BY FRANNY HANRAHAN
I recently read the article about the “circus atmosphere” of some Troutman Town Council meetings and take issue with some of the statements made by the town manager.
I’ve attended a number of these meetings — both civil and under the big top. I agree that there should never be disrespectful comments made, but I want to point out why these meetings may become combative.
The Town Council has approved project after project, development after development, adding thousands of people and vehicles to this area. This has overflowed our already-overfilled schools and crowded roads. A once beautiful mix of homes, farms, and small businesses is being turned into, well, an overcrowded traffic jam.
Here’s why the meetings go off the rails: Only residents within 500 feet need to be notified of rezoning requests. That’s a tiny area. That means only some residents on a single street need to be notified. The development can literally be taking place at the end of your street and yet you don’t need to be informed.
When people find out about proposed nearby rezoning by other means, they get mad and feel disrespected. Why didn’t they see the zoning sign? Maybe because the zoning signs weren’t put out, weren’t visible, blew away and weren’t replaced. I bear witness that all of those things have recently happened. This occurred recently on Clontz Hill Road, and when town staff was made aware that there were no signs visible on the massive piece of property potentially being rezoned, they didn’t go correct the problem. How are residents to know that their street or neighborhood has a rezoning request?
Why don’t they just check the town website? (So, how often? How are people supposed to know to check the website?) I did check the website — and there wasn’t anything posted about the Clontz Hill community meeting. I’ve been told that the website is being overhauled, and it isn’t up to date. That is a major problem, and no meetings should be held until that issue is resolved. It is not acceptae to conduct this type of business without giving the public information.
I went ahead and called Town Hall because I had heard the meeting was scheduled for that night (February 26). The person who answered checked the calendar and told me there was no meeting. I told her that I really thought there was, so she transferred me to another person who confirmed that there was no meeting scheduled that night. Hmm. For some reason, I persisted and left a message for the planning director, who promptly called me back, confirmed there was indeed a meeting, and provided any information that I asked for. The planning director is always knowledgeable and helpful. But why was I repeatedly told that there wasn’t a meeting? That experience certainly erodes confidence in the system.
At the community meeting, attendees were gathering around the site proposal map. One of the representatives tried to shoo people away, saying that they’d get to the map during the presentation. This is the first time that people living directly next to the property got to see a map, and they were being asked to sit down. We couldn’t see the map because it wasn’t posted on the Troutman website — so don’t tell us to sit down. This certainly did not build goodwill or start the meeting off on the right foot.
The meetings are scheduled for one hour. The developers present, the public then gets to ask their questions — which they couldn’t properly prepare for because they didn’t have any info about the proposal until moments prior. The developers mostly say they’ll look into that or that’s a good question or volley it back to someone else, saying “that’s up to the town” or “that’s up to DOT.” So many questions go unanswered. Again, not helping the civil discourse of the meeting. The presenter repeatedly tried to shut down comments and would say “Are there any questions.” They didn’t want residents to make statements or point out issues or concerns.
Most residents don’t really understand how rezoning requests work. But the developers certainly know, and they have lawyers that certainly know. And the Town of Troutman certainly knows. But the public doesn’t. We have jobs.
Here’s my brief explanation to the best of my understanding: The developers have to hold a meeting to inform the public of their intentions. (It’s mandatory, so everyone can stop thanking them for holding a meeting.) The public gets to ask a few questions. Then there is public hearing at a Town Council meeting where the public gets to make statements in front of the council members — the people who will actually vote yay or nay on the rezoning. This is the meeting you need to show up to if you want to be heard by the town council. The public makes their statements right before the council votes. I’m sure they keep an open mind going in, but the public only has one brief shot to make their case. It doesn’t leave much time for the council to reflect on what the public presents.
So the meetings may sometimes have a “circus atmosphere,” as Town Manager Ron Wyatt put it, but that’s because the town staff:
♦ Fails to inform the public;
♦ Gives (unintended) misinformation;
♦ Doesn’t explain how the voting process works; and
♦ Fails to keep the town website updated
Just as importantly, the Town Council Isn’t hearing the repeated concerns regarding overdevelopment, stretching of resources and traffic.
Mr. Wyatt also made the statement that some residents treat every project like an “enemy.” Well, to those of us who are concerned about the traffic problems and overwhelmed schools, every project that brings in hundreds more people is an enemy. The town manager shouldn’t disregard our opinions by comparing us to circus folk. Don’t point out the clowns until you check how you’re running your own show.
Franny Hanrahan lives in Troutman.
It’s highly likely that they are going to do exactly what they want to do and us complaining about our quality of life or rights is just really bothersome to them. They don’t want us to know because they don’t want to hear from us because they do not care. It’s about money and power and the people be damned. Try someone besides the GOP in charge and your results may vary.
Good ol’ Duck (and dodge) Ron Wyatt Earp. He always thought he was a “tough guy” while being a double-notch gunslinger Sheriff’s Deputy. Seems like he still wants to run the show in his civilian life. I’m sure every deputy and some of us former police officers remember him bragging about getting two notches on his pistol grips. Ron shouldn’t be running a worm farm, let alone a town.
Sounds like you’re upset he’s got the job. And you don’t.Duck is a great man and even better leader. Go back to NY if you don’t like him.
Nobody knows what’s going on at town hall because it’s a revolving door of employees.
Every time I go there to pay my bills and chat with staff they all whisper and use hushed tones whenever they talk about the town manager.
Same boilerplate reaction. What part of NY? Buffalo? Plattsburgh? Montauk? It’s a big State.
Duck, is that you?
but he is so qualified for the position, an excellent example of The Peter Principle
Ol’ Duck, talking about circuses and he’s the biggest ringmaster.
Excellent summation Franny! Thank you!
The mayor and council are inept. They allow the town manager to run the circus from start to finish. The town manager is not qualified to run Troutman. He has a high school education but is in charge of millions of taxpayer monies. He is arrogant and always trying to pick fights and shut the citizens up. The elected officials are responsible for this mess because they lack a spine. The manager needs to go!
COME JOIN THE CIRCUS! (In a friendly, respectful way, of course.) Share your opinion (March 24) and show your support or opposition and be there when they vote on the Clontz Hill rezoning request (April 10). These are the two meetings currently scheduled. They are subject to change—but the info won’t be on the town’s website because they’re overhauling it—you have to call or email them to find out about any changes.
No matter what, this property is going to get sold and developed—you can kiss the rolling fields goodbye—BUT you can have an influence on what goes there instead. It can be rows of tightly packed houses and streets full of cars or it can be a handful of houses spread out with less impact on traffic. Which do you want? Email the Troutman council members and/or show up to the meetings. Put a reminder on your calendar today for March 24 and April 10.
Current zoning allows .45 single-family units per acre
Rezoning would allow 12 units per acre, and they don’t have to be single-family “units”
Rezoning would allow apartments—not just single-family houses.
If Troutman gets the reputation among developers as a town where people don’t just lay down and allow endless development, less of them will come to buy up the land and cram houses and apartments on it. The current potential developer said that if the rezoning doesn’t go through they won’t go through with the purchase. YOU make the difference. (Be sure to be respectful, we don’t want to give anyone a reason to call us clowns.)
I want to highlight an important point. These developer meetings are for rezoning projects. The town has zoning – and these developers want to change it. If they wanted to develop a project within the allowed uses of the current zoning, they would not have to go through this process. Due to the high density of the vast majority of these projects they ALL require annexation into the Town – so they can hook up to Troutman water and sewer (at 1/8th of an acre single family home lots, they are far too small to support septic). People are asking very valid questions about “when will we get the roads to support this growth?” No answer. “When will we get the schools to support the residents – and who is going to pay for them?” No answer. And very importantly – “Where will we get all the water – and the sewer infrastructure – and who will pay for it?” Given that Troutman gets its water from Mooresville, and Mooresville itself is experiencing dramatic growth while signaling that they themselves are out of water, it is a valid question. The “circus atmosphere” comes from residents asking very valid questions – questions that the developers and the town manager don’t have answers for, and therefore don’t want to hear asked. It is far easier to blame the residents, instead of acknowledging that you are way out of your depth and developers are running circles around this community and laughing all the way to the bank.
You nailed it. Thank you for summing this up so well. I hope all concerned residents show up to the meetings and email the council members and town manager to ask these questions and voice their concerns. It’s the only way to have an impact.
Nothing has changed (except possibly the name of the town manager, since we attended our first (and last) town meeting over a decade ago. The meeting was a fiasco which reflected open contempt for the citizens who will live with the results of council decisions. The town needs a professional manager and the council needs some lessons in courteous and respectful attention to its citizens.
1000% this. Well said.