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Sylva officials OK rezoning, deny Rusty Lizard request
By Lynn Hotaling
Sylva leaders last week (July 19) changed the zoning classification on two Grindstaff Cove area parcels and turned down a conditional use permit application that would have allowed a Jackson Plaza bar to operate as a private club.
During their regular third-Thursday meeting, Sylva board members followed the recommendation of the town’s planning board to place commercial zoning on Reggie Holland’s 7.98-acre tract and Margie Derwort’s adjacent 4.95-acre parcel.
While the planning board favored a B-2 designation for both tracts, town board members instead opted to zone Holland’s parcel B-2 and Derwort’s to a professional business area, which allows both residential and professional office development.
Holland of Franklin’s Holland Construction had requested commercial zoning for a portion of the former Grindstaff Cove development near the entrance to Jackson Plaza. He spoke during the public hearing that preceded the board meeting and said that he sought commercial zoning to allow more options for developing his property. He pointed out that while his tract is zoned residential, the surrounding neighborhood is commercial.
Zoning for Holland’s tract was R-1A, which allows single-family homes on half-acre lots. His property was part of a larger tract that had been approved for a multi-use planned unit development overlay, which would have allowed the mixture of commercial, professional and residential uses that were planned for a failed development called Grindstaff Cove.
However, the MPUD designation automatically reverted when the property was sold before that development was completed.
Holland’s piece of the larger tract does not meet the 10-acre minimum required for an MPUD overlay; therefore, he requested a B-2 or B-3 zoning, in which both residential and commercial uses are allowed.
During discussion, board member Maurice Moody said it “makes sense” for the Holland tract to be commercial since it fronts on Grindstaff Cove Road and borders Jackson Plaza.
The vote to zone Holland’s property B-2 was unanimous.
With regard to the Derwort tract, town board members were hesitant to approve the B-2 classification because portions of the property are on the other side of a ridge from the shopping center and encroach into residential neighborhoods. Town Planning Director Jim Aust suggested the professional business designation instead, and the vote to proceed with that zoning classification was unanimous.
Turning their attention to consideration of a conditional use permit application from the Rusty Lizard, town board members ruled against allowing the bar to operate as a private club.
Board members July 5 tabled action on the application, filed by owner Jim Moss because The Rusty Lizard has had difficulty meeting ABC standards for the ratio of food (at least 30 percent) to alcohol sold. Rather than close, Moss sought the conditional use permit that would allow him to operate the bar as a private social club, requiring membership, while the Rusty Lizard changes its dining, billiards and dancing areas to accommodate a more restaurant-like setting.
According to town attorney Eric Ridenour, the ordinance stipulates that such permits must be granted unless the town board finds against one of four stated criteria. Therefore, instead of a simple motion, board members must make a separate decision on each of the four criteria listed in the ordinance. When board members voted on the first one, “the use will not materially endanger the public health or safety if located where proposed and developed according to the plans submitted and approved,” and determined that it could have a negative impact, the application was denied.
Also July 19:
– Board members unanimously approved a contract with the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund contingent on Ridenour’s approval.
Under the agreement, first announced last summer, the town will receive a $3.5 million grant in exchange for giving up the development rights to its former Fisher Creek watershed by placing the property into a conservation easement. The only stipulation is that 40 percent of the money must be used for water quality improvements. The NCCWMTF must still approve the conservation easement before the transaction can be finalized, according to Sylva Manager Jay Denton.
– Board members agreed to place discussion of extending zoning control over the Savannah Drive area through an extra-territorial jurisdiction on its August agenda. The town’s planning board has recommended that Sylva officials move forward on the Savannah Drive ETJ but hold off on similar action for an area south of Yellowbird Branch Road.
A Yellowbird Branch ETJ would require an interlocal agreement with the town of Dillsboro because the area in question lies more than half way between the city limits of the two towns. The two municipalities have reached a tentative agreement by which Sylva would approve a Dillsboro ETJ north of Yellowbird Branch, which is also more than halfway between the two town limits in return for Dillsboro’s OK of Sylva’s plans, but that deal has yet to receive official approval.
– Aust informed the board of several new businesses, including Pursonalities on Mill Street; Oxygen Services on East Main Street; Pro Finish Designs on Mystic Lane; and Mountain Vision on Asheville Highway. He also indicated Smoky Mountain Foot plans to relocate from its Grindstaff Cove Road office to the former Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority building at the Business 23/N.C. 107 intersection. In response to a question, Aust said that the construction taking place behind Zaxby’s is a project of Kole Clapsaddle, who is adding more retail space in the area and plans similar construction to his adjacent office space.
– Aust also reported on recent hazard abatement activities. He has targeted two abandoned houses, one on Dillsboro Road and the other on Chipper Curve Road. Both property owners have refused to take action and have not responded to registered letters Aust has sent, he said. Aust indicated he plans to begin condemnation proceedings Aug. 10.
– Denton reported that preparations have been completed to seek proposals to purchase the prefabricated footbridge that will span Scotts Creek and connect the town parking lot on Railroad Avenue with Poteet Park. Drawings for bridge abutments are complete, and Denton said he has talked with Western Builders about constructing the bridge abutments and setting the bridge with WB’s crane.
Once the bridge is ordered, it should arrive in about six weeks, but it could not be ordered until all the abutments were designed and a flood plain study had been completed, Denton said.
– Bridge Park Project coordinator and Downtown Sylva Association Director Sarah Graham reported that donations to the BPP now total around $48,000. The planned Bridge Park will be located on a portion of the town lot and will include performance space and provide a home for Jackson County’s Saturday morning farmers’ market.
An October BPP fund-raising event will feature regional storyteller and musician David Holt, Graham said.
Graham, who has filed as a town board candidate, also told board members that DSA’s membership drive is under way and going well.
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