BUNCOMBE COUNTY PASSES ZONING

A brave majority of three Buncombe County commissioners voted last night for comprehensive county-wide zoning, though some 81 percent of the county's land mass will be in an "open use" district where practically anything can still be built anywhere. Just 19 percent of land within the county's jurisdiction that is served by the Metropolitan Sewerage District will have nine planning designations imposed on it, encompassing gradations of residential, commercial, industrial and public service uses.

The commissioners acted after hearing more than three hours of bitching from people who consider zoning worse than colon cancer.