Building codes take center stage
As time passes, necessary changes within a county occur. This is the case for building codes in Moore County – a concept whose time has come.
On Tuesday night, the Metro Planning and Zoning Commission again discussed the county’s building codes or lack thereof.
During the discussion of Trending Houses – i.e., barndominiums, geodesic domes, silo homes, and even tree houses – the board delved into the lack of codes in Moore County.
“You build a zoning ordinance for what you want in your county,” chairman Dexter Golden noted. “I’m not necessarily saying we should just completely boycott anything.” He later added, “It may be a good idea to get some of these things set in stone.”
Commission member Jim Crawford noted, “Unless the state has already prohibited it, we don’t have a leg to stand on telling somebody they can’t build something.”
Golden said, “It gets a little gray when you start describing what someone can build. I’m not a fan of telling somebody … they pay taxes just like I do; I struggle with that.
“If it’s an individual person building on their property, I don’t look at that as they’re open to public opinion,” he continued. “If it’s a person coming in wanting to build a resort – a glamping resort – and they’re going to open it up to people to rent …”
Crawford interjected, “That also falls under a commercial property type deal, which other regulations that fall in place then.”
“I get a little worried about telling somebody, ‘You’ve bought this 15-acre tract, and we’re not going to let you put a ‘schoolie’ [school bus] on it to live in,’ Golden said. “There’s a gray area there, but I also understand other concerns with that.”
After some back-and-forth regarding several Trending House examples, commission member Jimmy Hammond said, “I feel like we’ve kicked the can as long as we can. We need to present something to the [Metro] Council – not adopt the state codes, but our codes that we create.”
The commission agreed to ask that building codes be put on the Metro Council agenda for further discussion.
In other notable business:
• The commission unanimously approved (with member Jeff Ross abstaining) “Kinsley’s Retreat” – 11 lots at the corner of Ledford Mills Road and Brinkley Road – requested by Jeff and Sheila Ross.
• Company Distilling’s Kevin Smith presented initial artist renderings of its proposal for a facelift of its newly acquired properties at 26 and 34 Hiles Street and 755 Fayetteville Hwy. The Hiles Street properties are the American Craft Distillers and Lynchburg Winery.
The commission noted that the Hiles Street properties fall under the Historical Society and that Company Distilling must work with it to obtain any changes. Ultimately, the Planning and Zoning Commission would forward any rezoning requests to the Metro Council for approval.
