The state Environmental Management Commission unanimously approved the Jordan Lake Rules, with local officials from Graham, Mebane and Burlington in attendance:

Burlington Councilman Jim Butler said the Jordan Lake Rules will punish areas for growing, putting them in the sticky position of needing a larger tax base to raise water and sewer revenues along with a high cost of adding new development.

“It’s a disincentive to grow,” Butler said. “You pay when you grow and you pay big.”

Creedmoor Commission member Daryl Moss also spoke up:

“I am certain that these eight counties and 26 municipalities will most likely view this situation as an unfunded mandate. There’s a lot of flexibility in this report, but flexibility without funding is not a new thing to local governments. We get that all the time,” Moss said. “These eight counties and 26 municipalities are going to be left holding the bag. They are going to be in a very precarious position.”

The EMC did approve $100 million to help local governments meet the rules’ requirements. A nice gesture, I reckon, but if the rules are going to cost Greensboro alone $75 million, then it might not go very far.

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