Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents, pastors and volunteers press Haywood County for faster temporary housing
Summary
During a long public‑comment period, pastors, volunteers and residents asked commissioners to speed relief — suggesting pallet homes, palletized shelters, donated RVs and use of primitive‑camp statute to house families left without housing after Helene.
Scores of residents, pastors and volunteer coordinators used the board’s public‑comment period to press for faster short‑term housing solutions for people displaced by Tropical Storm Helene. Speakers suggested temporary options — commercial pallet homes, donated campers and “primitive camp” structures authorized under state statute — and urged the county to relax local permitting where legally possible.
Amanda Fowler, pastor of Canton Wesleyan, told commissioners churches had mobilized to provide short‑term shelter and had coordinated with county building inspectors to propose small cabins that would fall under the state’s primitive‑camp statute, saying they were safer than tents and could be deployed immediately. “We simply want our people to be out of the cold and we’re out of time,” she said. Eustace Conway, who described himself as the author of legislation referenced during the discussion, urged the board to consider House Bill 774 provisions that define primitive camp structures as temporary options.
Other commenters described donated campers and palletized housing models in use elsewhere, asked the county to work with FEMA to extend hotel vouchers, and offered locations and volunteer capacity to host temporary units. Commissioners and the sheriff repeatedly asked for names and addresses of families still in need so staff could follow up directly and cautioned that some proposed solutions must clear building‑safety and utility inspections before being used.
