I want to make everyone aware of NC Senate Bill 349 and NC House Bill 401. These two bills are of great concern to me and to the town of Fairview. These two bills have been filed in both houses of the legislature and are currently in committee. These bills would allow "Middle Housing" in any single-family residential zone in NC. Middle housing is defined as a duplex, a triplex, a quadplex or a townhouse. This "one size fits all" approach takes away local control of zoning. It will allow multi-family housing in single family neighborhoods. Any zoning currently designed for single family homes (such as Fairview's RA40 zoning) would be allowed to have middle housing as defined above if these bills pass. We would lose the ability to determine what is best for the town of Fairview. The bills also severely restrict conditional zoning (community input or involvement in the decision-making process).
The Town Council for the town of Fairview will be sending a Resolution opposing these bills to our local representatives, as well as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House.
In addition, I would encourage every resident of the town to send a letter or email opposing these bills to your representatives. Attached below is a template that you can use as a guide. I have also included the mailing addresses and email addresses for our representatives.
(Letter template)
Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore
16 W. Jones St
Raleigh, NC 27601
Email: Phil.Berger@ncleg.gov
Paul Newton (Senate District 36)
300 N. Salisbury St
Raleigh, NC 27603
Email: Paul.Newton@ncleg.gov
(Mr. Newton is our senator from District 36 and is one of the sponsors of the Senate bill!)
Todd Johnson (Senate District 35)
300 N. Salisbury St
Raleigh, NC 27603
Email: Todd.Johnson@ncleg.gov
(Mr. Johnson represents the southern part of Union County.)
Tim Moore, Speaker of the House
305 E. King St
Kings Mountain, NC 28086
Email: Tim.Moore@ngleg.gov
Dean Arp (House District 69)
PO Box 1511
Monroe, NC 28111-1511
Email: Dean.Arp@ncleg.gov
(Dean is our Representative in District 69)
Mark Brody (House District 55 includes Anson and Southern Union Counties)
5315 Rocky River Road
Monroe, NC 28112
Email: Mark.Brody@ncleg.gov
(Mr. Brody is one of the sponsors of the House bill!)
As always, please feel free to contact me at pthomas@fairviewnc.gov
Phil Thomas, Mayor