DOBSON — The Mitchell River will be further protected against harmful effects of development thanks to efforts by the Surry County Planning Board and members of the community.

Citizens of the Mitchell River area and planning board members have been meeting for the past year to discuss protecting the river. The groups created proposed amendments to the county’s land use plan and zoning ordinance. These came before the Surry County Board of Commissioners Monday night.

Kim Bates, planning director, said, “This was a community effort from the start.”

After a public hearing with several comments, the Surry County commissioners voted unanimously to approve the amendments. The amendment to the zoning ordinance drew the largest public and board comment.

The zoning ordinance was amended to establish a 75-foot undisturbed buffer along the Mitchell River from Kapp’s Mill upstream to the county line. The buffer requirement had previously been 50 feet, and it still is 50 feet for all other perennial streams in Surry County.

Sheff Olinger, who has a farm along the Mitchell River, expressed his concerns during the public hearing on extending the buffer length.

“I cannot imagine any practical way in which this extension is going to reduce the likelihood of pollution ... I’m in general opposed to initiatives that enlarge the governmental and public authority as opposed to private authority,” Olinger expressed.

Commissioner Craig Hunter, a developer, later said he would be happy to discuss with Olinger the significance of changing a buffer from 50 feet to 75 feet. He also said that the commissioners try to balance a fine line between protecting private property rights and protecting natural resources.

“I know that we all cherish the right to own and use property, and that’s a right that, really, no man should take away,” he remarked.

Bern Schumak owns land on the river and was part of the planning group that developed the proposed amendments. He also addressed the buffer issue.

Schumak said, “What we tried to do was come up with a median, maybe not pleasing everybody. Some people, again, wanted more restrictions, some people wanted less. But we tried to find a happy middle ground that would help to protect the river and also could be accepted by everyone.”

Joe Mickey and Dick Everhart, active conservationists in the county, also came up to voice their support for the project. They pointed out that people like Olinger with farmland would not have to move their fences. The extended buffer is intended to affect developers.

Commissioner Jim Harrell Jr. said, “We’re certainly proud of the Mitchell River area. We consider that a prime resource that needs to be protected.”

The board then approved the amendments. The land use plan was amended to include guidelines to look at when considering development in the Mitchell River area. These included limiting commercial development to areas of existing commercial activity, encouraging open space within residential development, and discouraging large subdivisions on parcels adjacent to the river.

The Mitchell River Special Planning Area is designated a rural conservation area by the county. The Mitchell River has also been designated as on outstanding resource watershed by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, hence the community’s efforts to preserve it.

Several other issues were also brought before the board of commissioners at its meeting on Monday:

- Employees of Martin Starnes and Associates presented the county’s audit report. The auditors had no findings or questioned costs to report. They said this spoke well of the county’s internal controls. They also pointed out changes in the county’s income and expenditures over the prior year. Revenue was down 5 percent and expenditures down 1 percent, some of which was due to the economic struggles in the state.

- Michael Scott, new veterans service officer, gave a PowerPoint presentation to the board regarding his office and what it does. He mentioned that Surry has 2,000 active case files and is the only county in the state that brings in a higher percentage of money to veterans versus the population percentage.

- Due to an increase in the number of inmates being housed in the county jail, the board voted to create a contract with Southern Health Partners to provide medical services in the county jails. The Surry County Health and Nutrition Center has been trying to fill the medical needs in the jails.

- The board approved the commissioners’ calendar for 2010.

- The board voted to donate $5,000 to each of the following agencies to buy food for their food banks: Foothills Food Pantry, SEAMS Ministries, Tri-County Crisis Christian Ministry and Yokefellow Ministries.