Council passes new ordinance
Murphy – The Town of Murphy updated its streets and sidewalks ordinance just in time for it to affect a major project being developed by Cherokee County government.
The county is developing a multi-story building off Hilton Street, just behind Murphy Elementary School, to house senior and veteran services, environmental health, Cherokee Transit and other county offices. Completion of the project will allow county government to move out of the Cherokee County Courthouse. Completion date is anticipated to be around May 2026.
Meanwhile, the town council adopted a revised subdivision ordinance regulating streets and sidewalks that would require projects like the county’s to include installing sidewalks.
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County Manager Randy Wiggins and county attorney Darryl Brown attended the town council’s meeting on Feb. 3 seeking an exemption for the county, saying the project’s limited funding lacks room to include sidewalks.
The council agreed to the county request, in essence “grandfathering” it in because the project had been planned before the new ordinance was approved.
The council approved the new ordinance later that same meeting.
Among changes in the ordinance, sidewalks are now required “whenever the unsubdivided development is located within 1,000 feet to schools, parks, playgrounds, or other roads or facilities and that such access is not conveniently provided by sidewalks adjacent to the roads.”
In such cases, the developer will be required to reserve an unobstructed easement of at least 10 feet to provide such access. If a developer doesn’t build the sidewalks, a payment of fee in lieu of construction of sidewalks is required.
“When site characteristics and/or traffic patterns are such that the construction of sidewalks in accordance with this section would be a hardship and would not result in useful pedestrian walkways, the Town Administrator may allow the applicant to pay the cost of constructing such sidewalks into the Town Sidewalk Fund in lieu of requiring construction of the sidewalks,” according to the revised ordinance.
Costs will be assessed based on the most recent N.C. Department of Transportation sidewalk project contracted in Division 14, the division that includes Murphy.
The town revised its sidewalk ordinance to improve safety and help make the town more pedestrian friendly.