Superior Court judge rules

in favor of town of Boone
By Melanie Marshall

A lawsuit filed against the town of Boone by Jeffrey Brooks Templeton and Elizabeth A. Colonna Bird was settled in Superior court on May 25.

The lawsuit challenged the validity and constitutionality of ordinances passed by the town in October of 2006 to protect viewshed from overdevelopment and require specific safety measures for construction on steeply sloped land.

In Superior Court Judge Joseph N. Crosswhite’s ruling, he found that the lawsuit did not set out the facts or legal claims to show valid basis under state law to strike down the ordinances.

This is the second lawsuit filed on behalf of Templeton challenging the ordinances. The first lawsuit was filed in December of 2006, but was withdrawn by attorney Charles E. Clement, representing Templeton, before it was heard in court.

In response to the court’s decision, Mayor Loretta Clawson issued a statement saying the Town of Boone is happy with the decision and hopes this action will end the challenges to the ordinances. The ordinances, which the council eventually adopted, were the result of two years of study, engineering input and discussion by a citizens’ task force.

“After the slope failure at White Laurel, when citizens’ homes slid down the hillside, and on the heels of the public outcry over the development of the large apartment complex above WalMart, it was essential that the town council act when it did,” Clawson said. “The regulations only mildly restrict development while creating much needed procedures to reduce the risk of another potentially disastrous slope failure.

“Our wonderful vistas are an aesthetic and economic lifeline for Boone, and their destruction threatens the environment and public safety, and I believe it also negatively affects tourism and the economic vitality of Boone,” Clawson said. “I hope this decision will now unite all of the citizens of the town behind these modest steps.”

Templeton and Bird are entitled to appeal this ruling to the N.C. Court of Appeals. As of Monday, the town had received no notification they had done so.