Pless email to GOP delivers vote to curb Maggie Valley authority

Jul. 12—This is a copy of email obtained by The Mountaineer that N.C. Rep. Mark Pless sent to his Republican colleagues on Monday, July 10.

The subject is House Bill 184, the bill that passed the House as a bill to increase the occupancy tax in Haywood, but was switched into a measure that limits the governing authority of the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen on June 27.

Only two board members, Phillip and Tammy Wight, knew the change was coming, and others on the board were blindsided.

The bill was scheduled for a floor vote on Wednesday, July 12, and the emails Pless is referring to at the beginning of his email are from Maggie Valley residents who had reached out to legislators.

Those interviewed by The Mountaineer said the request was for the bill be sent to a committee for review, which would offer a chance for those opposed to the measure to have a voice.

During the House session Wednesday, Pless delivered on his promise to pass the bill if the Maggie Valley board members didn't listen to him and find a compromise. The bill passed on a recorded vote with all but two of his Republican colleagues supporting it and Pless refusing to yield the floor to allow debate on the measure.

Since House Bill 184 was a local bill, it doesn't require the governor's signature.

The measure prohibits the town leaders from enacting a moratorium, prohibits downzoning without the consent of all property owners and does not allow the town to enforce its zoning rules in the one-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction.

This is the exact email, complete with grammatical/punctuation/capitalization errors, misspelled words, typos and all.

"I am sorry you all are getting these emails there are 1,519 registered voters in Maggie Valley. In the last election 13.81% of ballots were cast. The winning alderman got 327 votes and second got 311. Far from the 70% turnout the are broadcasting. The other 2 candidates got 171 and 135 respectively.

The majority of the people contacting you are not sending anything to me. The only one who included me in the emails was Al Matthews. He and I have discussed the issues at hand since he sent me his email. We will not agree on how to move forward but Al is a great guy.

There are 3 who proclaimed living in Maggie Valley and voting for the alderman they are not voters in Maggie Valley. The business lady Eve last visited Maggie Valley in February 2023 and just know moved somewhere in Haywood County. She nor her husband own any property in the county still and are not registered voters.

I have more background about this if you would like to hear. I will need our caucus to support me with this. There were 3 Senators and 6 House members who met with interested parties in the legislature this past march. We were all in agreement this needed to be addressed.

Senator Corbin instructed me to run the bill and he would support it in front of members after the meeting. I have a petition by some residents and property owners. I have statements from 2 Alderman in Maggie Valley who want this bill passed.

Senator Corbin passed this to Senator Moffitt to handle in the senate. Senator Corbin freed the bill from rules properly and then stepped aside to allow its passage. I hope to address the full caucus before it is brought to the floor.

Anyone who will not vote for this please let me know so there are no surprises. The 3 democrat house members and democrat senator from Buncombe co are waist deep in this and continually try to interfere with everything I do in Haywood County.

They even held a competing public meeting in candler while Congressman Edwards and Myself met with families in Canton who are being affected by the mill closure. I have addressed this with two of the house members and they still want to stir up Haywood County for the next election cycle."