Why EC Needs Industrial Zoning

6/2/2015

Before you take the device from which you're reading this piece and slam it down in anger, hold on just for a second. Have you heard about what the folks in Rocky Hill are facing? If not, 1. you live under a rock, or 2. you don't care one way or another.

In case you don't know what's up in Rocky Hill, in 2009, those folks had a gas plant stuck right in the middle of their small, quiet, rural community. It ran until a couple years ago when mismanaged ownership shut it down and put it up for sale. Now there are three companies (from somewhere else) looking to purchase the plant and have it back in operation.

What does that mean? It means the folks in Rocky Hill will once again be subject to a constant loud screaming of equipment, emissions, and Lord knows what in the middle of what used to be quiet family farmland. And there's not a dang thing that can be done about it.

Why? Because Edmonson County has no zoning laws in place. Yes, I know...some of you don't want zoning because you don't want people telling you what you can and can't do with your property, and I get it. I don't, either.

What is zoning, exactly? Well, it contains a word that most Edmonson Countians don't want to hear, "control." Zoning here would give the county some control over the use of land. There are four major classes of zoning: Residential, Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial. All of Edmonson County is currently "zoned" agriculturally, but that doesn't mean jack crap because there are no laws in place to enforce anything. (See second paragraph about a gas plant being stuck in the middle of farmland)

Someone asked our advice columnist (Ask Mongoose) about zoning. Mr. Goose said he was "anti-zoning, pro-common sense." Yeah, so am I, and folks in EC don't want more regulations, they want people to use common sense. Unfortunately, the entire reason there are ANY laws in place is the simple fact that not everyone will use common sense all the time. It doesn't matter how much common sense a gas plant or another large industry has, that doesn't apply in this circumstance. In fact, it works against it.

The owner of the gas plant has enough common sense to know that buying up a cheap, un-zoned property is better for his pocketbook than an expensive one in an industrial zoned area. In addition to that, a very long time ago, there was a group of people that thought they could do anything they wanted with no consequences. They were good people, and I'm sure the most of them had common sense. However, the situation turned out to be a disaster, and resulted in this guy (Moses) having to meet with his superior (God) and the first laws for the people were implemented (The Ten Commandments).

We need industrial zoning here. This would protect homeowners and farmers from having a factory dropped right beside their barn, cornfield, swimming pool, pond, etc, without regulations on the people's barns, cornfields, swimming pools, etc.

I heard a man say "If there's zoning, the county will make me clean up my junk pile over here!" Another said, "Zoning wouldn't have let me build my auto service garage behind my house!" Wrong, and wrong. It all depends on what type of zoning is put in place.

The guy that owned the property where the gas plant now sits is not from here, and he never lived here. He didn't care about the residents of Rocky Hill, and I'm not saying he should have, but there wasn't a thing stopping him from selling his property to a large company for the purpose of industry for a ridiculous profit, while our residents dealt with the aftermath. Industrial zoning could have kept that from happening.

Some people don't want industry here at all, and I see that side of it. More industry here means growth and more population, things that some say would fundamentally change Edmonson County for the bad. Others want industry, but they don't want it in their communities. As a homeowner that also operates most of the time out of a home office, I don't want the county telling me where I can and can't work, nor how to use my property. However, I don't run a factory, and if specific industrial zoning was in place, my businesses and property could be exempt due to their sizes. (And so could yours.)

It may be too late for the folks of Rocky Hill, but not for the rest of the county. Industry could still be welcomed here, but regulated to certain areas and kept out of residential communities. I suggest you contact your magistrate and voice your concerns. Industrial zoning is needed, and it CAN be done efficiently and effectively in a manner that benefits all of Edmonson County.

Darren Doyle,
Editor

JO ETTA JOHNSON

6/4/2015 01:56:33 am

Good work, Darren. No individual wants restrictions on their "rights" to freedom, including the freedom to do what they wish with the real estate they own. And that's exactly how most of the citizens of Edmonson County see this precious freedom. Therefore, as long as ALL of us have basically followed these precepts in a noble and upright way, we have enjoyed the freedom to live peaceably with one another, tolerant of minor differences of opinion, as we should be. Tolerance and love of our neighbors works. However, we have come to a day and time when there are individuals, and groups of individuals; i.e.companies, (almost altogether persons from outside Edmonson County) who, as you say, have no compassion or caring for the desire of Edmonson Countians to dwell in peace and relative quiet together. They care not in the least to put a noise-inducing factory next door to you, a toxic dump, or other business that is totally "out of sync" with rural values and ideas. And without Industrial zoning of some sort, small, or even VERY small groups of residents of Edmonson County are left to fend for themselves. I speak from experience, because our community of Chalybeate has, in the past few years, had to "fight off" both a landfill, a.k.a. "toxic dump," and an inappropriate multiple-unit low-income housing project designed by outsiders to be placed in the midst of our community. It was NO fun doing this with NO zoning of any kind in place in our county. We have to be FOR EACH OTHER in Edmonson County. We always have had to be. We always need to be, too. Together we stand; divided we fall. I LOVE this county and its forthright, sacred people. Not everyone does. Sincerely, Jo Etta Johnson

Tim Skees, Constable - Brownsville

6/6/2015 10:16:01 pm

Judge Cannon said he was against "quick" ordinances that fiscal court could not enforce.

What he referred to, was zoning, without a proper structure of rules and regulations, that fiscal court can lawfully and fairly enforce.
When properly established and enacted, zoning would be the most fair AND the most effective way to PROTECT the interests of Edmonson County citizens. It does not suppress one's rights, but rather PROTECT the rights of all. Zoning works, and as we are based between industrial counties, industry will continue to spread, someday landing in Edmonson County. It is best, we be prepared to address that for the betterment of ALL involved. Thanks EC Voice !

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