After months of controversial zoning issues in Danbury, a seat on the Danbury Planning and Zoning Board is suddenly a hot commodity. Danbury Town Council members discussed the appointment of new members to this board at their meeting on Wednesday evening, January 6.

The board consists of five regular members who serve three-year, staggered terms. Three of them must be people who live within the town limits. The other two members are ETJs (extraterritorial jurisdiction), appointed by the county commissioners, who must live no further than one mile outside of the town limits. There is also an alternate for the ETJs; in the past, there has been an alternate to represent the townspeople.

At this time, the board sits almost empty. Since Olivia Shelton and Wendi Uselton were elected to the town council, their seats on the planning and zoning board are vacant. Another town member resigned, as did one of the ETJs. Each of these seats must be filled.

Mayor Janet Whitt, presiding at her first town meeting, noted that she had several people interested in the positions. A council member commented that it used to be “like pulling teeth” to get people on that board.

Uselton, formerly the chairperson for the Danbury Planning and Zoning Board, spoke up, “I have a big concern.” She had called three other small towns—King, Walnut Cove and Wingate—to see how they handle such appointments. Their response was that they advertise the vacant positions to be filled.

Uselton reminded the council of the high voter turnout this past election which showed that interest in town affairs has increased. “I think it is really important that we really publicize this,” she said. “We gotta act like the big town we wanna be. . .no small town politics.”

Uselton stated that serving on the planning and zoning board is a “respected position.” She made a motion to have an application process that is widely publicized, with a sample application to be considered at the February meeting.

Council member Andrew Mathys seconded the motion which then passed unanimously.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Rebecca Sullivan addressed the council regarding an amendment to the current zoning ordinance. The present ordinance reads that a public hearing is not needed if the council deems the issue has no merit at which point they can summarily deny a petition.

Sullivan argued that this means a person wanting a zoning change could possibly not be afforded a chance, something she called “woefully unfair.” She added that she was going to resubmit her own request for rezoning of her property but stressed that the first issue she raised—the wording of the current ordinance—was just as important.

In other business, Mathys brought up the town’s campground ordinance and suggested “opportunities to allow small campgrounds” to operate inside the town, perhaps as a solution to overflow from Hanging Rock. He feels that the present ordinance is designed more for larger campgrounds and would like to amend it to make it “more user friendly.”

Uselton commented that she would like to see what other small towns do. Whitt wanted to know if they wanted to take it to the planning and zoning board or table it. Council member Mike Barsness interjected that they had been tabling the issue for six months.

Mathys suggested a special meeting to draw up a new ordinance. Barsness said that he’d like the new document to “be enabling not prohibitive.” His idea was for Danbury Town Manager Byron Ellis to make copies of the present ordinance for each of the members to review and edit as they see fit, then to have the special meeting suggested by Mathys.

The council will meet on Wednesday, February 3, to discuss the issue at greater length and draw up a proposed document.

Later in the evening, the council voted unanimously to allow the county to continue to issue permits for public exhibitions in Danbury. The town could choose to do this without the county being involved, as King and Walnut Cove do. The downside is that Danbury does not have its own fire marshal as the other towns do, so the council decided to leave it in the hands of the county.

“They’d talk to us before they issued permits?” Barsness asked. Ellis’ response was affirmative.

Ellis then informed the council that there were grant opportunities available, such as a recycling one from the NC Department of Natural Resources that must be submitted by March. He noted that the funds could be used to purchase a recycling bin—70 feet long with four compartments. The grant, however, will not pay for servicing the bin.

The cost of the bin would be about $5,000. The town’s 20 percent match would be $1,000. The unanswered questions include where would the bin be located and how would the servicing fee of approximately $250 per month be financed.

Another available grant is a STEP grant (Small Town Economic Prosperity). With this, $25,000 would be awarded, with no match necessary, to help the town develop a plan for its future. The two-year long process would consist of meetings for such planning.

These grants will be discussed further at the next meeting.

Before the January 6 meeting concluded, Barsness was unanimously elected as the mayor pro-tempore. The four council members each volunteered to serve on one of the four town committees: Barsness—streets, Mathys—planning, Uselton—finance and Shelton—beautification.

The next meeting of the Danbury Town Council has been set for Wednesday, January 20, at 7 p.m. at the town hall.