Planning fees go up

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Zoning changes or other requests to the Whiteville Planning Board just got a lot more expensive.

The Whiteville City Council Tuesday approved a measure raising most of the common fees charged by the planning office. The increase came at the suggestion of City Manager Joshua Ray and Interim Planner Don Eggert.

Ray could not attend Tuesday’s meeting due to a death in his family.

Assistant City Manager Doug Palmer and Mayor Dial Grey explained that the increases will bring the local fees on par with municipalities of a similar size. The new fee schedule will go into effect July 1.

“We have been woefully underachieving in regard to these fees,” Palmer said.

Under the old fee schedule, costs for services ranged from $3 for a copy of the zoning ordinance to $75 for a request to change a zoning designation. The new fees will range from 60 to 100 percent higher.

Mayor Pro Tem Howard Jones was concerned the new fees were too high.

“How much money do we make off this now?” he said.

Palmer explained that the planning office “might break even off this with the increases – maybe.

“The cost of copying alone can be very high,” he said. “All they (Eggert and Ray) suggested that we get in line with other municipalities, and maybe let the fees cover the actual costs.”

Jones made a motion to accept the new fee schedule, and Councilman Robert Leder seconded the motion. It was unanimously approved.

The council decided to wait on a request from Eggert to change the way people are notified of rezoning hearings.

In a memo to the council, Eggert suggested the city consider doing away with the ordinance requiring notices about rezoning hearings to be sent via certified mail to surrounding property owners. Under the current rules, a certified letter must be sent to adjacent property owners for every public hearing by the planning board. When a proposal is reviewed by the planning board and sent on to the council for a final decision, another certified letter is mailed to the same landowners.

“Certified mail creates an administrative burden on city staff and in many cases creates a hardship…to the recipient of the letter, since they often must travel to the post office to get the letter,” Eggert said in the memo.

Jones was not enthusiastic about the idea.

“Most of you won’t remember when this started,” he said. “It was because people were complaining they weren’t getting the notices by first class mail. We have some now who say they don’t get the certified letters.”

Palmer said the city currently advertises public hearings in this newspaper, as well as posting the notice at the city hall. Signs are also erected on parcels being considered for zoning changes, with dates, times and contact numbers prominently printed on the signs.

“The first people to usually notice a sign are the adjoining property owners,” Palmer said, “and that’s who we’re most concerned about.”

Before any town ordinance can be changed, Palmer explained, the city must hold a public hearing.

Jones said he preferred to wait until after the hearing to make up his mind.

“Let’s see what the people say,” he said. “It could be first class is all we need.”

A hearing on the proposed change will be held at the next city council meeting.