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So What Now?
Charlotte attorney Anna Daly has agreed to provide pro bono service for the Optimist Park Community Association. Daly says that while they have not yet filed a lawsuit, she and concerned residents went before the county commission (after appealing to city council numerous times to no avail) and convinced them to ask Mecklenburg County Air Quality to review the issuance of Ferebee's permit. Daly says they intend to submit information in support of their position that an asphalt plant in Optimist Park would have adverse affects on the community and the city as a whole.
"We contend Ferebee didn't consider all of the various sources of emissions such as the hundreds of trucks that will be in and out of there everyday, and the overall impact that this will have on the neighborhood," Daly says. "Particularly when you look at the other facilities that are nearby. It's a spot where the air quality is poor to begin with. An asphalt plant will just cause further deterioration."
Daly says if the zoning board rules against Optimist Park, the next option will be to file a lawsuit in Superior Court. "We're hopeful the zoning board will determine that a permit should not have been issued."
The hearing before the zoning board is scheduled for May 27. Ferebee says he expects the plant to be up and running by the end of May.
Meanwhile, city council members, including Graham, Tabor and Mitchell, say they are exploring possible solutions to the problem. Most notably, they are trying to find an alternate site for the plant. But the clock is ticking.
"I have asked the Planning Commission to come up with all the vacant (industrial) land that's near the interstate and belt loop, and ask Ferebee if he would consider letting us swap property with him," says Tabor.
"What we're trying to do, and I've urged community residents to do the same, is put public pressure on Ferebee," says Graham. "An asphalt plant in the middle of Optimist Park does not meet anyone's standards. Businesses like an asphalt plant may have been appropriate 30 or 40 years ago, but as the city has grown and uptown has expanded, it's an inappropriate use. Nobody wants to live next door to an asphalt plant."
Mitchell says he has met with Ferebee several times to discuss the possibility of locating his asphalt plant elsewhere. "I've asked Ferebee point blank, "Name any aspiring city that has an asphalt plant uptown and five blocks from an arena? I appreciate from a business standpoint why he wants that site-it's accessible to the highway, and he's owned the property for 30 years. But I also told him that I couldn't sleep at night if I didn't fight for what I truly believe is the right land usage for that area. I think we do a disservice for our citizens and will lose a lot of credibility if that asphalt plant gets built."
Ferebee says, "We've owned that land for a long time, and as a property owner it is our right," he says. "It's fine if you want to disagree with me. It's hard to please everybody."
Contact Sam Boykin at (704) 944-3623 or sam.boykin@cln.com.
Lessons Learned?
Most of the city officials involved say that if any good comes from the whole Optimist Park/asphalt plant issue, it's that the case has brought to light some of the shortcomings in the city's overall planning/zoning system. And hopefully, it will help change the way things are done in the future. Of course, this doesn't do anything for the residents of Optimist Park, but that pretty much seems to be the bottom line."In the past, the city has not been very active in downzoning," says Mitchell. "But sometimes, and this is a prime example, we have to do what's best for the neighborhood. One lesson we've learned from all this is that when we vote on neighborhood plans, it behooves the city to change the zoning to match."
The discrepancy between council-approved neighborhood plans and a property owner's rights is a complicated and messy issue. While officials with the Planning Commission say they try to rezone land to match a neighborhood's plan, there is a balance that must be maintained, and that can be tricky.
While it is possible for the city to initiate "third-party rezoning," in which they change the zoning of an individual's property to match neighborhood plans, "obviously, a lot of property owners object to having their property rezoned," says assistant planning director Debra Campbell. "It's up to the city council to determine the appropriateness of each case, and whether the merits of it warrant a change in the zoning."
