Town board votes to hire attorney for second opinion on STRs
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Taylor said that after the Feb. 1 meeting, some of the members of the board, especially the working group of Commissioner Amy Patterson and Brian Stiehler said they believed a second opinion could be useful in this situation.
A public hearing that could influence what the Highlands Town Board of Commissioners does with the current short-rental issue is set for tonight at 5 p.m.
Highlands mayor Patrick Taylor said that people were already calling last Thursday to make sure they were on the list for people that are scheduled to speak.
“One of the things that I encourage people to do when they show up to make a comment, is to focus on the recommendations that the planning board made,” Taylor said. “That is the purpose of the meeting.”
Below is a list of recommendations, approved by the town board and sent out by Taylor, as a set of protocols as to how the meeting will go:
The following protocols for the February 24 hearing are intended to provide an orderly process for soliciting public feedback concerning the Highlands Planning Board’s recommendations concerning changes to the town ordinances related to short term rentals. The mayor will preside over the hearing and follow the following procedures.
1. Speakers will be encouraged to respond to the recommendations of the planning board, and limit personal experiences.
2. People wishing to speak at the hearing will sign up as they enter the Community Building.
3. A town staff member will be at the Community Building at 4:30 p.m. to begin developing the list of speakers.
4. Email requests to speak can be made by emailing to: gibby.shaheen@highlandsnc.org
5. The mayor will call on speakers in the order appearing on the list.
6. Each speaker will be allowed 3 minutes to make a statement. Given that time frame, there will be approximately 20 speakers per hour.
7. A timekeeper will maintain a clock in order to notify a speaker when their time has ended.
8. Speakers who have signed up, can yield or defer their time to a group representative speaker. The designated pool speaker will have to identify the group he or she represents. The designated group speaker will have 15 minutes to speak.
9. The public hearing will being at 5 pm. The speakers list will be closed at 5:30 p.m.
10. For those people not able to attend the hearing, the town will accept written statements that are no longer than 500 words. These statements will become a part of the hearing record.
11. People making an oral statement can also submit a written statement.
12. Written statements will be accepted for 24 hours after the hearing concludes and entered into the record.
13. Statements can also be submitted prior to the hearing. All hearing statements should have a heading at the top identifying it as a statement for the February 24. 2022, Highlands Town Board Public Hearing. The statement should also identify the writer and their mailing and or email address.
14. Anonymous statements will not be accepted.
15. The town clerk will receive and process all written statements. Board members will be given a copy of all written statements.
16. Statements can be printed copy or emailed gibby.shaheen@highlandsnc.org
17. Oral statements will be recorded and become a part of the hearing record, as well as written comments.
18. The town board of commissioners will take no final action on amending ordinances at this hearing.
19. Barring any unanticipated technical problems, the hearing will be broadcasted on Youtube.
Taylor said this public hearing is going to be more of a listening session and that some people think that the board has not done a lot of listening.
“We have had a lot of these discussions and public comments all the way back to 2019, if you look back and go through the minutes,” Taylor said. “But, I just think that everybody will come in and express their ideas. I hope though, that it will focus on the content of those recommendations and not get too far off the rails on personal stories and accounts.”
During the Feb. 17 meeting, the board approved hiring an attorney for a second opinion on the short-term rental issue.
The town is hiring Chad W. Essick, a partner at Pyner Spruill Law Firm located in Raleigh.
According to a letter written to the town, the scope of engagement from the firm will be limited to reviewing and providing advice concerning the Town’s regulation of short-term rentals and certain amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance that the Town is considering. The letter goes on to say that the scope of this engagement does not include the representation of the Town in connection to any pending litigation regarding the Town’s regulation of short-term rentals or any advice concerning such litigation.
Taylor said that after the Feb. 1 meeting, some of the members of the board, especially the working group of Commissioner Amy Patterson and Brian Stiehler said they believed a second opinion could be useful in this situation.
“Working with Jay [Coward] and Mr. Justice, they have done some really good work,” Taylor said. “But this is going to be a complicated process of decision making and I talked with members of the board and I pursued three attorneys that would be interested.”
Town attorney Jay Coward said he believed having a second legal opinion is a good idea.
“I think that this is a very complicated issue and there are lots of views on it,” Coward said. “I think if the board chooses to make a decision, it needs to have as much information as it can from a legal standpoint. This is a great firm in North Carolina and this guy is well qualified to give a good opinion.”
Patterson said after meeting with Coward, hired attorney Craig Justice and the staff, she was left unsatisfied.
“Having done a little research of my own, I am less satisfied with his [Justice’s] answers,” Patterson said. “I am not a land use lawyer, so I’m not going to make recommendations, but I think it is legitimate to ask someone else for a second opinion. Mr. Justice was very upfront with us that he was a private property rights guy and we know that over the years having dealt with him over the years on the other side. I think we need a second opinion on what is best for Highlands and what direction we need to go.”
Stiehler said he has more questions now than he did when they started in the working group.
“I can’t in good faith, to the constituents of Highlands, even be close to making a decision on this,” Stiehler said. “I need more information.”
Patterson made the motion to hire the attorney for the second opinion, and Commissioner Eric Pierson seconded the motion. The motion passed with a 4-1 vote, Commissioner Marc Hehn opposing.
- By Christopher Lugo