I blogged last week about the culmination of an important, region-wide effort to talk about good land use practices in the mountains. I tweaked the Citizen-Times for being a little slow in reporting the story because the newspaper had made such a big deal out the effort earlier in the year, with a multi-story package explaining how critical the issue was to our quality of life here.
Today, the Citizen-Times offered a front-pager on the results of the meeting. The story sums up the issue had has solid context. A snippet:
Development has its place in the rural, westernmost parts of Western North Carolina, especially in areas poised for growth. But it has no business on steep mountainsides and up against state and federal forestland, according to a recently concluded initiative that tapped the thoughts of representatives of government, business and conservation groups.
Hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds in Western North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties participated in the Mountain Landscapes Initiative, a public forum on managing growth.
…
The Mountain Landscapes Initiative started in April with a series of community forums in the seven westernmost counties and on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
Organizers during the forums showed a documentary film featuring local residents that focused on how people connect with North Carolina’s mountain region.
The effort marked the first time people in a rural, multi-county area in WNC have agreed to talk seriously about managing growth.
It comes as local governments grapple with growth driven by the beauty of the mountains. Some counties mail half their property tax bills to out-of-state addresses.
Organizers now will be watching to see if the guidelines are taken back and put to use.
Lland use planning/development is the most important issue facing our mountains. Glad to see it getting so much thoughtful attention.