Greensboro Neighborhood Congress Now On Board , No Compromise Needed State Law Is State Law

Below the fold is the letter from the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress on their commitment to reinstating Protest Petitions to the citizens of Greensboro, with no compromise needed since a bill has already been filed . If you want to follow the bill click on the School House Rock Bill in top left corner of blog.

We have also heard from State Representative Pricey Harrison today and here is what she had to say "Now that our committee assignments have been made, I am going to push for an early hearing on the bill for which I am a primary sponsor on restoring the protest petition to the citizens of Greensboro,
House Bill 64*. It is great news to hear and see everyone come together to bring back Protest Petitions to Greensboro.

UPDATE 2-14-09
State Senator Don Vaughan had this to say in a online newsletter

"On the local level, I was very pleased to co-sponsor Senator Katie Dorsett’s Senate Bill number 67 titled Greensboro/Restore Zoning Protest Rights. Senator Dorsett had prepared this Bill during the previous legislative session, but due to outstanding issues it was not introduced until this session. The bill simply repeals state law 1971-29 excluding Greensboro from the Zoning Protest Rights provision and that “this act will become effective when it becomes law.” I look forward to a swift passage."

Hopefully TREBIC can see the writing on the wall and back off the opposition to this bill and accept what every other city in this state abides by in North Carolina General Statute 160a-385 and 386.State law is state law, 5% and all.

Below is the letter sent out from Greensboro Neighborhood Congress.


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"The Greensboro Neighborhood Congress ultimately voted and unanimously decided upon the following with regard to the Protest Petition:

That Greensboro have the Protest Petition as it currently exists in state statute;


That, at this time, the state statute not be amended by a local modification only for Greensboro; and


That we, along with TREBIC, follow the work of the N.C. State Legislative Study Commission on Urban Growth and Infrastructure Issues study on this issue; and

That the Congress continue its dialogue with The Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition on this issue.

In deference to the request of the Greensboro City Council, members of the Congress and TREBIC and others have spent a great deal of time discussing and thinking about this state law. The following factors ultimately guided the Congress vote:

The boundaries of the Congress are the City limits. Given that the City has had no experience with this state law, the Congress does not think we should recommend changes to it just for the City.

One consideration was to recommend a change for the state, but the Congress ultimately decided that was beyond our purview. Again, without any experience with the law in the City and the fact that it does not appear to have presented a problem to any of the other cities in the state, the Congress decided it is not in a position to make a statewide recommendation.

Also given the experience statewide, the Congress believes that the degree of opposition to the Protest Petition is unfounded.

The bill has already been introduced in the State House and Senate and our understanding is that only one of our state legislators has any interest in receiving a suggestion for change from Greensboro.

We are hopeful that TREBIC will be willing to continue with us in watching how this law plays out in Greensboro so that if we see that it does indeed present real problems to the community, we can come together with a recommended solution."