Federal and state officials say a threat to withhold federal highway money from Rowan over billboards doesn’t have much bite.
Four new permits for billboards on I-85 near Daugherty Road have been issued after the Federal Highway Administration found no grounds for action in the rezoning of Corriher Beef and Sausage property last March.
That brings the number of billboards or permitted billboards on property owned by Corriher Beef and Sausage or Frank Tadlock to 18.
Tadlock is president of Corriher Beef and Sausage and a county commissioner.
At the public hearing last March , a spokesman for Corriher Beef and Sausage said the rezoning request was not for billboards but other reasons.
A neighboring property owner, David Moose, is seeking rezoning of one acre just south of the Corriher property. Moose wrote on his application that he wants to put a billboard on the property.
The Rowan County Planning Board discussed the Moose request at length Monday night and deferred action until next month.
During that discussion, various county officials said the Department of Transportation will not issue additional permits and that no billboards have been constructed on the rezoned Corriher property.
Darryl Kluttz, the local Department of Transportation official in charge of permits, said there is no ban on billboard permits along I-85 south of Webb Road. New billboards are banned in the construction zone to the north.
Kluttz said that permits will be issued to property that meets state guidelines. The guidelines have been recently redrafted after the state lost a court case involving a rezoning in Davidson County. The Department of Transportation had contended that the area had been spot zoned for the purpose of permitting billboards.
The new regulations allow denial of a permit when zoning is primarily to permit billboards or constitutes strip or spot zoning.
Kluttz agreed with one county official who said Moose’s honesty may prevent him from getting a permit. If he were able to get his entire 15- acre tract rezoned, his property would qualify for a billboard.
Monday night, Moose appeared to question the fairness of regulations or actions that would allow Tadlock to have more than a dozen billboards but prevent him from having one.
Several Planning Board members bristled at repeated suggestions that Rowan could lose federal highway money. Board member Joe Teeter termed it ridiculous to think the widening of I-85 could be stopped because of a billboard.
Citing court actions in the state related to zoning cases, Kluttz said the threat of withholding federal highway money at this point is meaningless.
He suggested that at some point, the county’s action would weigh on a state decision on adding an I-85 interchange at Old Beatty Ford Road. He added that such a link is only a possibility.
An official with the Raleigh office of the Federal Highway Administration conducted an investigation of the March rezoning of the Corriher Beef and Sausage property, along with a nearby tract owned by Jim Daugherty.
The investigation was requested by Dale McKeel, executive director of Scenic North Carolina, an independent watchdog organization.
Tony Bowers toured the Daugherty Road area of I-85 and reviewed the permits and zoning action.
“We don’t like it,” said Bowers, referring to the dense collection of signs, but added that the federal agency can’t do anything about it.
Bowers said the state controls the placement of billboards.
Following the federal review of the rezoning, an official with the Federal Highway Administration advised state officials and Scenic North Carolina of the determination.
The letter pointed out that “the rezoning of these properties may understandably give the impression that the reason was to permit outdoor advertising structures.” Yet, because of the Davidson court case, the state acted in an appropriate manner regarding the Rowan rezoning.
“The state’s inability to respond differently to this local zoning action would not, in our opinion, support a finding of failure to exercise effective control of outdoor advertising.”
McKeel said his group sought the investigation after several Rowan residents complained about the spread of billboards.
“It appears the primary purpose of the rezoning was to allow billboards,” said McKeel, referring to the Corriher Beef & Sausage and Daugherty rezoning. “They (the Federal Highway Administration) determined under existing laws and existing court rulings they were not going to take any action.”
Daugherty has not applied for a permit for an additional billboard.
McKeel said his organization will continue to monitor the Rowan situation and other areas throughout the state.
“Rowan County residents and leaders should very carefully consider the I-85 corridor and how many billboards they want. …It’s important to create a positive economic development image.”
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