By Beth Mechum
Staff Writer
It started with a dispute about an apartment, and it led to a heated exchange Tuesday night between farmers and town government officials at the Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting.
Opinions were plenty at Town Hall, and though no resolutions were passed, many are hopeful it’s the start of improved communication and relationships between the farmers and town government.
It won’t be an easy road.
In the past couple of months, local farmers have met with members of the Carrboro town planning board to discuss their concerns about Carr-boro regulations and the planning board has also been discussing farming. Farmers and those with farming-related concerns were asked to share their thoughts with the board.
Much of this came from a case involving Marilyn Kille, who was accused of having an illegal apartment on her farm in 2006. Many farmers in the area have expressed the need for a caretaker apartment to keep their farms running, which can violate the land-use ordinance. That turned out to be just the tipping point of concerns many farmers had with Carrboro regulations, citing rules that were too old and the inability to vote in elections for leaders that ultimately make decisions about their properties.
The term “farm code†kept coming up. Some farmers said it could be a good thing to work on some sort of code with the town in order to provide input. Mayor Mark Chilton said he didn’t think the term farm code was a legally viable one, and what most farmers expressed was the need for less regulation, not more.
“If you have an interest in local food, food-security issues … you have to look at this issue from how do we support farming,†Ann Leonard of Hogan Farms stood up to say,
emphasizing it should not be about control.
The inability to participate in electing town officials for the extraterritorial jurisdiction was a rallying point for the 15 or so farming families in the room. But that’s North Carolina state law, Chilton said, one the board can’t do anything about.
Though many issues have been brought up, the discussion ultimately turns back to the caretaker apartments. Farmers want the ability to build an apartment for farmhands to live in without a rezoning of their land or violating the land-use ordinance.
Planning Board member Sharon Cook addressed this issue, presenting a proposed text amendment to the town that was dismissed as being too broad.
The issue of rent has been raised by board members Dan Coleman and Jacquie Gist, and they said that for an amendment to be passed, there will need to be stricter rules on what a caretaker or farmhand actually is or does, and whether the apartment is paid for by rent or is part of the caretaker’s compensation.
Leonard’s husband, Robert Hogan, said he doesn’t understand why rent is the issue, saying some aldermen are anti-farm and anti-business.
Chilton said the lawsuit between Kille and the town raised the issue, and the town wanted a hearing on the issues in order to clear the air.
Chilton said now that the issue of caretaker housing has been discussed, the town and farmers could start working to get it resolved.
In other action Tuesday night, the board approved and adopted the $19.1 million fiscal 2010 operating budget.
The budget includes a revenue-neutral property tax rate of 58.94 cents per $100 of valuation. The recommended rate was adjusted down from the fiscal 2009 rate of 68.63 cents to account for the recent property revaluation. This year’s revaluation produced a tax base of nearly $1.9 billion, compared with about $1.6 billion in fiscal 2009.
While the tax rate provides no increase in revenue for the town, taxpayers could see an increase in their tax bills, depending on how the recent revaluation affected their property values.
The budget includes $19,075,434 in recommended general-fund expenditures and revenues, with property and sales tax accounting for 73 percent of revenues. The budget year begins July 1.
Also Tuesday, Alderman John Herrera announced he will not run for re-election, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family. The Board of Aldermen is on a six-week hiatus and will resume weekly meetings in August.
Ms. Mechum, I applaud your having managed to present issues relating to area’s farm involving the Town of Carrboro’s leadership in a balanced and forthright manner.
Now IF someone would only bother to “connect the dots”, as in, to ask “why” in October 1997 Carrboro issued not one but two Permits for plumbing BUT doesn’t have the corresponding Final Inspection record(s) to show that it complied with the law.
The “real” final inspection occurred on/about Dec. 15, 1997 and was conducted by incumbent inspector, Donnie Williams, with the plumber present; the alleged final inspection reportedly was conducted by former inspector, Don Knight with the electrician. In other words, what happened to the true final inspection documents?
Otherwise, thanks for your efforts to report objectively and for exhibiting a high standard of professionalism.
Marilyn Kille
Carrboro should stick to in town matters. None of them have any knowledge of farming. I hope that the same plight that befell the NTA does not happen to the Hogans and other farmers.
Ms. Kille, I really feel sorry for you.
For the Mayor of a town to accuse a resident of his town as being “surreptitious†in a local newspaper-how crass and unprofessional. My hat is off to you for your patience and perserverence in this hostile environment.
So, is our Mayor fit to be reelected based on this sort of hateful diatribe? I think not.
I think there is a deeper story here, that has raised the hackles of those in power, such as mayor Chilton.
Maybe your farm is in the way of someone who wants to develop your property- is that the true motivating factor behind your harrasment?
Meantime, shame on the Mayor of Carrboro for such a terrible public attack, regardless of whether it is true or false.
No class at all. Ugh.
Mr. Kramer, I don’t know you but I’ve discovered you to be remarkably intuitive, thinking and courageous re your ascomments above.
Otherwise,RE Carrboro’s allegations against Peppermint Spring Farm, the questions remain:
Why does Carrboro have records of having issued not one but two October 1997 construction Permits for Hillsborough Plumbing and no evidence of having conducted even one final inspection, even though State law requires such?
What happened to the file documents that should correspond to these permits, showing that incumbent inspector Donnie Williams conducted the final inspection on/about December 15, 1997 with Hillsborough Plumbing’s owner, Gary Riggs?
Why has Carrboro insisted that the final inspection was conducted by former inspector Don Knight with Carlin Electric on December 1, 1997?
Even if the final inspection of PSF occurred, as alleged, on December 1, 1997, how could inspectors Williams and Knight have missed seeing a dedicate apartment electric meter, a natural gas line, a 3-foot square exterior A/C unit, a 9-foot furnace, plus 21 bathroom/kitchen plumbing lines, which lines and cables 200+ photos and invoices indicate protruded out of the poured concrete flooring (pad) by no later than October 31, 1997?
How can Carrboro justify continuing to ignore the position of the NC Dept. of Insurance to base its applicable building code on the date/year in which public utilities were activated (PEMC on Dec. 3 and PSNC [nat. gas] on Nov. 28, 1997)?
Why has Carrboro chosen not to sue the un-permitted and un-inspected barns, accessory dwellings and residential additions on other watershed farms completed after 1990 but has sued PSF?
Hm-m-m!
Mr. Kramer, you’re “right on” about “the true motivating factor behind [Carrboro’s] harrasment.” It’s always been about private interests! There appears to be no other reasonable explanation!!!
One can only hope that a local newspaper will take the time to research this and present the facts.
Tick, tick, tick.