA.

Althoughitdidnot authorizeastudyof

MAMA,

the 1989 GeneralAssembly,attheurging ofRepresentativeDavid

Diamont

(D-Surry), didappropriate $75,000tofunda two-year pilot growth

management

effort in Avery County. Division of

Community

AssistanceplannerDavid

Quinn

will

work

with the county and the towns to

manage

the county'sgrowth.

The

Land

UseDebate

The

1989GeneralAssemblycontinuedtheland use

de-bate. Senator Richard Conder's (D-Richmond)

SB

766, Vesting Property Rights/Freezing

Land

Use, narrowly

won

Senate passage overtheobjectionsofSenatorBillBarker (D-Pamlico), the LeagueofMunicipalities, the Associa-tionofCounty Commissioners,the

NCAPA,

and environ-mentalists.

The

N.C. HomebuildersAssociationwas the chiefproponentofthebill.

Afterdebate bythe

House Committee

onJudiciaryinthe 1990 Short Session, aradicallydifferentversionofthebill

was drawn up and ratified by both houses.

SB

766

now

requiresabilateralagreement betweenamunicipalityand adeveloperto freezethelanduse

on

a pieceofproperty.

The

developermustfulfillseveralprocedural requirements, includingfilinganoticeofintent,holdingapublic hearing, andsubmittingdetaileddevelopmentplans.

In1989,lobbyingprimarilybytheLeagueof

Municipali-tiesandby RepresentativesJoe

Hackney

(D-Orange) and

BruceEthridge (D-Carteret) defeated

HB

1035,ThreeFourths VotetoDownzone,by RepresentativeHarry

Grimmer

(R-Mecklenburg)on second readingintheHouse.

After consideration bytheSenate

Committee

on

Local

Government

duringthe1990 ShortSession, revisionswere

made

toRepresentativeGrimmer's

HB

1297,Procedurefor CompleteRezoning(Written NoticeforDownzoning), and thebillpassedboth the

House

andSenate.

MunicipalIncorporations

The

1989GeneralAssemblyauthorizedarecord

number

ofmunicipal incorporations: SneadsFerry,Carolina Shores, NorthTopsailBeach,Fletcher,Badin,Stokesdaleand

Con-nelly Springs.

Some

are communities incorporating to

planfor theirfuture; others areincorporatingtoprevent annexation.

Reorganizationat theStateLevel

TheDivisionof

Community

Assistance(DCA),thestate's

de-Spring 1990, Vol.16,No.1 45

partment.

HB

480by

Represen-tativeJoe

Hackney

(D-Orange) consolidatedthestate's environ-mental, health and natural

re-source agenciesintothe

new

De-partment of Environment, Health

andNatural Resources.

HB480

wasstronglysupported by

Gov-ernor Martinandenvironmental organizationssuch as the Con-servation Council of

N.C

and the SierraClub.

HB

381byRepresentative

Anne

Barnes(D-Orange) createdthe Department of

Economic

and

Community

Development

(DECD-formerly

the

Depart-ment

of

Commerce)

and

trans-ferred theDivision of

Commu-nity Assistance to this

new

de-parment.

Some

plannersworry that

DCA's

technicalassistance,

housing and

community

devel-opment

programswillbe

deem-phasizedinthe

new

department; however, the

NCAPA

received assurances from

DECD

Secre-InAugust1988 RepublicanSenatorDonKincaid ofCaldwellCountycalled foranotherstudyoftheMountain AreaManagementAct

(MAMA

).

JonHowes,

Durham Mayor Wib

Gulleyandthe

N.C

Department of Transportationledtothe

crea-tionofthestate's firstregional

transit authority, theResearch TriangleRegionalPublic Trans-portation Authority.

HB

694, RegionalPublic Transit Author-ity,by Representative

Dan

Blue (D-Wake),created aregional au-thoritywhichincluded the

coun-ties of

Durham,

Orange and

Wake

and the cities of Gary, Chapel Hill,

Durham

and Raleigh.

Although

HB

694passed with ease, Senator Kenneth Royall

(D-Durham)

removed the

au-thority'ssourcesofrevenue. The Department of Transportation

may

providestart-up funds,but the RegionalAuthority, the N.C. PublicTransportation

Associa-tion,

NCAPA

and others must

lobby in the futurefora stable source of revenue.

taryJimBroyhill that

DCA's

programswillnotbe changed. PublicSupportfor

Land

Useand Zoning

The

NCAPA

won

a billreinforcinglocalland use

plan-ningand regulationin1989.

SB

942,LocalNoticefor Dis-charge Permits,bySenator BetsyCochrane(R-Davie),

re-quiresdeveloperstonotify localgovernmentsofproposed

wastewaterdischarges.Localgovernmentshavetendays to

certifytotheDivisionofEnvironmental

Management

that theproposeddischargeisconsistentwithitslanduse plan

andordinance.

The

NCAPA

may

seek expansion of this concept for

otherstate permitssuchaswastewater nondischarge

per-mits, miningpermits, sedimentationand erosioncontrol

plans, airemission permits, andwaste permitsin 1990or

1991.

A

variety of

LULUs

(Locally

Unwanted Land

Uses), suchasmedicalwasteincinerators,hazardousand

radioac-tivewaste facilities, landfills, and powerplants, have

in-creased thepublic'ssupport of planningandzoning.

Al-though

Ashe

Countyrecentlyrepealeditssubdivision

ordi-nance, the

number

of muncipalities and counties with planning, zoning and subdivision ordinances steadily in-creases.

PublicTransportation

In 1989,effortsby TriangleJ

COG,

Chapel Hill

Mayor

Mandated

Stateand LocalPlans

The

1989GeneralAssembly mandateda

number

ofstate

andlocal plans.

SB

324,HazardousWasteManagement,by SenatorLuraTally(D-Cumberland) requiresthe Division ofSolid

Waste

toprepareastatehazardous waste

manage-ment

plan byJuly1990.

SB

111,SolidWaste Revisions, by SenatorJimSpeed(D-Franklin) (and RepresentativeJoe

Hackney)requirestheDivisionofSolid

Waste

todevelop astate solid waste plan by

March

1991andrequires local

governmentstodeveloplocalsolidwasteplans.

HB

157, State Water ResourcesPlan,by Representative

Aaron

Fussell

(D-Wake)

directstheDivision ofWater

Re-sources todevelop a statewidewaterresources plan and

enablestheDivisiontorequirecitiesandcounties to pre-parewaterresourcesplans.Environmentalistsarepushing

for stateandlocalwastewater treatmentand

management

plans.

As

the 1990GeneralAssemblydebatesaproposed moratorium

on

interbasin transferofwater, thewaterplan requiredby

HB

157has

become

more

important.

Few

fundswere appropriated to implement the man-dates of

SB

324,

SB

111 and

HB

157. State agencies will

probablymuddlethrough.

Historicand NeighborhoodPreservation

Pushedbythe HistoricPreservationFoundationofN.C, the 1989 General Assembly expanded the state's historic

"The

state

_{of North}

Carolina

has allowed

tax dollars to

be

wasted

. . .

because

it

has not

required

local

governments

to

protect

its

investment

with

sound

land

use

planning

and

regu-lation.

Environmentalists

and

planners

are

calling

for

change.

neighborhoodpreservationbills.

HB

116,State Historic PlacesRegister,by Representative

MarieColton

(D-Buncombe)

creates astate historicplaces

registertocomplement and supplementtheNational

Reg-isterofHistoricPlaces.

SB

139,State HistoricDistrictsand

Landmarks, by SenatorBillStaton(D-Lee)wasalso rati-fied.

HB

911,CityHistoric ServiceDistricts, by

Representa-tivePeggyStamey

(D-Wake)

passedthe

House

andwillbe consideredbytheSenate

Committee

onFinancein 1990.

HB

117, NeighborhoodPreservation Program, by

Repre-sentativeColtonfailed in the

House

Committee onBasic Resources;

HB

153,Archaeology ResourceProtection, by Representative

Gene

Rogers (D-Martin)diedintheHouse Committee

on

Judiciary; and

SB

137, Historic Property Condemnation,

by Senate Bill

Staton (D-Lee) diedinthe Sen-ate Committee onJudiciaryII.

The1989

Gen-eral Assembly seemed to be

saying that it is fine forthe state to identify andregister historicplaces, districtsandlandmarks butthe protection ofneighborhoods and archaeological resources is up to localgovernment.

GovernorMartin'sCoastalInitiative

Governor JimMartin hasdeliveredon

some

ofthe

prom-isesofhis1988CoastalInitiative. Martin'sCoastal Initia-tiveproposedencouragingdevelopmentindeveloped

ar-eas while protecting undeveloped areas.

The

Environ-mental

Management Commission

hasidentifiedand classi-fiedeight coastalsoundsandrivers asoutstanding resource waters

(ORWs). The

CoastalResources

Commission

has expandeditsareaofenvironmental concernandstateland use regulationsfrom75feetto575feetnear

ORWs.

The

General Assembly hasappropriated funds to con-tinue acquisition ofBuxton

Woods

in Dare County and

Masonboro

Islandin

New

HanoverCounty. In1989

Gov-ernorMartin alsoendorsed establishment ofa30,000-acre

Roanoke

River NationalWildlifeRefugeinBertie,Martin

andHalifax counties.

Hopingtobuildon the successofhis CoastalInitiative

andimprovethepoliticalfortunesofLieutenantGovernor JimGardner andCongressional candidate CharlesTaylor, GovernorMartincreated theWestern NorthCarolina

En-vironmental Council in June 1989. Unfortunately, the council hasdriftedwithoutastrongagenda.

Agenda

Com-mitteeChairman Charles Taylorisuninterested in plan-ningissuessuchas discussionofgrowth

management

ora Mountain Area

Management

Act.

The

council largely

appearstobea politicalvehicleforLieutenantGovernor Gardner andCongressional candidateTaylor.

Statewide

Growth

Management:

Gaining

or

Losing

Momentum?

NorthCarolina'sexpansivehighwaysystem, dispersed population, laxenforcementofseptictankandwell

regu-lations, and easilyobtainable statewastewater discharge andnon-discharge permits

make

itpossible todevelopand

livejustaboutanywhereinthestate. Currentstate policies

encourageratherthan discouragesprawl.

Environmental-istsand plannersare justbeginning to thinkaboutstate policiesthatwoulddiscouragesprawland promotedenser,

more

efficientdevelopment.

Severalstates,including Florida,Georgia,Oregon,

Ver-mont

and Maine,tryto

manage

anddirectgrowth. In1984 Governor Jim Hunt's N.C.

2000

Project

called forall100

NorthCarolina countiestohave land use plans andregulations bytheyear2000. Gubernatorialleadership hasbeen instrumentalin de-velopinggrowthmanagementpoliciesinotherstates. North Carolina has notdeveloped a statewide growth

manage-ment

policy because the governorand legislativeleaders have not advocated state involvement since Governor HolshouserpushedtheCoastalArea

Management

Act and Mountain Area

Management

Actin1974.

Former

LieutenantGovernor

Bob

Jordan'sCommission onJobsand

Economic Growth

took

some

small steps

to-wardsgrowthmanagement. Inits

November

1986 reportto

Lieutenant GovernorJordan, theJobs

Commission

rec-ommended

that(1)theGeneralAssemblycreate a

legisla-tivestudycommitteeon

Growth

TrendsandDevelopment

Issues; (2) the Department ofAdministration develop a

statepublic servicefacilityplan;(3)theGeneralAssembly

establish a local public facilities (capital improvements)

planning program;and(4) theGeneralAssemblycreate a CleanWater Grant and

Loan

Programtoreplace theClean

Water

Bond

Program.

The

1987 General Assemblyauthorized the legislative

studycommittee

on

growth

management

and passedthe cleanwatergrantandloanprogram. GovernorMartinand theU. S. Congresshadalso calledfora cleanwater loan program; however,theproposalsforastatepublic service

facilityplan and forstate assistance for local capital

im-provementsplanningwerenotintroduced.

Initssecond report to LieutenantGovernor Jordanin

August1988,theJobs

Commission

repeatedits

recommen-dationsforastatecapitalinvestment plan orpublic service

facilityplanandstateassistanceforlocalcapital

improve-mentsplanning.

The

Jobs

Commission

also

made

several

pro-Spring 1990, Vol. 16,No.1 47

videinfrastructure. These include increasingstate funds

fora cleanwater loanprogram, highwayconstructionand assistanceinmanagingsolidwaste. ButtheJobs

Commis-sion didnotendorsestatewidegrowth management.

StudyCommitteeon Growth

Management

The

legislative study committee on

Growth

Manage-ment,co-chairedbySenatorBillStaton(D-Lee)and Rep-resentativeAl Lineberry(D-Guilford), investigatedgrowth

management

policies in otherstates and was

somewhat

overwhelmedbyinformation. AfterLieutenantGovernor

Bob

Jordanwasdefeatedby Governor Jim Martininthe

November

1988 gubernatorial race, the committee lost

even

more

momentum. The

studycommitteerecommended

that a twelve-member Joint Legislative

Commission

on

FutureStrategiesforNorthCarolinabe appointed bythe Speakerofthe

House

and PresidentPro

Tempore

ofthe Senate.

Essentially the study committee

recommended

that a

new

joint legislativecommission continuetostudygrowth

management. But without a statewide political leader pushing growth management, even the joint legislative

studycommissionproposalfaltered. NeitherSenator Sta-ton nor Representative Lineberry seriously pushed the proposalin 1989,andthe LegislativeResearch

Commission

didnot authorizeanother studycommitteeon growth

man-agement.

GovernorMartin,LieutenantGovernorGardner,

mem-bersoftheCouncil ofState,andlegislativeleadersappear

tohavelittleinterest inincreasingthestaterolein manag-inggrowth.

Future

Initiatives

Aftertheirsuccessatlegislating

minimum

statewide

re-quirements fordevelopment inwater supply watersheds

(HB

156),environmentalistsandplannersareconsidering

minimum

statewide requirements for development in

floodplains.

A

legislative studycommission

may

recom-mend

that the1991 GeneralAssembly create astate wet-landsprotectionprogramtoreplace the U.S.

Army

Corps

ofEngineers Section404program.

For

some

time environmentalists have arguedthat fed-eral,stateandlocalgovernments encourage andsubsidize growthanddevelopmentwith water supplygrants, waste-water treatmentplantandsewerlineconstruction,highway construction, flood insurance, agricultural price supports, housingloansandgrants, andso on. Environmentalists believe that federal and state fundsshould beloaned or investedinprojectsonlyafterstateandlocalgovernments

agreetoprotectthepublic'sinvestment.

Why

shouldthestateloan fundstoatowntobuild awater

supplyifthetown andcountyare unwilling to regulate land uses inthewatershedand establish awater conservation

program?

Why

should the state construct a four-lane highwayifacounty isunwilling topreventstrip

develop-ment

bycontrollinglandusesandsignagealongtheroad?

Why

shouldthestateloanacounty fundsto build alandfill

ifthecountyisnottryingtoreduce waste witha recycling program?

The

stateofNorthCarolinahasallowedtaxdollarstobe wastedon suchprojectsbecauseit hasnot requiredlocal

governmentstoprotectitsinvestment withsoundlanduse planningandregulation. Environmentalistsandplanners arecalling forchange.

During the legislative debate over the

mammoth

$9

billionHighwayTrust

Fund

Act,

HB

399,by Representative

Bob

Hunter(D-McDowell)andothers,Conservation Council ofN.C. President

Mary

Beth

Edelman

urged theGeneral

Assemblyto leverageitsinvestmentinhighways by requir-inglocalgovernments todevelop land useplansand

con-trol land uses along roads inorder to benefit from state

highwayconstruction. Moreover,theConservation

Coun-cilcalledforthe

abandonment

oftheproposedurban outer loops, and instead urged for state investment in public transportation.

Butthelegislaturelargelyignored

Edelman

andthe Con-servation Council. However,RepresentativeGeorgeMiller

(D-Durham)

and Senator

Marc

Basnight (D-Dare)

won

amendments

toallowtheBoardofTransportationtospend

upto$5 millionper year

on

masstransit initiativessuchas

apassengertrainfrom

Rocky

Mount

toCharlotte. Although spurnedbythe 1989GeneralAssembly, envi-ronmentalistswillbe backin 1991toproposelegislationto

protectpublicinvestmentswith land useplansand regula-tionsandtoproposestatefunding ofpublic transportation. Environmentalists havebeensuccessfulinrecent legisla-tivesessionsinpartbecause oftheircooperative

relation-shipwiththeLeagueofMunicipalitiesandtheAssociation ofCountyCommissioners. Environmentalists,theLeague andtheAssociation havebeenallieson

many

landusebills

andwaste

management

issues.

Proposing

more

red tapefor local governments is not

likelytowinfriendsforenvironmentalists. Nevertheless, a package ofincreasing state assistance might balance

in-creasing thestate's role.

Conclusion

Statewidecapitalfacilityplanning,landuseplanningand regulation,and growth

management

are notcurrentlyon NorthCarolina'spoliticalagenda. Itisupto

environmen-talistsand plannersto forge a coalition thatwillpushfor

change.

The

1990 electionyear, atthe

dawn

ofthe