“Property Rights Protection Ordinance” unveiled Monday

A document titled “Property Rights Protection Ordinance” was delivered to the Alleghany County Planning Board Monday night by a citizen group known as the land use planning committee that was given the task of preparing a countywide land use plan. The planning board, which is made up of the same members as the county commission, is slated to review the document and meet again on March 30 at 1 p.m. to discuss it in more detail.

The planning board members each thanked the planning committee members for its work on the document.

The stated purpose of the 36-page ordinance is to assist the citizens of the county in guiding future development with the intent to promote orderly development. The document states that it seeks to protect the safety, health and general welfare of the citizens of the county, without depriving individual property owners of their rights.

The county is not broken out into zones under the plan, but the entire county is regulated under one ‘open district.’ Not included in this district is the Town of Sparta and its extra-territorial jurisdiction, which already are governed by the town’s zoning plan. Those areas are considered urban and urban transitional, respectively.

The ordinance becomes effective (and permits are required) when any land use change is made, with some exceptions and exemptions listed. County Manager Don Adams and County Planner Amy Pardue, both of whom worked with the citizen advisory board to draft the ordinance, provided a brief overview.

Adams pointed out that the sample ordinance is a rough draft copy of the final product. He asked the planning board to take the document home with them and read over it prior to the next meeting (March 30).

“I wouldn’t say that every word of this document is 100 percent agreed upon...but for the most part, the major issues were decided as a group,” Adams said.

Adams said the exempt land uses (those not covered by the ordinance) far outnumber those that are regulated. There are only two prohibited uses of Alleghany County land proposed, nuclear waste disposal storage or management facilities and incineration, landfill, or waste disposal facilities not established by the county.

Numerous exemptions are listed in the ordinance. Exempt uses are not governed by the document. Included are single-family dwellings, incidental agriculture, farming, temporary yard or garage sales, stands for selling agricultural or horticultural products, home or residential based businesses that operate within a principal dwelling unit and existing development that is occupied on or before the ordinance’s effective date. Since no vote has been take on the ordinance, the effective date would be sometime in the future.

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