Members of the Granite Falls Town Council have called a public hearing for Monday, Aug. 2 to address the need for a screen between multi-family complexes and single-family neighborhoods.

During Monday’s meeting, Granite Falls Town Planner Greg Wilson introduced a text amendment that recommends the addition of a paragraph to the section in the zoning ordinance that pertains to medium-high density districts. He said the change would require multi-family developments with at least three units to place a “densely-planted and maintained buffer strip” on the sides of the property that connect with a residential district. He said the rules would be similar to the dividers that are placed between commercial and residential properties, and they do not apply to duplexes.

However, a second proposed text amendment that addresses automobile repair and salvage/wrecking yards is headed back to the drawing board.

Wilson said the text amendment he presented is a followup to a change made by the council nearly three years ago. He said the current ordinance addresses ongoing concerns about the unsightliness of several business owners who had cars parked in a disorganized fashion on all parts of their properties. He said the plan called for businesses to screen in the area around the parked cars by November 2010, or they would not be in compliance.

Wilson said he has returned to the council to make another change due to the fact that there have been no recent complaints by residents and reports from business owners who don’t have the ability to become compliant by November. He said the proposed change only would require auto repair businesses that “routinely store wrecked or partially dismantled vehicles” to screen in their parking areas.

However, council members expressed concerns that the proposed changes would reverse the original decision and cause additional problems. They asked Wilson to take the plan back to the planning board and see if it could clarify the language to make it easier to enforce. Council members also suggested that there be some sort of formula developed to limit the number of cars on a property based on its storage size.

“I am just concerned that we may be taking a step backward,” said Granite Falls Mayor Barry Hayes. “I am afraid the new language doesn’t address the original problem and could cause other problems to re-emerge.”

Wilson said the planning board will address the situation during its meeting on Tuesday, July 27, and he will bring it back before the council at a later time.

In other news:

• Council members appointed town Manager Jerry Church to serve as the first alternate commissioner for the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency.

• The council selected the Wooten Company to complete the engineering services for the development of a water leak detection program and reclaimed water use evaluation. The contract is for $23,000, and its purpose is to look at potential uses for the water and what it would take to make that possible. The survey should be finished within the next six months.

• Council members adopted a resolution in opposition to federally mandated collective bargaining for state and local governments with labor unions that represent law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. They said the federal mandates would take away states’ rights.

• The council approved a grant application to the North Carolina State Energy Office for up to $250,000. The town is applying on behalf of downtown building owners for the N.C. Main Street community. If awarded, the individual business owners will be responsible for matching their portion of the grant.

• Council members adopted a conflicts of interest policy as part of the Small Town Main Street grant application.

• The Granite Falls Recreation Department recently received a $6,000 grant from the La-Z-Boy Foundation for improvements to playground equipment.

• Council members adopted two budget amendments for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. They increased the recreation department fund by $8,600 for the newly constructed handicapped accessible fishing pier at Lakeside Park, and increased the water/sewer fund by $48,000 to cover end-of-year expenditures.

• Granite Falls will continue to participate in the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Small Town Main Street Program through July 2011. The council adopted a resolution in support of the project in order to provide local businesses access to various grants.

• The Granite Falls Merchant’s Association will host Festival on Main on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 2 until 8 p.m.