Commissioner David Cummings, who cast the dissenting vote, was not the only board member to express doubts about the proposal, but the other four indicated that the county has little alternative despite the ceding of some zoning powers to the state.
Until the Monday meeting, the Moore County board was one of four local governments that had not taken action on the plan. Sixteen local governments in the vicinity of the military complex have adopted resolutions endorsing the study, and two have rejected it.
Commissioner Colin McKenzie pointed out that some of the governments approving the study do not actually have territory that would be affected by expected zoning regulations to be implemented by the state.
“Some of those places who have endorsed the plan, such as Pinehurst, don’t have an acre affected,” McKenzie said. “If I lived in Charlotte, I’d endorse it too.”
Cummings said he has reservations about the measure because he does not fully understand how it would affect people in the county. His district lies adjacent to Fort Bragg and would be among the areas most heavily affected by new zoning requirements.
“They’ve got five acres of land. Fort Bragg’s got thousands of acres,” Cummings said by way of comparing the size of property owned by many people in his section of the county to that of Fort Bragg. “If that says I’ve got my mind made up, yes, I’ve got my mind made up.”
But Board Chairman Michael R. Holden argued that action by the North Carolina General Assembly appears inevitable and if the legislature is going to enact a law affecting Moore County, then Moore County would benefit from being in on the process at the outset.
“We know that Fort Bragg is important to North Carolina and to our nation,” Holden said.
Holden said that the county does not want to appear to be impeding the process and does want to send the message that it supports Fort Bragg and Pope Field. He pointed out that the proposed land use plan more or less mirrors the land use plan already adopted by Moore County.
“The thing that scares me in doing nothing is that we must remember that we’re a creature of the legislature. No matter what we do, they can do it anyway. I want to be part of the process,” Holden said.
“We are a creature of the legislature,” said Commissioner Robert Ewing.
Cummings said that the last time he endorsed an action the extent of which he did not recognize was when he agreed to hire an appraiser for the part of the county-owned water system serving the village of Pinehurst. The county and the village agreed to share the cost of that appraisal and also agreed to abide by the appraiser’s findings. But when the report was returned, the appraised value was about half what the commissioners had expected, he said.
“That’s why I have reservations,” Cummings said.
County Planning Director Richard B. Smith, who represents Moore County on the Regional Land-Use Advisory Commission, said the commission has been working on the study for more than two years and now wants the remaining local governments to take action.
The immediacy of this request apparently stems from the fact that the legislature convenes next week for its budget session. Apparently the study will be on the legislature’s agenda.
The proposed study includes several recommendations that would require legislative action, including restrictions on land use within a specific range of land owned by the military. The proposed law would also require real estate agents to notify prospective buyers that the property under consideration lies near the military reservation.
Such notification would advise prospective buyers that the land would be subject to such things as low-flying aircraft and noisy artillery shelling. It would also advise them of possible restrictions on the use of the land, other than those covered by the county’s zoning ordinance.
However, Smith showed a color-coded map of the territory surrounding the military land and said that “just a handful” of property parcels would be affected by the 10-acre restriction.
Cummings reminded his fellow board members that zoning and land-use were not issues that many Moore County people like but most residents went along with the plan when it was adopted in the late 1999s.
“But now, I don’t know,” Cummings said.
In adopting the proposed resolution, the board did not go all the way to total commitment, and the wording of the resolution was amended slightly before action was taken. Before a motion was made to endorse the resolution, the board agreed to incorporate an understanding that the community would be notified and given time to react to the plan before final approval of the study.
“We have considered this two or three times. I think it’s time to throw our support to the integrity of Fort Bragg,” said Holden.
McKenzie made the motion to endorse the study, and Commissioner Virginia Saunders made the second.
The regional commission was first formed in 1991 and completed an initial study that identified areas with high noise exposure and accident potential zones. The commission was active for eight years, then became inactive for a couple of years. It was reactivated in 2000.
Members include Cumb-erland, Hoke, Harnett, Richmond, Sampson, Scotland and Moore counties and municipalities within those counties.
