Story originally published in The Sylva Herald, March 15 edition
Wider and safer road, no to short-term rentals and more trees were discussed during the monthly meeting of the Village of Forest Hills council on March 7.
A section of road in The Village of Forest Hills is so narrow that two cars cannot drive side by side on it. The council wants to widen the road since it is a safety issue. The road is up to a mile and a half long and needs to be widened to 16 feet with shoulders.
It will cost $90,000 to widen the road and Forest Hills is paying for it since the road is not state owned. After the road is widened, it will need to be paved, but the Village doesn’t have the budget for this part. Mayor Jim Wallace says that they will be applying for a grant to cover the paving or approach DOT to do it.
Wallace explained if the state paves the road, all the neighbors living along the road must sign a petition allowing the state the right-away and the road to become state owned. This plan did not work before, but the council is hoping that this time they will be successful.
“By state law, everybody living on a road that is going to be taken over by the state must agree to give the state the right of way to their property along the road,” said Wallace in a phone call
Wallace hopes to have the road widened this year.
The council also discussed Airbnb’s and an ordinance that the council wants to clearly define potentially brought into court.
“We’re a very small village, where we know our neighbors, and we don’t like the idea of different people coming in all the time. Can you trust them? Can you not trust them? Some of them are noisy and we don’t like that either,” said Wallace.
The Village of Forest Hills has an ordinance that says only a single family can own the property at a time with a few exceptions, according to Wallace.
Wallace questions what “single family” means when it comes to Airbnb’s.
“Is it one family if they never own the property and another family comes in and leaves? said Wallace.
The council is thinking of bringing this concept into court.
There are two Airbnb’s in the Village that were grandfathered in and are not illegal according to Wallace.
The council discussed another issue about pine trees on South Country Club Drive that are dying and could fall.
The trees are located along the right of way and are on state owned property, but the trees were not planted by the state. Wallace is going to approach the DOT about removing the trees.
The council is also adding trees in The Village along the gorge for aesthetic purposes. They will plant Blue Spruce and Dogwood trees.
