By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE ó County commissioners have agreed to tackle forging a land-use plan for western Rowan County.
Commissioners, still clearly at odds over what the final plan will look like, agreed to hold a special session to come up with a compromise plan. The board agreed with a suggestion by Commissioner Chad Mitchell to set the date at its meeting Monday evening.
Vice Chairman Jon Barber pushed for the board to spend Wednesday afternoon and this afternoon at the board’s retreat going through the plan line by line and voting.
Barber’s comments came as County Planning Director Ed Muire started a presentation on the proposed land-use plan, using the version already approved by the Planning Board on a 6-5 vote.
The version also displayed the text adopted by the Land Use Steering Committee during a yearlong process. In October, commissioners opted to drop the issue amid sharply conflicting views.
The Steering Committee version included substantial language to restrict development and protect farmland in much of the western end of the county. The Planning Board struck parts of the plan and made it more friendly to development.
“What’s the end game?” Barber asked, halting Muire’s presentation briefly. Barber went on to declare his support for the Steering Committee version, saying its members are residents of the area. “The people live in the area. The Planning Board is not close. They don’t live in the area.”
Barber later said he would be willing to compromise on a few things, but emphasized he believes the farmland protection needs to be restored.
Chairman Carl Ford, who also served on the Planning Board, responded that the Planning Board tried to strike a median position.
“I’d vote for the Planning Board version,” Ford said. He would not, he added, vote for the Steering Committee version.
Responding to a question, Muire said the Planning Board attempted a balancing act between farm interests and developers.
“The balancing act is our responsibility,” Commissioner Raymond Coltrain said.
Coltrain urged the board to work through the plan and reach “a positive conclusion with this agitating subject.”
As Muire went through the presentation, commissioners asked questions about particular elements, including some things taken out or other changes.
At one point, Muire noted planners didn’t agree with the committee’s decision to divide areas in southern Rowan, creating a separate set of standards.
Commissioner Tina Hall asked Muire if the committee sought advice from planners.
“Not as much as they told us we were wrong,” Muire responded.
Among those in the audience at the Tadlock South Rowan Library were members of the Steering Committee and Planning Board.
Steve Blount, a former three-term county commissioner, now a planner, was also in the audience.
Blount said after the session he hopes to see the county adopt a land-use plan.
An earlier attempt to develop a countywide plan while Bount was chairman of the Board of Commissioners fell apart under a torrent of public criticism.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.