Alexander County adopts resolution opposing N.C. House Bill 765

The Alexander County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution May 5 opposing North Carolina House Bill 765, which the county attorney said would reform state development regulations and impose fiscal-note requirements and new legal liabilities on counties and board members.

County Attorney Ben Faulconberry presented the resolution and told commissioners the bill would require a fiscal note for every regulation change, carry a five-year forward-looking cost analysis related to housing costs, and potentially expose board members, planning-board volunteers and staff to new causes of action and punitive damages. Faulconberry said the changes could deter volunteers from serving on planning and adjustment boards and could constrain local authority to tailor land-development rules to mountainous, agricultural and rural counties such as Alexander.

The county attorney also said HB765 would limit certain local development controls, citing examples such as minimum-lot-size protections in waterfront residential districts, restrictions on sidewalks where not abutting DOT right-of-way, and limits on requiring secondary emergency access in some circumstances. Faulconberry told the board the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and numerous counties and municipalities had adopted similar opposition resolutions.

Commissioners discussed the resolution and several members urged caution about statewide mandates that could add cost and complexity to local development review. A motion to approve the resolution carried unanimously.

The board will forward the adopted resolution as the county's formal opposition to HB765.