Residents urge impact fees, farmland-preservation funding as tourism pressures land prices

Don Smart, who identified himself as with the Farm Bureau, told the Haywood County Board of Commissioners that recent migration and tourism have pushed land and home prices beyond the reach of long-time local farmers and residents. “When tourists come here and stay, it drives up land prices as you’ve seen in the last 3 years,” he said, arguing that newcomers who use county infrastructure should help pay for upgrades through an impact fee or user fee.

Commissioners responded in turn that the proposal raises legitimate fiscal and policy questions and likely requires state action. One commissioner said the issue is more properly a state-level change and described the concept as a “user fee” that needs work in Raleigh; another said the county is lobbying state leaders for larger farmland-preservation allocations and said the state program has not kept pace with local land values. The county manager and commission indicated they will continue to press the county’s legislative delegation and consider how occupancy and tourism-related taxes (TDA funds) might help offset increased service demands.

The exchange included a request from a resident that rollback tax proceeds from farmland conversions be directed to a county farmland-preservation fund. Commissioners acknowledged that county and state funding shortfalls make keeping family farms viable more difficult and said they would pursue further discussion and potential advocacy with state partners.

Why it matters: Commissioners framed the shift in two ways — tourism as an economic driver and as a contributor to infrastructure pressure — and suggested remedies will require coordination with the state and regional tourism authorities. No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting.