Editor’s Note: Ken Robertson delivered the following remarks during the Iredell County Board of Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, August 20.
BY KEN ROBERTSON
H.L. Mencken said “for every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, easy, and wrong.”
I come today offering no easy solutions.
My name is Ken Robertson, and I am a member of the Farmland Preservation Advisory Board. Our chairman, Jim Dobson, is not feeling well so I will speak in his place.
There is a saying: Vision controls behavior.
If you have a vision to buy a house, you spend less on some items so you can save money for a down payment.
Vision controls behavior.
If you are a high school student that wishes to gain acceptance to an elite university, you will probably study harder.
Vision controls behavior.
In government, legislative bodies provide services and create policy. That policy is meant to either encourage or discourage behaviors of citizens.
If vision indeed does control or influence behavior, then before you set policy to influence behavior, you first need a vision.
Steven Covey wrote the book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” One of the habits is “Begin with the end in mind.” So before we make any decisions on policy, let’s make sure we have a clear vision of where we want this journey to end.
I attended several of the meetings when the Planning staff met with the public to get input on the 2045 Horizon Plan before it was ever written. I heard almost everyone express their desire to protect the rural feel and the agricultural roots of the county. They did not say to stop building anything ever again. Those sentiments are generally represented in the 2045 plan.
If your end state for Iredell County is that five, 10, or 15 short years from now that we will look like Huntersville, that is important. We can do that. We can decide that the model of success is subdivision, subdivision, subdivision, Bojangles, Target, subdivision, subdivision, Longhorn Steakhouse …
Without a vision we will morph right into all those towns and counties whose names are all but forgotten, surrounding big cities just like Charlotte. The development model is generally the same. They have the same looking subdivisions, the same national stores and the same chain restaurants as every other town that is now “a bedroom community” of a big city. We become only known as part of “The Charlotte Area.”
Or we can take a stand to preserve the way of life we value so greatly.
How much is enough? How many of the exact same stores is enough? How many of the same gas stations is enough? How many of the same fast food restaurants is enough? How many subdivisions is enough?
Right now there are almost 22,000 residential units on the books that can be built. How high must our taxes be raised to build all the schools for all the children that are moving into these subdivisions.
When is that enough? How many farms must we lose? 10 percent? 25 percent? 50? 100?
We know we will lose some. Right now we are 28th in the entire nation in losing farmland to residential development.
When is enough?
I ask everyone here this question: If we can see ourselves eventually saying “enough is enough,” then let us start now to chart a balanced course — before it’s too late.
Ken Robertson is a former Iredell County commissioner. He lives in Statesville.
I hope you’ll consider addressing your comments to the Statesville City Council as well. They certainly have control over the county land being annexed for Briarwood/aka Stamey Ridge and the land proposed for Holland Farm. County residents have objected, council votes have been swayed.
Thank you Ken!
It’s time for impact fees in Iredell County. Will the “honorables” in Raleigh give us this option or will they listen to the lobbyists?
My money is on the lobbyists.
Impact Fees have been needed for years, Developers should pay these fees to provide the new schools and infrastructure that taxpayers are currently shouldering. Impact fees can be partially spread into the buyers cost of the house or apartment complex. I strongly support Impact Fees for Developers.
Too late. We are the wannabe Huntersville. Cheaply built tract homes, scores of cheap apartments and well…congrats whomever profited from this…you’ve ruined whatever this place once had…
Totally agree. Thanks Vicki. Thanks Jeff. Thanks Grey.
Frank Johnson: Thank them for what? Bowing down to lobbyists?
I believe that was sarcasm.
We are a wannabe Huntersville as said above, but with none of the amenities. We don’t even have a movie theater! We probably have enough grocery stores to support the growth in Statesville, but Troutman has ridiculous traffic and no infrastructure — just apartments after apartments and no end in site. Get it together, government officials.
We – Statesville – couldn’t be Huntersville if we tried. Everything closed here years ago downtown and at Signal Hill. Look what’s left – a dead mall and adjacent shopping center (Newtowne) decaying buildings, and crumbling parking lots. The only place people have to go is Walmart. And how many more tobacco and vape shops does a small town need – really? That and gas stations. I don’t see what entices people to move here anymore. With two major interstates crossing our area we should be booming. And we used to call ourselves “The City of Progress.”
Exactly, Pattie. I’ve lived all my life in Statesville and it’s gone to pot! No place to go to enjoy a night out with friends, no shopping, no entertainment! No county or city workers trimming trees, fixing roads, people have no respect for others, our children are suffering because school board members can’t keep politics out of schools and they pay our teachers to teach corrupt ideals and treat our good teachers like dirt! Enough is Enough! God have mercy!
So thankful we got out of Deercroft Subdivision when we did. It is hard to support all the development when there are no schools, no proper sewage, no roads, etc. It just seems everything is done backwards. We do not need all of this It is a mere WANT.
Let’s not forget that the landowners in the northern part of the county will further (and disproportionately) be burdened by the necessary tax increases to support the urban sprawl creeping up from the south. It is going to continue to grow more difficult for farmers to keep their land as they are forced to support the unbridled growth.
Mooresville has the same issues. Our new Mayor is doing what he can to improve things here but the former mayor left him a mess to clean up. As a single, retired techer I am worried I will soon not be able to pay house taxes needed to pay for everything we need to pay for. YES, we need impact fees. I have lived in 2 states that had them. The new residents need to pay for SOMETHING!
The southern end of Iredell pays more than 71% of all county taxes and accounts for more than 60% of the population. That’s a figure that sounds “disproportionate”. Nobody’s forcing farmers to sell their land but if they want to cash in, that’s what happens.
It’s time the commissioners start blocking these high density “cookie cutter” developments. They place undue strain on all of the infrastructure and it changes the dynamics of communities with no recourse to stop their way of life being destroyed. I know that according to NC law these developments cannot be totally stopped but they can be rezones as LOW density or single family homes–this is the only way to preserve our way of life and not become just another bedroom community for Charlotte, the City council needs to be reined in also and the next time something comes up for a vote anyone who has a personal financial stake in it passing should do the ethical and moral thing and recuse themselves.
These high density developments are not being approved by the County Commissioners.
These properties are being annexed into the City of Statesville and the Towns of Mooresville and Troutman at the request of the developer or owner of the property (typically a farm). The County Commissioners cannot “deny” such annexations. Then those same City/Town commissioners then approve to run water/sewer to the newly annexed properties thus enabling high density development.
The rub occurs when taxes have to be raised to pay for all the new schools. That falls ONLY on the shoulders of the County Commissioners who did not vote to approve any of the high density developments.
To be clear, I am not asking for us to stop building any homes. I do think we need to decide, as a county, if we really want to become a county of primarily subdivisions as opposed to a county with a large farming footprint.
Thanks for all the engaging comments.
Ken
Ken,
Do you think impact fees are part of the solution and if so would you commit to help get this done?
Thanks for your leadership.
They can, however, change the rezoning requests and even (gasp) deny them!