The two top administrators of the fast-growing Wake County town of Zebulon resigned in the same week, as the town seeks to resolve a legal battle with a housing developer whose plans were rejected by Zebulon commissioners.
Town Manager Gilbert Todd resigned last week during a public meeting, saying the town commissioners told him to take unwarranted disciplinary action against the assistant town manager.
“Recent developments involving a serious personnel matter have led me to a point where I can no longer continue in this role,” he said before walking out of the meeting just a few minutes after it began. “I was placed in a position where I was expected to take action that I believe is unethical and inappropriate.”
The assistant town manager, Kellianne Williams, resigned a few days later. Both Todd and Williams were hired by the town late last year, after longtime town manager Joe Moore resigned last June. The town planner quit the following month, and his replacement, Matt Lower, announced his resignation April 7, but has since returned to the job, according to town commissioner Shannon Baxter.
Baxter told WUNC the turnover at town hall is no cause for concern.
“I have absolutely no worries, zero trepidation about how Zebulon is doing and where we're going,” she said. “We continue to move forward, and we've got exciting projects coming our way.”
Asked about Todd’s allegation that the town commissioner demanded he take unethical action against Williams, Baxter says the claim is false.
“It came as a shock and a real shame that he would make such serious statements, because the board has never asked him to operate outside of his contract,” she said.
Baxter says the town is rehiring Taiwo Jaiyeoba as its interim town manager. He served in that capacity last year after Moore resigned. Jaiyeoba came to Zebulon after he resigned as city manager of much-larger Greensboro; WFDD reported a few months later that Greensboro spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle “claims of unwanted touching” made against him by one of his employees there.
Baxter said Jaiyeoba did “an excellent job” in the role last year and “knows Zebulon very, very well.”
Development rejection prompts lawsuit
The turmoil in town leadership comes as Zebulon’s attorneys are trying to wrap up a lawsuit over a housing development town commissioners rejected last year.
Deacon Development Group had sought rezoning approval to build a 320-unit, 116-acre development called Zebulon South just outside the downtown area.
While the town planner at the time said the rezoning application met all standards for approval, the commission voted it down in a 4-1 vote last May. Town commissioners provided no specifics about why they rejected the development, and Commissioner Quentin Miles said in the meeting that “there’s no need for explanation at all.”
Deacon’s attorneys argue in the lawsuit that the decision violated state laws that govern how municipalities must handle rezoning requests.
“The Town's ‘Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain’ manner of denial may well be linked to the negative sentiments that town board members expressed about the applicant's counsel, or concerns about some of their own financial interests as related to the project,” the attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that several town commissioners voted no because they didn’t like the attorney for Deacon presenting the application; it also accuses Baxter of voting no because of concerns about how the development might negatively impact her beekeeping business.
She told WUNC she couldn’t respond to the allegation directly because of the pending lawsuit, but that “bee colonies in urban settings do very well” and it’s a “non-issue” for the property in question.
This week, a judge issued a 60-day delay on the legal proceedings after a request from attorneys for the town and developer.
“Despite this contentious litigation, the town and plaintiff have engaged in ongoing settlement discussions,” which “have progressed to the point where the parties believe a potential settlement could be reached in the near future,” they wrote in a court filing.
Legislature gets involved in zoning battles
Lawsuits like this one have caught the attention of state legislators, who want to make it easier for developers to sue over local decisions blocking their projects.
House Bill 913 could bring a huge financial hit to towns that lose such lawsuits. In any case where a court determined a town “acted in a flagrantly unfair or deceptive manner with respect to the development approval,” the developer could be awarded damages equal to 10 times their estimated lost revenue and the increase in building costs associated with the delay.
“I'm hoping nobody ever has to use this, and I'm hoping this will serve as a warning,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mark Brody, R-Union. “But if it does, you're going to have to explain yourself in the court.”
Another House bill would allow civil lawsuits against individuals for development decisions made while serving on a town board or planning commission.
Baxter said she’s hopeful the legislation won’t pass.
“Those kinds of legislation are being put forth by special interest groups, and I think that the governor is very well aware of how damaging that could be to municipalities,” she said.
Like much of Eastern Wake County, Zebulon has seen a surge in recent residential development. Its population has swelled to more than 8,000, up from 4,400 in 2010.
The battle with Deacon hasn’t scared off other developers, Baxter said.
“I haven't noticed any fewer development requests since that all came into play,” she said.
