It was pretty clear from the parking lot at Mt. Airy Town Hall on Wednesday night that there was something going down.
It’s a pretty universal rule of thumb that any time there is a public hearing and the parking lot is that full, whatever that particular government was planning to do, just don’t do it. Folks don’t often gather en masse to talk about something they think is a terrific idea, it’s just human nature.
In what was not only the most attended Planning and Zoning meeting ever in Mt. Airy, but the most attended public meeting of any kind, the people spoke volumes without having to utter one word.
It was clear that folks were not going to take the idea of a 300-plus unit development in their backyard lightly. The developers were seeking to savagely curtail the zoning requirements for how many houses they could build, seeking to sell each tiny lot for $400,000 each, a goal that may be out of reach with today’s market.
The citizens, meanwhile, were not having it.
The courtroom was filled up well before meeting time, and Mt. Airy staffers scrambled to set up chairs in the hallway of the old schoolhouse to try and accommodate more folks. But the more chairs that were set up, the more people kept coming in.
“This is democracy at work,” Mayor Ray McAllister told the assembled crowd before the meeting began and came to its abrupt end with the withdrawal of the variance in the face of public outcry.
McAllister said he was pleased to see the record-breaking crowd and encouraged them to stay involved with their government.
It was a great swelling of democratic fervor in the protection of small-town life. Developments and growth can be a good thing, but there are sometimes where it is just too much.
This development would have put a tremendous strain on the Hazel Grove school district, as well as created traffic nightmares and infrastructure difficulties providing water and sewer.
It would triple the tax base of Mt. Airy, the developers noted in their September 2022 presentation, but it also would crowd a small rural town of folks who like the quiet life.
The battle between growth and non-growth is not going away any time soon, but like most debates in our society, the key is finding the proper middle ground.