by Lynne Vogel

The residents of Western North Carolina are on a precipice literally and figuratively and unless immediate action is taken to stop development of hazardous mountain land, earth movement and landslides will escalate causing unnecessary loss of life and severe financial damage. There are standards that can be legislated to help prevent the next succession of landslides. But if no action is taken, the 15 county landslide disasters of 2004 will only be a preview of the future devastation that is awaiting the region

Those responsible for public safety issues in North Carolina have only to look to California for guidance on how to mitigate the causes of landslides and other natural hazards. In 1998 the state of California passed an urgency statute titled the Natural Hazards Disclosure Act. The legislation recognized that the existing regulatory incomformity and lack of oversight were allowing developers to construct homes, roads, and other buildings in hazardous areas and that these actions were substantially increasing the probability of more disasters. The Natural Hazards Disclosure Act defined natural hazard areas as zones of required investigation. This means that before a development permit can be issued or before a subdivision can be approved, cities and counties must require a site specific investigation to determine whether a significant hazard exists at the site. If the findings determine slope instabilty then engineering measures must be used to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

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Original article on northcarolinaconservative.com...