The Seven Lakes Aeromodelers may have to find a new home, unless Moore County's Board of Commissioners decides to appeal a recent decision by Superior Court Judge James M. Webb.
The Aeromodelers club, a group of radio-controlled model airplane enthusiasts with a nearly-three-decade history, have flown their planes over a 60-acre pasture near West End, rented from T. Clyde Auman Farms, since the Fall of 2010. But Judge Webb found that Auman's land is part of a Voluntary Agricultural District, and that designation prevents its use for non-farm uses. The Aeromodelers' clubhouse, runways, and taxiways, are, Webb concluded, non-farm uses.
The case came before Webb on appeal from a decision by the Moore County Board of Adjustment. The non-resident owners of an adjacent ten-acre tract of land -- Samuel A. Blackwell, III and Elizabeth Blackwell of Raleigh -- who purchased their property as a homesite in January 2010, discovered that the Aeromodelers were using the adjacent tract. They complained to the Moore County Planning Department, which, at first, had some difficulty how best to handle the dispute.
Ultimately, with the backing of the Planning Board, then Planning Director Joey Raczkowski, relying on his authority as Zoning Administrator, found that the Aeromodelers' use of Auman's property was a permitted recreational use, under the Moore County Zoning ordinance.
The Blackwells appealed to the County's Board of Adjustment, which heard the case in July of 2011 and backed Raczkowski's decision.
The Blackwells then appealed to Superior Court, where Judge Webb ruled that the Aeromodelers' activities were a non-farm use, and therefore prohibited by the County's Voluntary Agricultural District [VAD] Ordinance. Webb said the case represented a "conflict of ordinances," that the Voluntary Agricultural District Ordinance, in this case, trumps the Zoning Ordinance, and that the Board of Adjustment had made an error of law in its decision.
He reversed the Board of Adjustment's ruling, and ordered that Board to meet and formally reverse its decision. That meeting took place on Friday, October 26, when the Board passed a resolution complying with the court order.
The Board of Adjustment will meet again on Wednesday, November 7 to consider whether to recommend to the Board of Commissioners that the County appeal Webb's ruling. The meeting, which will include an opportunity for public comment, will be held at 4:00 pm in the Board of Commissioners meeting room in the Historic Courthouse in Carthage.
Oddly absent from the proceedings thus far has been testimony from those at the center of the case: T. Clyde Auman Farms and the Seven Lakes Aeromodelers. Neither was a party to the lawsuit in Superior Court, and thus neither was heard from by Judge Webb. The upcoming meeting of the Board of Adjustment could be the last real chance for either Auman or the Aeromodelers to weigh on the matter.
Aeromodelers President Gary Krasicky told The Times that his group had not yet had a chance to read Judge Webb's ruling, and thus could not comment on the case.
Webb's decision raises interesting questions for farmers, who often lease their land to third parties for recreational purposes not specifically related to farming. For example, it is a common practice throughout the state for tree-farmers to lease wooded areas to groups of hunters. Would that not be allowed for farmers in a Voluntary Agricultural District? Webb's ruling applies only to the specific case of flying remote-controlled aircraft, but it is not hard to see that other non-agricultural activities might similarly run afoul of his interpretation of the VAD ordinance.
Farmers register their productive lands in VADs in order to protect them from encroachment by development. Those who buy property adjacent to VAD-registered land are alerted that farm activities may produce noise, dust, and smells that are not typically associated with residential areas. It would be ironic if VAD registration, in addition to protecting farmland from development, also restricted farmers' use of their land to produce income.
