THURSDAY
SOLD! Shut down city factory gets new owner. 1B
December 31, 2009 125th year No. 365
INCHING UP: Report shows improvement in furniture industry. 1B
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
I’LL BE DOG: Tar Heels unleash rout of Great Danes. 1D
50 Cents Daily $1 Sundays
Keep off the grass New parking ordinance takes effect Friday
REGULATIONS
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High Point’s new regulations governing the parking of vehicles in yards do not prevent parking in side or rear yards. The changes also limit to 50 percent the amount of front yard that could be improved for parking. Another new requirement also went into effect mandating that disabled vehicles on residential lots be located behind the front building line of a dwelling so their visibility from the street is lessened. According to the city, several other municipalities in the state have adopted residential parking provisions like these in the last few years.
BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – High Point residents used to parking their rides on their front lawns will have to find new arrangements starting Friday. That’s when new regulations take effect aimed at getting motor vehicles off front yards and on to parking surfaces – and thereby beautifying neighborhoods by getting what some view as eyesores out of plain sight. The changes were enacted
in an ordinance amendment adopted by the High Point City Council in August. They require vehicles parked in the front yard – or side yards for corner lots – of single-family and duplex residences to be on an improved parking area, such as gravel, asphalt or concrete. In recent weeks, city code enforcement personnel have been going around to neighborhoods and distributing educational information at homes where they saw what could be a violation, said Katherine Bossi,
High Point’s code enforcement supervisor. The information advises residents about the new regulations and what they need to do to comply. “We’ve covered practically the entire city,” Bossi said. Inspectors will respond primarily to public complaints about yard parkers. Violators will be cited and given a certain number of days to comply with the ordinance. Enforcement officials will return to the scene to re-check the situation
PARKING, 2A
WHO’S NEWS
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Ed Simpson, chairman of the Performing Arts Department and professor of theatre at High Point University, recently was selected as a featured playwright by Samuel French Inc. in “Samuel Goes Solo: Monologues from French’s 2008 Collection.”
INSIDE
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Pricing properties Realtors say home prices will remain low in 2010
TOP STORIES: 2009 Year in Review section. INSIDE
BY PAM HAYNES ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Area home sale prices that declined 8 to 12 percent in 2009 may continue to drop well into next year thanks to a flood of foreclosed homes, local Realtors said. The average home sale price in High Point fell 9 percent from $148,288 in October to $135,343 in November, according to the High Point Regional Association of Realtors. The drop in prices has been a trend in the housing market since its downturn began in October 2008. Nationally, the average home sale price rose for the fifth straight month, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index that was released Tuesday. Only 11 of 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the index reported a rise in prices, however, excluding Charlotte. While the number of units sold in the area each month has continued to improve, the housing market doesn’t have the foothold it needs to climb out just yet, said Tony Jarrett, regional vice president of Allen Tate Co. For that reason, prices won’t return to their normal levels any time soon, he said. “The challenge we face now are foreclosures that are still coming into the market,” he said. “That’s
OBITUARIES
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WEATHER
---SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
For sale sign sits in yard at this home on the market in High Point Wednesday. probably the biggest pressure we have. We don’t expect that to change until the unemployment situation changes.” Foreclosures can cause resell homes, which usually are more expensive than foreclosures, to stagnate on the market. Jarrett said today’s buyers must choose between purchasing a fixer-upper for less money and making
improvements or purchasing the resell for more money. “It’s not a doom-and-gloom situation by any means,” he said. “But our sellers will have to be very careful about how they price property because of this competition.” The housing market’s recovery heavily relies on job creation, he added.
“I think 2010 is going to be a better year if we can pull some inventory off of the shelves,” he said. “If High Point and the rest of the country can create jobs in the second half of the year, we’ll be fine. If there is no job creation, the second half could struggle, and the price of a home will struggle with it.” phaynes@hpe.com | 888-3617
Library could get caught in budget squeeze BY DAVID NIVENS ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Faced with another tough budget year, Kem Ellis, director of the Neal F. Austin High Point Public Library, worries that another county budget cut could be for real next year. For years, commissioners have battled over library funding, and the skirmishes could start again when they gather for a Jan. 7 retreat. This year, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners cut library support by $90,000, or 19 percent, to $385,000, but city officials deflected the damage. “They adjusted the city budget so that the library did not have a reduction because of the county cutback,” Ellis said Wednesday. “It
Barbara Bell, 77 Thomas Chapman, 56 Louise Fagan, 93 Nancy Fountain, 79 Jack Hardy, 80 Peggy Hulin, 81 Sheila Hutchinson, 63 Bryant Lovelace, 73 Linda McMahan, 59 Louis Patton Sr., 66 Harold Ridge, 68 Timothy Sims, 64 Hoyt Southards, 64 Obituaries, 2-3B
FUNDING
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In 2004, the county increased support for the Neal F. Austin High Point Public Library to $340,000. Funding steadily was increased in following years to $475,000 until the Guilford County Board of Commissioners cut the allocation this year to $385,000. was not passed on to us, but I know the city is looking at another tough year, and I can’t predict what will happen. We could have a shortfall in the operations budget.” The county has no library, but instead supports the libraries in High Point and Greensboro to help pay for county residents who use them. Neither library
charges fees to county residents. Library supporters say county usage is 14 percent. The county appropriation is about 7 percent of the library’s $5 million budget. Supporters estimate that 300 people a month use the High Point library for job searches. Several years ago, county leaders agreed to increase contributions gradually. Then they were faced with hard times and cut support. The Greensboro library allocation was cut by $1.8 million. “We made a request to the county just to get money restored,” said Jim Armstrong of High Point, a library supporter. “We were hoping to see something after July 1. Our costs went up with the expansion. We had to seek money from our friends.”
YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.
Through the years, several commissioners have suggested consolidating the two city libraries. But Republican Commissioner Steve Arnold of High Point has argued for years that the libraries are city responsibilities. “As long as county citizens use both libraries, the county should fund them,” Armstrong said. The libraries receive city, county and state support. “I think the funding is adequate,” said Democratic Commissioner Bruce Davis of High Point. “The library should find ways to do more with less. It should not grow any larger and provide just basic services.” dnivens@hpe.com | 888-3626
Mostly cloudy High 50, Low 39 8D
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