By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE ó Officials here have discovered that at least three members of the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment may be serving illegally.
And the town may be ready to turn the duties of the Board of Adjustment over to the town’s Planning Board.
Town Manager Bill Pless acknowledged Tuesday that the situation has liability issues for the town because of the Board of Adjustment’s action against former Steve Stroud, a former alderman whose home-based business the board ordered shut down. Stroud’s court action against the town and the Board of Adjustment is scheduled to go to court next month.
During a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday to deal with budget issues, Mayor Pro Tem Blair Lyseski raised the issue of the Board of Adjustment appointments.
Pless said the staff had thoroughly reviewed the minutes of the town board meetings and could find no record that Lois Elliott, Harry Mills or Don Wagner have been reappointed.
Elliott is chairman of the Board of Adjustment and Mills is vice chairman.
According to town records, their terms expired at least a year ago.
That would have been before Elliott brought a complaint against Stroud to the Board of Adjustment. She complained that noise from Stroud’s business, Tarheel Safe and Lock, disturbed her. The Board of Adjustment ruled in October 2007 that the town incorrectly issued Stroud a home occupation permit, effectively ordering him to stop work at his home on Ketchie Street.
Mills and Wagner were among the members voting to support Elliott’s claim.
Last month, aldermen made three new appointments to the Board of Adjustment. At that time, aldermen got a list of all members and the expiration dates for their terms.
Lyseski said he and other aldermen looked at the terms expiring in 2009 and couldn’t recall making the appointments. They asked Pless and the staff to dig into the records.
Pless said the records show that the Board of Adjustment appointments were brought up and discussed at the December 2006 meeting. The minutes show that the board voted to recommend the appointment of Martha Corriher and Carl Ford as Board of Adjustment members from the town’s extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction. Ford declined the appointment.
The town requested and the Rowan County Board of Commissioners appointed Corriher to the board April 14, 2007. Her term is set to expire Dec. 31, 2009.
Pless said no vote was recorded on Mills, Elliott or Wagner at the December meeting
Lyseski pointed out that the board unanimously approved the minutes of December meeting on Jan. 7, 2007.
Lyseski and Pless said they want to give the three members the opportunity to demonstrate that they were appointed, if they can.
Pless said that appears unlikely since the only validation would be the board minutes, which do not show the appointment.
“It looks like the Board of Adjustment is a pretty loosely run operation,” said Aldermen Allen Welter. He wondered aloud why the people would take the time to serve if they hadn’t been appointed.
Looking at the liability issue, Pless noted that the town is fortunate the board hasn’t ruled on five or six cases. “They’ve only had one case; our liability is minimized.”
Town Attorney Tom Brooke didn’t directly comment on the liability issue but noted the Board of Adjustment has its own attorney for the Stroud case.
With the possibility of six or more vacancies on the Board of Adjustment within a few months, officials decided to look at options. Pless noted that in many small towns, the Planning Board also serves as the Board of Adjustment.
The board voted unanimously to direct Pless to notify the three Board of Adjustment members of their questionable status and give them an opportunity to prove their appointments. Also, the board directed Pless to bring back options for combining the Board of Adjustment and Planning Board.
That recommendation will likely come to the board at its August meeting.
Mayor Don Bringle and Aldermen Lee Withers did not attend the meeting.
Officials also acknowledged that at least one other person serving on the Board of Adjustment may be doing so illegally.
The Rev. Arthur Heggins was appointed in March 2004, the same time that Mills and Elliott were reappointed. But Heggins was not nominated for reappointment in December 2006. He continues to serve on the board.