Legislators representing western N.C. counties attempted to tighten control over local ordinances through House Bill 1756, which called for greater regulation of development on steep slopes. The bill was deferred until the next session of the General Assembly.

The Safe Artificial Slope Construction Bill would force local governments to accept ordinances that regulate site planning and construction on mountain slopes. The restrictions are intended to promote stable slopes and reduce the chance of slope failures.

“The number of [land]slides that we have experienced most recently, as a result of the flooding in late August and September of 2004, suggest the need for a bill that would provide for safe and stable construction on our steep slopes,” said Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill, a sponsor of the bill. The other sponsors are Rep. R. Phillip Haire, D-Sylva, and Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Asheville.

In a briefing July 18, Chad Adams, director of the Center for Local Innovation, said that the bill is unnecessary because of pre-existing protections that safeguard North Carolina’s mountainous areas. Slope maps, which evaluate the safety of construction, while also allowing local governments to direct development of their towns, are already in place.

“Having an awareness is a good thing, but new building techniques, new building material, and changes in technology will create more safe changes to our state’s slope construction,” Adams said, pointing out the bill would not allow freedom for engineering design.

Rapp said the goal of this bill is not to stop construction, but to provide for safe construction by having an engineer inspect the building.

“I think they should really do an analysis of what the bank and insurance companies are already doing in that regard, and also realize that a cost benefit analysis has not been done. Hiring a geotechnical engineer could cost from $5,000 to $100,000 per lot creating a massive new and unnecessary government mandate,” Adams said.

In November 2005, families at Hunters Crossing in Waynesville were forced to evacuate their homes because of mountain movement. After the evacuation, Rapp assured Elaine Kuhl, who lost her house, that he would keep others from this same situation.

The sponsors were pushing the bill as a solution to disasters such as that at Hunters Crossing. However, there has been no determination as to what caused the houses to slip. Kuhl and her neighbors paid for an engineering report, which drew few conclusions. In The Mountaineer, a Waynesville newspaper, Kuhl said, “There was the earthquake in August, excessive rain and a break in the water pipe. They can’t tell for sure what caused the problem.”

Jeff Coghill, another Hunters Crossing resident, said in The Mountaineer, “We don’t know the primary cause. It could just be the natural slope gave way. Or it could be the hurricane rains triggered it. Or it could be the earthquake triggered something. The water line could have been a part of it.”

A House committee will continue to study the bill.

Mary Lou Craven is an intern for the John Locke Foundation.