Public awareness a priority for group

Regan Hill photo

By Bethany Fuller
jfuller@statesville.com

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life is trying to keep its “No Spot Zoning” message in the forefront of people’s minds.

Up and down N.C. Highway 115 and around Statesville, signs against spot-zoning with a picture of a small industrial plant are being erected, and the group is organizing 12 community meetings at local schools to discuss county zoning issues.

“Well, we are basically developing a public awareness campaign to engage more citizens in Iredell County,” said Randy Bridges, who is on the group’s leadership committee.

“We know the 7.8-acre spot on Snow Creek road is just a small part of the issue for the county. The basic thrust of our program is to reach out to several different mediums, including public forums, newsprint and the signs.”

The first meeting — at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at North Iredell Middle School — will be designed to discuss zoning issues related to the use of rural land for residential, agricultural and industrial areas.

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life was organized by a handful of Snow Creek Road residents in August after county commissioners voted 4 to 1 to rezone 7.8 acres of McLain Farms from single-family residential to heavy manufacturing for the purpose of putting a biodiesel manufacturing plant on the site.

Nearly a month later, the organization and 23 other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Iredell County, the Board of Commissioners and the McLain family to get that decision reversed.

The county is looking into changing parts of its land-use plan and zoning ordinance, Bridges said.

“We want to get the public aware of the possible changes,” he said, “and encourage them to have a voice in the new land-use plan and zoning ordinances.”

Iredell Neighbors member Harry Watt said a lot of people still think the lawsuit against the McLain family and the county is about a biodiesel plant.

“We would love to have one,” he said. “But we would like to have it in an industrial park — where it really fits.”

Watt said the public needs to influence county commissioners when it comes to controversial zoning decisions.“What we are talking about is spot-zoning for a use that is not really compatible with the surrounding areas,” Watt said.

Watt said in addition to the signs, the group sent out a letter to 1,000 nearby landowners about a week ago.

“It impacts everybody,” Watt said.

Letter to the Editor: Greg Waugh

What do other zoning boards know that Iredell’s doesn’t?

First of all, let me state that I am not against the manufacturing of biodiesel. The situation on Snow Creek Road is strictly a zoning issue.

I have gone online (as anyone can) and looked at a biodiesel magazine Web site. It lists three manufacturing facilities in North Carolina. They are: Evans Environment Energies, 2301 Industrial Park Drive, Wilson; Foothills Bio-Energies, 815-D Virginia St. SW (which I know for a fact is an industrial area), Lenoir; and Piedmont Biofuels, Industrial Drive, Pittsboro.

Another facility in South Carolina is located in the old Naval Base in Charleston.

Do you see a pattern here?

I have been to the facility in Lenoir. The nearest house is located uphill and a half mile from the driveway of the facility. And this house is in the process of being torn down. The entire facility is enclosed by a chain link fence with strands of barbed wire around the top of the fence. You need to announce your arrival and go to a call box to enter. The view from the driveway looking across the street is undeveloped industrial land. The view from the right side of the driveway is undeveloped industrial land.

Again, do you see a pattern?

I have been to the Naval Base in Charleston. It is located in, you guessed it, an industrial area. The area is enclosed with a chain link fence. There are no residences located 500 feet from the base.

Pattern, anyone?

Greg Waugh
Statesville

Letter to the Editor: Marcus Troutman

The biodiesel problem is a zoning issue. I think I have a solution. The people wanting to build the plant must give the residents the amount their property will depreciate, while the county kicks in property tax incentives.

Otherwise, it should be a dead issue. Thou Shalt Not Steal; if building this plant will cost the neighbors money, the neighbors should get what they would lose at selling time. I see this and live nowhere near this area.

Marcus Troutman
Troutman

Letter to the editor: Lorrie Barker

In regard to the article printed in the Oct. 4 edition of R&L about the biodiesel facility, it is quite obvious people still don’t get the issues that surround this proposed location.

If it were 100 percent safe, which it isn’t, there would still be the concerns of our decreasing property values due to the zoning change. As all homeowners should know, owning property is supposed to be an appreciating investment, not depreciating.

Why would anyone want to put something in their community that would devalue their neighbors’ properties by thousands of dollars? Where is the love?

As for John Bonitz’s invitation for an "educational" tour of the Pittsboro biodiesel plant — is he suggesting we are uneducated?

As for our "concerns over production safety being almost laughable" please don’t patronize us. I personally don’t find anything about this topic to be a laughing matter.

I noticed one of the facilities in Pittsboro is located on Industrial Drive (does this tell you anything?) and the road the coop is on is a divided zone, half being in the Pittsboro city district and the other half unzoned.

Are either of these facilities located in R-20 (single family residential) districts? The facility Bonitz speaks of being 100 feet from a playground with offices next door doesn’t sound like a residential district.

As previously stated numerous times, we are not against biodiesel manufacturing; this is a zoning issue.

Lorrie Barker
Statesville

Letter to the editor: Randy Bridges

Iredell Neighbors for Rural Life wishes to express its appreciation for the “biodiesel advocate” who was quoted in Thursday’s edition of the R&L saying our “group’s concerns over production safety was almost laughable.”

I immediately called this advocate, John Bonitz, to verify that he actually had the nerve to say something so grossly irresponsible.

He confirmed the quote as correct and proceeded into a diatribe about how misplaced our concerns were. He said if we were more open to communication, we would realize how innocuous a biodiesel plant really is.

This disregard for the hazards involved in a chemical plant is typical of the attitude we have encountered time and again from proponents of the proposed location of the facility on Snow Creek Road. These proponents include Kenneth Vaughn, Iredell County Agricultural Extension Service director, Jeff McNeely, Iredell County planning board member, and the entire planning board, as well as the Iredell County Board of Commissioners, with the notable exception of Sara Haire Tice.

I commend Commissioner Tice for standing up for what is right when she stated the 1998 R-20 rezoning on Snow Creek Road was a contract with the property owners, that this area would remain a residential community.

She was the lone commissioner who honored that commitment.

Do you find it a bit ironic that thousands of our tax dollars are being squandered to fight a battle that should never have been necessary?

The proposed operation involves a 10,000-gallon tank of methanol, which is highly explosive when exposed to the air and which was the source of four explosions and fires at biodiesel plants in 2006. An unpublicized fact is that right here in Statesville, on Aug. 30, 2006, a 10,000-square-foot building burned to the ground as a result of a methanol fire at a biodiesel plant.

Three businesses were destroyed and lives were endangered.

Thankfully, no one lost his life in that fire, as happened in an Idaho biodiesel plant on July 7, 2006.

The McLains should move the proposed plant to an industrial site where it belongs, and save everyone a lot of trouble.

Randy Bridges
Statesville

Letter to the editor: Robert Taylor

This letter is in response to Iredell County Commissioner Steve Johnson’s recent letter in the R&L.

Mr. Johnson said that I took the comment about moving back to town — that if I didn’t like the smell of the honey truck, I should move — out of context.

I didn’t take the statement out of context. I took it out of the newspaper.

Snow Creek Road has been a hot topic ever since you four county commissioners ignored our neighborhood by your votes for a chemical plant.

If this is not what you intended to say, why didn’t Mr. Johnson ask the R&L to retract your statement and then explain what he really meant to say?

And, yes, I agree that our farmers should have some concession on their behalf.

I don’t know what our country would be without the farmers; without them we would all go hungry.

The difference between farming and manufacturing are a world apart.

In farming, you plant, cultivate, and harvest your crops. Thank God that we have good farmers in Iredell County. I am sure our farmers would love to be able to manufacture corn, soybeans, wheat and oats. Especially with the rain situation this year.

But then it wouldn’t be farming, would it ?

I think Phil McLain has a good idea with biodiesel fuel and since he has plans to manufacture this product, I think it should be located in an industrial area.

Why are Mr. Johnson and his fellow commissioners against manufacturing being placed in an industrial area?

Never once have any of you four commissioners given a reason not to place this plant in an industrial area.

A lot of Iredell County citizens are really wondering just what kind of people we the public have serving us as elected county commissioners.

As far as the honey truck goes, just about everyone knows that it is a manure spreader. And a very important part of farm life

This has been going on since horse and wagon days and I’m sure it will continue. We have no problem with the honey truck driving through the Snow Creek neighborhood.

But if we look real, real close we will recognize the four men driving that honey truck through the Snow Creek neighborhood.

Robert Taylor
Statesville

Letter to the editor: Lorrie Barker

In regard to the article printed in the Oct. 4 edition of R&L about the biodiesel facility, it is quite obvious that people still don’t get the issues that surround this proposed location.

If it were 100 percent safe — which it isn’t, there would still be the concerns of our decreasing property values, due to the zoning change. As all homeowners should know — owning property is supposed to be an appreciating investment, not depreciating.

Why would anyone want to put something in their community that would devalue their neighbor’s properties by hundreds of thousands of dollars? Where is the love?

As for Mr. John Bonitz’s invitation for an "educational" tour of the Pittsboro biodiesel plant — are you suggesting that we are uneducated?

As for our "concerns over production safety being almost laughable" as quoted by Mr. Bonitz — please don’t patronize us. I personally don’t find anything about this topic as being a laughing matter.

I noticed that one of the facilities in Pittsboro is located on Industrial Dr (does this tell you anything?) and the road that the coop is on is a divided zone, half being in the Pittsboro city district, and the other half is unzoned.

Are either of your facilities located in R-20 (single family residential) districts? The facility that he speaks of being 100 ft from a playground with offices next door doesn’t sound like a residential district.

As previously stated, numerous times — we are not against biodiesel manufacturing — this is a zoning issue.

Lorrie Barker
Statesville

Neighbors add claim to lawsuit

The Iredell County Planning Department failed to provide adequate notice for the public hearing on the biodiesel plant on Snow Creek Road, according to court documents filed by opponents of the proposed plant.

For the full story, click here.