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

[Mary Lee]

You may also want to call the *sponsors* of the bill...I think McKissick
and Woodard have already spoken out against it, and suspect most Durham
area House members would feel the same. Here's a link to the bill info with
the names of sponsors:

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015&BillID=h201



On Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 8:39 PM, Tom Miller <tom-miller1 at nc.rr.com> wrote:

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