[Durham INC] Realtors in Greensboro don't like protest petitions

Wed Mar 30 17:59:55 EDT 2011

Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:58:57 -0400
From: will.morgan at sierraclub.org
Subject: Re: Thanks Piedmont Plateau!
To: NC-CONS-FORUM at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG

All,
See below the news story from Monday's hearing in Greensboro.  Big thank you to Travis, Piedmont Plateau, and Foothills for getting people out to the hearing.
Will

Public sounds off on state regulations 

• 
Realtors urge lawmakers to abolish protest petitions on rezonings. 

  BY MARK ‍BINKER 
   Staff 
Writer      JAMESTOWN — One person can look at a government 
regulation and say that it costs too much money and will hurt his business. 
Another person, looking at the same regulation, will say that it cleans the 
environment and is too important not to keep. 
   Such 
was the conversation at a public hearing held Monday by the General Assembly’s 
Joint Regulatory   
Reform Committee at GTTC’s 
Jamestown campus. 
   Republican lawmakers, who took control of the House 
and Senate this year, have long argued that overzealous government regulations 
have contributed to the sluggish economy. The committee hearing is one of six 
meant to gather suggestions on which regulations to change. 
   “It is 
easier to change the U.S. Constitution than it is to rezone your property under 
a protest petition,” said Lolita Malave, president-elect of the Greensboro 
Regional Real-   

tors Association. 
   Under 
protest petitions, the owners of 5 percent of the property within 100 feet of 
the land to be rezoned can force city councils to vote by a 75 percent 
supermajority to change the zoning. 
   Greensboro residents did not have protest petition 
rights between 1971 and 2009. 
   Malave 
was one of at least two speakers who urged lawmakers to do away with protest 
petitions for the state, calling it “absurd and unfair.” 
   Others 
spoke about how regulations make doing business more costly. Several 
  representatives of Greensboro-based Ecoflo, a 
hazardous-waste cleanup company, spoke to the committee about rules that ensure 
the company has enough money to respond to accidents. 
   “It’s 
possible to regulate a company right out of business by driving up expenses to 
the point that competitive prices and profit cannot coexist,” said Phill King, 
vice president of marketing for the company. 
   Others 
came to urge lawmakers to go slow on efforts to roll back regulations, arguing 
that environmental rules that cleaned up the air and water were good for health 
and tourism and helped attract business. 
   “Here’s an idea for   some traffic law changes that might save the state 
and cities thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars, and might enable goods to be 
delivered much more quickly and efficiently,” said Jack Jezorek, a Greensboro 
resident who was setting up a tongue-in-cheek critique of the push to roll back 
regulations. 
   “I’m 
talking about eliminating all speed limits and traffic lights. Imagine the 
savings from not having to put all those lights and   signs along our roadways.” 
   Jezorek used his facetious pitch — acknowledging it 
might lead to more problems than it solved — to illustrate how ending some 
environmental rules might lead to problems. 
   Sen. 
David Rouzer, a Benson Republican, said the back-and-forth conversation in 
Greensboro was typical of other meetings the committee has held. 
   He’s 
unsure how many bills will come out of the effort to gather input from 
businesses on unnecessary rules. 
   The 
legislature has already sent a bill to the governor to suspend for a year new 
rules that would cost businesses or individuals money. 
   Other 
issues brought to the committee included:   
   •Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight urging lawmakers 
to delay until 2020 rules meant to clean up Jordan Lake. Those rules will force 
Greensboro to make costly sewer plant upgrades that the city can ill afford, he 
said. 
   •Ruth Foster, a Greensboro-area woman, asking 
lawmakers to end the prohibition on selling raw, unpasteurized milk for human 
consumption. 
   •Bill Sherrill, the owner of Red Oak Brewery, 
asking lawmakers to lift limits on the amount of beer small brewers can 
distribute without going through a wholesaler. 

On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 2:58 PM, Travis Hargett <travis.hargett.sc at gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all,
Piedmont Plateau and Foothills members came out in full force at yesterday's hearing on regulatory reform. From my count we outnumbered the opposition 23 to 13. Those are some of the best numbers we've seen yet!

Tom Duckwall, Jerry Varner, Dick Mearns, Sally Hersch, Cheryl Garity and many more came out to speak at the hearing. Our members talked about a lot of important issues including water resources, energy efficiency and air quality. 

I think we made an impression on the committee.Now, they'll have to think twice before they start repealing strong environmental protections. 
Great job everyone!

Travis Hargett
******
Volunteer Coordinator
NC Sierra Club
112 S. Blount St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Office: 919.833.8467
Cell: 740.275.6270

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-- 
Will Morgan
Director of Government Relations
North Carolina Sierra Club 
112 South Blount Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Office: 919-833-8467
Cell: 336-707-9019 

will.morgan at sierraclub.org
http://www.nc.sierraclub.org

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