News

Reg panel gets tepid response

Steve Dozier speaks to Reg Review panel as Bob Williford looks on.

By Bill Moss, Published: May 1, 2013

The Henderson County Regulation Review Advisory Committee got an underwhelming number of complaints during its first crack at taking testimony from overregulated developers, contractors and business owners.

"Most of the people that I talked with say the county does a very good job," said Bob Williford, president of the Chamber of Commerce. "A lot of the comments were targeted toward municipalities."
The business community's response to a chamber email blast soliciting grievances was so tepid that Williford and Steve Dozier, the chamber's government affairs committee chair, pleaded for more time. The panel had called on the chamber to testify about regulation that impedes business growth and job creation.
Dozier, who is on the Planning Board, said his main complaint was with the body that formed the Regulation Review Advisory Committee, the county commissioners.
"We see things that go through the Planning Board and then goes to the next step and gets killed," he said.
Dozier, a residential real estate agent, said regulation complaints are probably down because there's no demand for home construction right now.
"When we get down to a seven-month supply (of homes on the market) we should see new construction start and pick up fairly rapidly," he said.
Mark Williams, the county's Agribusiness Development director, was next up to testify.
County rules limiting the size of produce signs hurts orchards, vineyards, you-pick fields and other farm operations selling directly to the public. The county code limits agricultural signs to 20 square feet.
"If you're driving down the road, a 4X5 sign is not going to stand out very well," he said.
A housing development, by contrast, can have a 32-square-foot sign, he said.
Another complaint he heard was from a farmer who wanted to dump dead livestock in the landfill.
A web survey that invited businesses and others to register their complaints about county regulations had received eight responses, the county staff reported. A link to the survey can be found at http://www.hendersoncountync.org.