Blue Ridge City Council held a flurry of special-called meetings last week to push through zoning ordinances so that Lehigh Developments, LLC can begin building its multi-residential complex on the old Temple Baptist Property on West Main Street.  The meetings were on April 20 and April 22.  The set time for Blue Ridge City Council meetings is at 6 pm on the second Tuesday of the month.

Among changes to the building ordinances are: buildings can be four stories (the former level is three); only public commercial buildings can front East or West Main Street; 10% of residential development lot area must have green space (for entire list, click here).

Tucked among the numerous zoning changes was creation of a firm sidewalk ordinance and setting of fines for businesses which violate the ordinance.  The City Council is rewriting the Sidewalk Ordinance because the current one does not allow any items on the sidewalk.  The new one stipulates 60” obstacle free zone between the curb and building, no display of items for sale and special locations of vendor boxes.  Fines for violating the ordinance are a warning, then $100, the legal proceedings.  A more descriptive sidewalk ordinance was developed at the request of downtown patrons and some businesses.

At the April 20^th special-called meeting, Council members were not satisfied with vague descriptions and permitting fees that were in the first draft.  Council Member Rhonda Tomas wanted clearer about vendor boxes, especially why free magazines fall under the idea of items for sale.  Zoning and Building Director Roy Parsons felt that allowing vendor boxes on sidewalks but not items for sale could result in legal complications down the road.  Through discussion, Council members agreed that vendor boxes could be considered “selling things.”  So, the city will limit the placement of vendor boxes to certain locations.  The Council decided against requiring a $50 permit fee for with decorations outside a store or vendor boxes.

At the April 22^nd meeting, the Council heard a second reading of the Sidewalk Ordinance which incorporated their suggested changes from the April 20^th meeting. The second reading of the now revised Sidewalk Ordinance will be at the next Blue Ridge City Council meeting scheduled for May 10th at 6 pm where it is expected to be voted in.

The City also signed into effect a solar ordinance regulating the placement of panel or ground systems.

Two different aspects to the downtown park renovation came up the April 20^th meeting.

Carlie Hammond of Good Samaritans, thanked Mayor Whitener and Councilwoman Arp  for meeting her at the park to discuss placement of the grill.  Ms. Hammond also publically stated, “Donna has assured Good Samaritans what we will have [the future grill] will be the  same or better.”

Also discussed was irrigation systems for the park.  Mayor Whitener got advice from both members and public about how to go about pricing an irrigation system.  The Mayor and Councilwoman Arp suggested funding the irrigation system out of a contingency fund.  The Mayor suggested that a cheaper way to do it would be setting up a watering schedule for the Council members.  There wasn’t support for this idea.  The Council voted to put an irrigation system in the park.  That is except for conscientious objector Councilman Bruce Pack, who couldn’t vote for an irrigation system for the simple fact that the Council is voting on the system after the landscaping has been installed.

SPLOST citizen watchdog Joe Webb, spoke during the public comments section at the April 20^th meeting to encourage the Blue Ridge City Council to ask for a bigger percentage of SPLOST on this year’s November ballot.  In his comments, he gave the history of SPLOST in Fannin County.  In 2000, SPLOST only paid for roads, bridges and streets.  The 2004 SPLOST brought in $25 million with 88.1% going to Fannin County, 6.3% going to Blue Ridge and 5.6% going to McCaysville.  The 2010 SPLOST division came to 20% for county, 6.3 to Blue Ridge, and 5.6 to McCaysville and 68.1% to roads in the county.  Mr. Webb believes that during the intergovernmental SPLOST negotiations, Blue Ridge should lobby or at least 8% of SPLOST proceeds since Blue Ridge is the main economic driver in Fannin County.   Mr. Webb also asked the Council to think about if roads and water should always have priority in SPLOST.  He suggests that the city look into developing projects with Blue Ridge like dealing with city parking or building a multi-purpose government building which includes a library.

At the end of the April 20^th meeting, the Council went into Executive Session for about 30 minutes.  Upon returning from extended discussion, the Council stated that it had decided to pay $10 per hour to the Appalachian Judicial Circuit to pay for probationers to pick up litter.

The purpose of the April 22^nd meeting was to 1) vote into action the zoning ordinances read during the April 20^th meeting 2) further refine the sidewalk ordinance, and 3) the big surprise, approve a 30 home site gated community that will be built on the old Stiles property between the west end of Depot Street and 515 (read article here). The slated location must go from commercial zoning to residential zoning. .

 

Related posts:  “Blue Ridge City Council:  Citizen Comments, Construction Calendar, SPLOST Pie and Grill” (summary of April 12th City Council                                 meeting)

                            “Permitting Fees No Longer Part of Blue Ridge Sidewalk Ordinance“

                            “36 Home Gated Community Coming to Downtown Blue Ridge”