The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to rezone 192 acres on US 220 to Highway Commercial at the Monday, Aug. 21 meeting.
The rezoning request had attracted so many opponents that four overflow rooms were used in the Governmental Center in Wentworth.
In speaking about the rezoning request, the Rockingham County commissioners emphasized property rights and the fact that the US 220 corridor had been designated as an area for economic development growth for decades. They noted that the taxpayers of Rockingham County had spent millions of dollars to provide water and sewer service to the area as well as upgrading the roads to make it more amenable to economic development growth.
Commissioner Kevin Berger said, “Everything I’ve heard in the past was, ‘it’s my property and I can do what I want with it.’ I heard about referendums tonight, talk about referendums on property rights. That is certainly against everything that I ever heard before.”
Commissioner Houston Barrow said, “Out of all the messages I received, nobody has ever mention the landowners.”
He said that the commissioners didn’t have the ability to hold a referendum and that the idea of a referendum on a rezoning issue went against the concept of property rights and everything American.
A group of opponents hired an attorney from Asheville, Brian Gulden, to represent them, and Gulden questioned the validity of the rezoning application since it lacked a statement about why the rezoning request was reasonable.
He also noted that because this was a straight rezoning request from Agricultural Residential to Highway Commercial, the commissioners had to consider all of the uses that were permitted in Highway Commercial and that some of those uses would not be beneficial to the area.
The opposition was mainly opposed to the development of the site as a casino complex. It is a widely held belief that the plan is to build a casino on the property, and in June, Rockingham County amended its zoning ordinance to allow “electronic gaming operations” in the Highway Commercial district.
But the rezoning request was not to rezone the property for a casino, but to rezone the entire 192 acres to Highway Commercial, a zoning district where one of the multitude of uses now allowed is “electronic gaming operations.”
However, currently building a casino on the site would be illegal according to North Carolina law. The rumor is that the state law will be changed to allow casinos in three counties – Rockingham, Anson and Nash. But no bill has been introduced in the state legislature to make casinos legal.
Will Quick, with the Brooks Pierce law firm, representing the developer and the property owners, noted that there were no site plans and a determination of what would be developed on the site had not been made by the developer.
Check their pockets
Phil Berger is a carpetbagger who has come down from his home state of New York and make himself and his family rich at the expense of the people of Rockingham County. His having a son on the NC Supreme Court and on the Rockingham Board of Commissioners is such a glaring conflict of interest, but the Berger family doesn’t care about anything but lining their own pocketbook at the expense of the people of NC. This is what the NC GOP is all about. Absolute corruption and making themselves rich while the average NC citizen gets the shaft.
“Dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” Govt will do as they please, regardless of what the people want.
I was surprised that this took place in Rockingham County, but it appears to me that money is the prime motivator in this Country. I can see where more & more of us just can’t get ahead, or even hold on, in the Country. Must be “Rich Men North of Richmond” moved south.
I worked in Hawaii for a while perhaps 15 years ago. Even then, most native folks had to work 2 & 3 jobs just to be able to live anywhere but a shack in the deep woods. Now those homeless people in Lahaina are being peppered with offers to buy their land, so the land can redeveloped for those who have the big cash. Then, they will have to leave the Island to survive. So much for Paradise. In Lahaina, and the USA.
Good for the landowners! Everyone wants property rights until they don’t like what other people are doing with their land. Typical NIMBY…
Greensboro is the real winner here thank you Rockingham County. You just made us a premier destination and all you had to do was piss on your neighbors. Thank you
Property rights do not give a person the right to harm their neighbors, their community. That’s a false comparison. Sure property rights are important, but you can’t just start your own landfill in your backyard… it would harm your community and could be prevented or shut down, rightly so. Please don’t use property rights as a distraction from the potential damage to ensue. If you are skeptical may I suggest reading “Strategy and Soul” by Daniel Hunter
They knew how they were going to vote way before this meeting. As for the land owners rights, they could have broke the land up in smaller acres and sold it. No one but a developer could buy 192 acres. So the commissioners were more concerned about the land owners rights vs the hundreds of peoples concerns. Come election time, these commissioners will be voted out.
I’m curious, how many land owners made up for 192 acres?
The commissioners sold us out like Judas sold out Jesus
Who stands the most to lose? The Cherokee casinos on tribal land.
Does anyone know the name of the group which formed to campaign against this terrible affliction on our community? Need to get them in connection with the Native American’s casino operators.
Their phone number is 828-497-7000 or 828-359-7000.
Here is a link to the recent commissioner meeting about the issue: https://youtu.be/QDFuiRWg6gQ