Unresponsive, with one exception.

This meeting was ostensibly to grant a variance on parcels of land surronding the water tower @ HWY 154/ I-85 interchange. Wal-Mart already owns the land, and as I understand it these parcels are needed for more parking, to the tune of 139 spaces for a grand total of ONE-THOUSAND parking spaces.The parcels were zoned "rural reserve" as a buffer around the water tower. The variance was granted after some teeth gnashing objections by local residents including myself. Everyone present, including one older man on the voting board was against the proposed change. Traffic, traffic, traffic. Did I mention traffic? Imagine 5 0'clock at I-85 south, Oh the joy! It was a long echoed refrain from speaker after speaker. The vote was 3 to 1 for. The one nay vote by the only courageous man on this board who sided with the public sentiment. The local road infrastructure simply cannot handle the influx of traffic a Wal-Mart will surely bring. Wal-Mart's representatives at the meeting were notably reserved, trying to reassure the attendees that by adding a stoplight and an extra lane on 154 would help. Ahem, maybe....not. The really puzzling thing is, a local transportation/planning(!!)official was at the meeting and he kept saying, "I wish you all had been at the rezoning hearing" Well, I remember the signs saying the property was being rezoned to "light industrial". Well, somehow 10 percent is designated for commercial use. My question is, and the older gentleman on the voting board raised it also: Does the variance put the commercial use over the 10 percent( of total site use)mark? It may. If it does, then these proceedings did not follow the zoning requirements. Of course, one board member(Yes vote, of course) pointed out that under "Eminent Domain" the county is not bound to follow it's own zoning guidelines. I swear to God, that's what he said. So in reality there is nothing binding about zoning laws, they can be bent any which way "they' need to. The audience was dumbfounded. E-mail or call your local State Representative(s) and State Senator and the DOT. That is the only way this will be stopped, if it can be. you can contact me at lpinson51@charter.net and plan to attend more meetings. There are two more this month on the 15th and the 20th