[Durham INC] Protest Petition Update

[Tom Miller]

Dear Neighbors:

 

Much has happened this week.  The protest petition repeal bill came up for
second and third readings on the house floor.  On Tuesday, during a very
lengthy debate, Representative Avila of Wake County asked the house to
consider an amendment which would make a valid protest petition very
difficult to obtain, but which would have at least saved the concept of the
protest petition in our state laws.  That amendment was voted down in a
48-63 vote.  The vote breakdown was bi-partisan.  When the original bill
came up for debate, Representatives Meyer of Orange County, Luebke of Durham
County, Harrison of Guilford County, and Alexander of Mecklenburg County
were among the most impassioned speakers for our side.  They, along with
Rep. Avila, deserve our thanks.  When it came to a vote, however, the bill
passed second reading 81-31.  Third reading of the bill was held over until
Wednesday.

 

During the debate on third reading yesterday, Representative Meyer asked the
house to adopt an amendment providing for a minimum of 60 days' notice
before a rezoning could be acted on by a city council - the idea being that
if neighbors can't use their time-honored right to use a protest petition,
at least give them time to figure out what's going on and prepare.  The
proponents of the bill objected to 60 days' notice, however, and ultimately,
the bill was amended to provide only a thirty-day minimum notice period.
Representative Avila then asked the house to amend the bill to make it
effective only for rezonings initiated after the May 1 effective date.  The
purpose of this amendment is to preserve the protest petition right for
rezoning cases already in progress.  This is only fair, but I am afraid that
under most city zoning codes developers will only have to withdraw their
rezonings and resubmit them after May 1 to defeat already-filed protests.

 

The bill, as amended, now goes to the NC senate where the debate will begin
again.  We need to concentrate on our state senators and let them know we
want the protest petition right preserved.

 

What you can do:

 

1)            Write to all state senators and tell them to save the protest
petition right.  Ask them to vote against House Bill 201 and Senate Bill 300
(This is a senate bill that would repeal protest petitions.  It hasn't moved
while the House version has been progressing).  You can e-mail all members
of the senate by sending short, polite, e-mail message to
<mailto:SenateE-mail at ncleg.net> SenateE-mail at ncleg.net .  I have repeated
the argument for protest petitions below for your convenience.

 

2)            Alert your neighbors using your neighborhood networks and
listserves.  Ask your neighbors to join you in contacting our state
senators.

 

Finally, please thank the members of the House of Representatives who fought
for us in committee and the house floor.  Here are their e-mail addresses:
Paul Luebke,  <mailto:Paul.Luebke at ncleg.net> Paul.Luebke at ncleg.net ; Graig
Meyer,  <mailto:Graig.Meyer at ncleg.net> Graig.Meyer at ncleg.net ; Marilyn
Avila,  <mailto:Marilyn.Avila at ncleg.net> Marilyn.Avila at ncleg.net ; Kelly
Alexander,  <mailto:Kelly.Alexander at ncleg.net> Kelly.Alexander at ncleg.net ;
Pricey Harrison,  <mailto:Pricey.Harrison at ncleg.net>
Pricey.Harrison at ncleg.net .

 

Let's redouble our efforts and, by acting together, protest our rights!

 

Thank you all.

 

Tom Miller

Durham

 

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?

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20150326/20345436/attachment.html>