[Durham INC] ZONING PROTEST PETITION ACTION NEEDED RIGHT NOW!

[Tom Miller]

Dear Neighbors:

 

Tomorrow, Monday the 23rd, at 7 p.m., the NC House will vote on the protest
petition repeal bill, House Bill 201.  Please e-mail your legislators and
tell them to vote against it.  This may be our last chance to stop the bill
before it goes to the NC Senate (where we may not expect much support).  

 

Last Thursday, the bill came up for debate in the House Local Government
Committee.  After the sponsors presented the bill, Representative Luebke
from Durham moved to amend the bill by taking out the repeal language and
inserting instead the compromise language from Senate Bill 285.  This would
save the protest petition right, but raise the signing threshold from 5% to
15% and reduce the supermajority vote from 3/4s to 2/3s.  When the amendment
came for a voice vote in the committee, it was clear that the "ayes" had
won, but the committee chairman, Representative Davis, ruled that the
amendment was defeated.  He then refused to recognize Rep. Luebke's request
for a "division" or counted vote.  Instead he called for a vote on the
un-amended bill which passed.  Although this is very disappointing, it does
show that a significant number of house members are interested in a
compromise which would save the protest petition right.  

We expect that the amendment will be offered again tomorrow when the bill is
debated on the house floor.

 

Please send a short, polite e-mail to all the members of your town or city's
house members asking them to save the protest petition right.  Tell them to
vote against House Bill 201.  I suggest that you ask them to support the
5%-to-15%, 3/4s-to-2/3s amendment when it comes up tomorrow. SEND YOUR
E-MAIL RIGHT NOW!  We may not get another chance.

 

Durham area House members:

 

 <mailto:Paul.Luebke at ncleg.net> Paul.Luebke at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Mickey.Michaux at ncleg.net> Mickey.Michaux at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Larry.Hall at ncleg.net> Larry.Hall at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Graig.Meyer at ncleg.net> Graig.Meyer at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Larry.Yarborough at ncleg.net> Larry.Yarborough at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Marilyn.Avila at ncleg.net> Marilyn.Avila at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Robert.Reives at ncleg.net> Robert.Reives at ncleg.net;
<mailto:Verla.Insko at ncleg.net> Verla.Insko at ncleg.net

 

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD LISTSERVES!

 

Arguments for the protest petition:

 

The right to file a protest petition against a rezoning is a time honored
right.  Under NC law, if the owners of 5% of the ring of property 100 feet
deep surrounding land to be rezoned file a formal 

protest petition, it takes a super majority of 3/4s of the members of the
city council to pass the rezoning.  The protest petition right in North
Carolina is as old as zoning itself.  The right was part of the 

legislation passed by the General Assembly in 1923 giving cities the right
to regulate land use by zoning.  A protest petition right protects a
neighbor's investment in his own property and his reasonable expectations in
the stability of the regulatory environment.  It protects neighbors and
property owners from sudden, capricious, and wrongfully-motivated  zone
changes.  When neighbors file a protest petition it is a signal that the
proposed rezoning deserves special attention by elected officials.
Relatively few protest petitions are filed and they rarely cause rezonings
to be denied.  But protest petitions do often lead to more thoughtful
results in zoning cases and better buffering and protections between
incompatible uses.  The protest petition right levels the playing field
between ordinary citizens trying to protect their homes and powerful
developers who can afford attorneys and land planners to advance their
interests.  The right to a protest petition was part of model zoning laws
promulgated by the US Department of Commerce in the 1920s.  It is part of
zoning law all across the country.  Citizens in states bordering North
Carolina have the right to file a protest petition.  Why shouldn't we?

 

Thank you.

 

Tom Miller

Durham

 

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