Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ Toward the end of yesterday’s County Commission meeting, the board went into closed session for slightly over an hour to discuss the county’s appeal of a special use permit denial for the West End Plaza by Salisbury’s City Council. The commissioners, after returning from closed session, voted to continue their appeal of the special use permit denial and start discussions with city council about how to proceed.
The county’s purchase of the West End Plaza in late 2013 proved to be the most contentious and misunderstood campaign issue of 2014. The county’s desire was to provide inexpensive space for county’s mushrooming space requirements now and in the future. Departments such as the County Board of Elections, the Veteran’s Service Office, and storage areas for the Sheriff’s Office were the initial focus of attention. Somehow rumors and fear mongering of a mass exodus of county offices and their workers crept into the mix.
In the weeks prior to yesterday’s meeting, the county Attorney Jay Dees and the previous board stated their intention to appeal the Salisbury City Council decision, yet the county never filed the legal paperwork. The county desired to build a more detailed and substantive case for an appeal.
During the 2014 election the appeal was spun elsewhere that Rowan County Commissioners were “suing” the City of Salisbury and the “lawsuit” would result in spending more on the West End Plaza and harm relations with Salisbury’s City Council. Reminder: appealing the denial of a special needs permit is not a suit.
After commissioners reviewed the appeal in closed session and reopened the meeting to vote unanimously to go forward with the appeal, Commissioner Judy Klusman motioned: “I move that we direct Chairman Edds and Vice-Chairman Greene to discuss this issue and negotiate an understanding with the city in good faith to meet the needs and concerns of the city and county, while also protecting the county’s interests to continuing the appeal process.”
Next step the paperwork.
A video of yesterday’s county commissioner proceedings including the vote to go forward with an appeal of the denial of the special use permit:
