The path to making Surry County more attractive is one paved with a few unsightly speed bumps that the Surry County Board of Commissioners wanted to educate the Surry County Appearance Commission of yesterday during a nearly eight-hour countywide tour.

“The goal is to educate (the appearance commission) and connect the people who don’t care with those who do care,” said Paul Johnson, the vice chair of the county board of commissioners.

Johnson helped facilitate the tour with other county officials including Chairman of the Board Craig Hunter, Local Ordinance Officer Stan Newman, Surry County Planning Director Kim Bates and Juanita Daber, the outgoing chair of the appearance commission. The tour included about 10 members of the appearance commission.

The tour was designed so that the appearance commission could see all physical aspects of the county, both good and bad, and continue to work together with the county code enforcement officers to facilitate how to tackle maintaining the county’s upkeep and helping communities adhere to zoning/code regulations, Johnson said.

Traveling on a Piedmont Authority for Regional Tourism (PART) bus, the group of about 15 hit several destinations on its itinerary by back road. The bus tour started in Dobson making its way close to the Virginia state line, traveling into Mount Airy and then going into Pilot Mountain before returning to Dobson. Some of those points of destination included Bear Creek Church Road to Pinyon Way, Dobbins Mill Road to Zephyr-Mountain Park Road and Old Rockford Road.

Along the way, the group saw well-kept residences with attractive landscaping as well as some residences and subdivisions that had accumulated debris on the property while other also had several out-of-commission vehicles and equipment crowding the yard.

One particular home, near Mount Airy, had accumulated debris that included mannequin heads propped on sticks near the mail box. A mobile home off of Bear Creek Church Road in the Fairview community had a porch that was congested with debris, and it appeared its porch floor boards were broken or loose when a child was seen walking across them and they slid from underneath her feet as she walked.

Newman, the local ordinance officer, said that many of the properties viewed had cases that were being handled with the county. He said often cases are handled on complaint basis, which is generally because there are only two code enforcement officers.

Mount Airy has one code enforcement officer, while Dobson contracts the county for such services.

Newman became the second code enforcement officer with the county in January.

“It is a challenge that we only have two (code enforcement officers), but just a few months ago, we only had one for about five years, I like to look at the positive there, it’s great that we now have two. We are getting better, more significant results,” said Kim Bates, the Surry County planning director.

Those in violation of a zoning/code ordinance are served a notice of violation with a time limit to adhere to the zoning regulations depending on the offense on their property. If that is not done, it’s possible they could face fines or court.

“We want to start doing more of that — making them clean up, especially the mobile home parks. The owners are making money so they should make an effort to take care of the property,” he said, adding that several properties in violation were being handled by the county.

The mission of the Surry County Appearance Commission, whose members are appointed by the county commissioners, is to help improve the appearance of properties through community awareness and programs. The commission gives out community appearance awards monthly to residences and businesses whose properties have shown improvement.

The community petitioned to start a group in 2002.

“We started totally from scratch,” said Daber, the outgoing chair for the commission. “We do whatever we can to encourage the improvement and beauty of the county.”

Incoming chair Tana Mills said she felt well informed after the tour and thought it was an ideal opportunity to see the county in almost its entirety and brainstorm how to tackle educating the community.

“It was insightful, it made me very aware of the conditions,” she said following the tour. “I’m grateful for Paul (Johnson) setting this up.

“It’s just a start, but it gets me thinking about it and seeing the possibilities,” she added.

Commission member Bertie Leonardi agreed.4

“I thought it was great,” she said. “I didn’t know some of this (issues) existed, I think the trip was enjoyable and informative. It makes me more aware.”

Johnson said he thought the tour accomplished what he wanted.

“It’s better to see it rather than someone telling you about it,” he said. “They can take it back to the community to provide different types of education and act as advisors to Kim, Stan and (Code Enforcement Officer) Doug (Hall).”

Bates said he also thought the trip was beneficial and accomplished its goal of informing.

“I don’t expect any change in relationship plans (with the appearance commission). I think that commission is doing great work, the only major thing we hoped for out of this trip today is to educate all of us,” he said. “We wanted to see the scope and magnitude what is in Surry County, what extent are ordinances being followed and the challenges we face in ordinances.”

To request an investigation of a potential zoning or code violation, visit http://www.co.surry.nc.us/Departments/PlanningAndDevelopment/CodeEnforcement.htm.

Contact Erin C. Perkins at eperkins@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.