Slope regulations for Polk may wait for GIS

Residents who want to regulate mountainside development in Polk County by incorporating slope regulations into county ordinances may have a while to wait. Polk County commissioner Jack Lingafelter requested at Monday’s commissioners’ meeting an update on the status of the county planning board’s efforts to regulate building on slopes. Lingafelter said it seems that more and more counties in Western North Carolina are becoming concerned about building on slopes. He asked planners what Polk County can do. Erin Burris of Benchmark, the county’s planners, said that slope regulations would be best implemented after the county’s geographics information system (GIS) is complete, which could be two years from now.