Revision of the Viewshed Map

The Viewshed Map that passed last year needs to be reviewed for accuracy. Currently, there are many neighborhoods--such as Poplar Hill, Blairmont, and University Village--that are included in the viewshed; however, many of these areas are not visible from any major highway in Boone (that's computer generated models for you).  These areas that can't be seen should be removed from the Viewshed Map! Sure, as the ordinance states, the property owner can go to a town administrator to see about removing their property from the viewshed map. But who really makes this determination? If I went to the town, they're going to tell me to get an engineering report to determine that my property isn't visable from any major corridor during any season of the year. After all, the "Administrator" has to cover him/herself. As a last resort, I could always go before the the dreaded Board of Adjustment, but no innocent person should be subjected to this procedure. The town needs to take the first step to remove areas from the viewshed map that are obviously not visable. 

Negotiate with Landowners for Consevation Easements

We need to establish areas that are critical to the viewshed and then respectfully approach these landowners and ask if they would be interested in putting their property into a viewshed conservation easement. In return, the landowner would receive either tax credits or development transfer credits. The landowners need to be shown appreciation for their cooperation and generosity. There are examples of this throughout the county--including the former mayor of Boone, Wade Brown, who donated some of his land on the hillside above Wal-Greens. Unless the Town of Boone is willing to open up its coffers and start purchasing land (which would require raising taxes), the only way to truly preserve the viewshed is through conservation easements. And those landowners who donate those easments need to be shown utmost respect and consideration! 

Provide Information on How to Build Unobtrusively

For those landlowners who hoped to one day build on their property and can't realistically donate to a conservation easement, the town should come to the forefront and give them information on how to build in a manner that would be least obtrusive. I'm sure they would welcome this information--most people are not out to ruin everything.

Clarification of the Steep Slope and Viewshed Ordinances

The ordinances that passed last year need to be revised for better clarity. The ordinances  are very poorly written and extremely complicated. Go read it...it will make your head spin! Remember, these ordinances are designed to prevent mountainside obliteration; you do not want someone making a mistake because they could not understand the regulations. These ordinances need to be understandable (not mind boggling) and they need lots of easy to follow examples.

 Furthermore, these ordinances need to be analyzed for unintended consequences such as causing more land disturbance rather than less (...it is a possibility). I heard people saying that "once the rubber hits the road, we'll see what happens." But isn't that the job of the planning department and the planning commission...to analyze proposed legislation before the "rubber hits the road?" I truly don't know what unintended consequences could arise from the current steep slope/viewshed ordinances. When the planning commission reviewed the proposals, we didn't get to that part of the discussion. Instead the meeting just focused on whether you were for or against the regulations. At any rate, I would like to test some hypothetical situations just to make sure the ordinances perform the function for which they were intended.

 The Steep Slope / Viewshed Compromise

The Steep Slope/Viewshed Compromise was a procedural and diplomatic blunder. Had I known that a  "compromise" had already been devised before the public hearing even commenced, I would have skipped the 4-hour hearing and gone to a movie instead. The people who devised the "compromise" could have at least waited a few days to make their annoucement. I think that would have caused a lot less uproar. For the record, the Committee for Responsible Environmental Regulation did present a compromise (even though a lot of people deny that fact). They gave their proposal to the Planning Commission for consideration and I thought it brought a lot to the table. I tried to present some of their suggestions for compromise, but this was the general response I received: That is from an illegitimate group and their proposals are not even up for consideration! Very interesting...At least 75% of the people at the public hearing were against the steep slope/viewshed ordinance (which was a shock to me, I expected it to be 50/50) and a group trying to represent the opponents is "illegitimate?"! That's an interesting perspective of democracy. To be fair, I realize that the Town Council had received a number of e-mails in favor of the steep slope/viewshed ordinance, but if these supporters felt so strongly, why did they have to hide behind e-mails? There were people at the public hearing who spoke in favor of steep slope/viewshed regulations and while people on both sides of the issue were unfortunately heckled (that's what happens at heated debates), I don't think any ambulances were called. For the most part, the people of Boone and Watauga County are very civil, we are just getting tired of one controversial regulation after another being crammed down our throats. Instead of telling us what we can't do, let's focus on what we can do! Perhaps if the town had gone to the property owners concerning the viewshed from the start, you would have found them to be cooperative. But once you start telling people what they can and cannot do with their property against their will, that's when you've got a fight on your hands.