Public hearing rescheduled for end of month
Robbinsville Mayor Shaun Adams
Robbinsville – From the outside looking in, the old Robbinsville Town Hall and a loitering ordinance might not seem to have that much in common.
That will change at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, when the town’s Board of Aldermen will hold a special public hearing to address two pressing topics: new guidelines for sleeping in public within town limits and open sealed bids from parties interested in purchasing the former town hall.
The loitering ordinance has gained enough widespread traction that a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, North Carolina chapter was sent to Robbinsville Mayor Shaun Adams – as well as Aldermen Debbie Beasley and Kenneth Hyde – on April 4, contesting several elements of the proposal as “serious constitutional problems.”
Listed in the letter from the union are counterpoints such as the ordinance “using extremely vague terms;” noting that a resident’s Eighth Amendment rights could be jeopardized by the guidelines – “many unhoused people have no choice but to sleep outside – their conduct … is entirely involuntary” – and stating that “criminalizing people for being unhoused also carries significant costs for taxpayers.”
However, no one from the union was present for the April 5 public hearing, which was held as part of the town’s regularly scheduled meeting. Just two members of the public were in attendance when the ordinance was reached on the agenda, and both had other vested interests in the meeting.
Combining the lack of turnout with what was described as “a lot of solicitation and a lot of differing opinions,” Hyde motioned that the vote on the ordinance be tabled.
Town attorney Ellen Davis quickly chimed in and instead suggested continuing the hearing, to avoid the town having to restart the advertising process of the public forum – which did appear twice in recent advance editions of The Graham Star.
As he did at the March aldermen meeting, Mayor Adams expressed his concern with the ordinance as a whole. Branching off the American Civil Liberties Union’s letter, Adams presented a list of fees associated with Martin vs. City of Boise, a 2019 case in which a resident sued Idaho’s state capital for passing a similar ordinance about sleeping on a public bench – and won, costing the city $854,482.
In 2021, the city of Boise shelled out an additional $1.335 million into curbing its homelessness problem.
“That needs to be taken into consideration,” Adams said.
“We’ve both taken everything into consideration,” Beasley quickly countered. “We’re having to weigh out all the different aspects of it. The citizens of Robbinsville voted us in, and they’ve shared their concerns with us. We also have to take that into consideration.
“When we have mothers expressing their concern because they can’t walk their kids on the sidewalk – because they’re afraid they’re going to pick needles up in different areas – you have to address it. You have to work out some kind of an ordinance. It’s an area where we have to look at both sides of it.”
Included in the regulation of the ordinance are definitions on what exactly is deemed a “public place,” the removal of anyone being a “public nuisance” and what it means to be questioned for “loitering.” If adopted, the town’s ordinance will follow these guidelines:
* No person over age 18 will be allowed to sleep in any public place within Robbinsville’s city limits from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., daily. However, a second regulation notes that anyone can sleep in their vehicle without violating the ordinance, as long as the vehicle is properly parked;
* If anyone is caught sleeping in public, a Graham County sheriff’s deputy can ask for compliance with the ordinance, or arrest the violator for refusing or neglecting to obey and charge them with a misdemeanor.
As for the old town hall, Kenneth Wheeler has expressed interest in purchasing the building and renovating it to be fitted as a bike store. The owner of Wheeler’s Performance – a motorcycle-repair shop on U.S. 129 – received quite the reprieve April 5, when Adams revealed that a follow-up visit by county-contracted real-estate appraiser Chris Ferriss caused the tax evaluation of the former hall to drop 56 percent, from $78,500 to $34,630.
However, the board decreed that Wheeler – as well as any other prospective buyers – will have to send in sealed bids, which will be opened and awarded at the April 27 hearing. A minimum of $20,000 is required for the bid to be considered by the aldermen.
The town has not decided on a location for the public hearing, but it is likely to be held outside the confines of the mayor’s office – the normal meeting location for the board of aldermen.