LINCOLN RESIDENTS SAY “NO” TO OVERLAY
Commissioners return document to planning board, staff

By Jon Mayhew

Emotions ran high from both Lincoln County residents and the Lincoln County Commission during the two-plus hour public hearing on the possibility of the county using a 500-foot thoroughfare overlay district regarding zoning.

People packed the James W. Warren Citizens Center Monday night to voice their opposition to another layer of government through rezoning, also known as thoroughfare overlay districts.

In fact, county commission chairman Alex Patton threatened to clear the first floor of the James W. Warren Citizens Center and to call law enforcement if the standing-room-only crowd didn’t remain calm.

Commissioner Carrol Mitchem was the first to speak, coming from behind where the commission was seated to take to the podium.

By the end of his speech, the crowd was on its feet, cheering.

“Here we go again with more rules, more regulation and more red-tape,” said Mitchem. “It’s time the people of Lincoln County stood up and said ‘no.’”

Speaker after speaker talked against commissioners approving the thoroughfare overlay district, stating in many cases that property in question had been in families for many years.

Resident James Hallman said he was upset about the encroachment on his land by government.

“I’m also upset about these draconian tactics,” said Hallman. “The commissioners have admitted that there are several mistakes in this document. We hope you’ll fix them all.”

Hallman added he hoped the board would reassess what it stood for regarding the issue and the citizens of Lincoln County.

“There’s only one commissioner whose property is directly affected,” said Hallman. “The other four have a taxable amount of property only about three acres.”

Vale resident, former state representative and former Lincoln County Sheriff Joe Kiser said that if the thoroughfare overlay districts are approved, the county would be taking about 130 acres of every mile of land.

“That’s a good 10 or 11 percent of Lincoln County if this is enacted,” said Kiser. “The people don’t want this and we don’t need it. I ask you all to listen to the citizens of Lincoln County for once.”

Others, meanwhile, appealed to the political side of the process, basically stating “heads will roll” if commissioners passed the new regulations Monday night.

In a terse exchange between citizen Michael Martin and commissioner Bruce Carlton, Martin asked commissioners to raise their hands if they voted in favor of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), which is set to go into effect at the end of this month.

Commissioner Alex Patton slowly raised his hand, while commissioner Bruce Carlton shot his hand up into the air.

“What’s your question,” barked Carlton, squirming in his chair.

“I’m here to let everyone know the overlay is a small part of this document,” said Martin. “It’s the least of your worries.”

By the close of the public hearing, only two speakers – Denver residents Jerry Sellers and Martin Oakes – spoke in favor of the overlay districts.

Commissioner Mitchem made two motions at the end of the public hearing, both of which were voted down. The first was to “throw the (overlay district) document in the trash,” followed by “trashing” the UDO.

A motion was made by Commissioner George Arena and amended by Commissioner Alex Patton that the overlay document is sent back to the planning board and county staff, omitting the highway designations.

“We can do this on a case-by-case basis,” said Patton.

Commissioner Carlton, meantime, asked the revised document be written into “layman’s terms.”

“This doesn’t take nobody’s land and doesn’t tell you what you can or cannot do,” said Carlton.
Members of the audience started leaving, letting their opinions be known to the commission.

“We tell you how we feel and you’re still going to do what you want,” said one resident.

Other people were heard mumbling “he (Carlton) doesn’t understand.”

In the end, the Lincoln County Commission voted unanimously to send the document back to the planning board and staff for revisions.