Talk about a huge, fired-up crowd

by David Grand
July 1, 2009

Members of the county's Planning and Zoning Commission must've felt like ducks in a shooting gallery for all the hits they took during the Pathways Plan meeting held on June 15 in the Century High School auditorium.

I only went there in the hope of getting the makings of a column. And I wasn't disappointed.

For upon my arrival, I was flabbergasted by the throngs of people (an estimated 900), who showed up, mainly from the Mount Airy and Tailorsville areas, to protest against the proposed rezoning of rural land into office parks and employment centers in their neck-of-the-woods, which they feel would be an unwarranted invasion of their property rights.

Unlike the jovial mood one usually finds at a large gathering, those waiting in the long line had the somber look of those attending a funeral, with nary a smile to be seen.

And unless they'd gotten there early, there wasn't an empty seat to be found, with the overflow of people having to stand in the back, and straining their ears to hear the speakers, who often sounded like they were speaking from a deep cave.

The meeting began with County Planning Director Steve Horn forgoing his opening remarks, so as to allot more time for those in the audience to be heard. But had he allowed enough time for everyone who wanted to speak to do so, the wake up call of a rooster would've been heard before the meeting was over.

And while the chairman of the Planning Commission, David Brauning did his best to reassure them that the plan was still in the draft stage and that changes could be made as a result of the meetings, that olive branch he offered did little to calm the hostile audience.

On the way home, I mulled over what I had seen and heard at the meeting and concluded, that the Planning Commission has a tough road to hoe, in trying to convince those who would be most affected by the plan, that the pathways they want to take them down isn't a primrose path.

Now, I may be wrong, but my intuitive feeling is that the matter will end up in court, with a judge deciding whether the county's Pathways plan flies or dies.

And given that the county's record in winning law suits brought against it often results in it being on the losing end--the most recent example of which is a circuit court judge ruling in favor of a Mount Airy developer and awarding him $32.5 million in damages (later settled out of court for $24.5 million)--it's problematical, as to whether or not it'd win in a law suit over the proposed rezoning.

As a betting man, I'd go way out on the limb and give 8-1 odds that a judge would issue an injunction stopping the county from implementing the plan. But then again, I gave the same odds against someone other than Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open, and I'm still counting my losses.