The Chatham County political scene's decay means more than most of us want to admit. We've depended upon that large forested county to stay large, unpopulated, and forested so that we can uphold our own quality of life in southern Orange County. Part of the allure of living in the western edge of the Triangle here is that we can go north, south, or west and hit farmland and rivers and general pastoral ambiance and breathe. That's all about to change in a big way now that the Chatham board of commissioners is firmly under the control of uber-pro-development forces. The county is poised to add a LOT of people over the next 10 years, further clogging all the southern routes into and out of Chapel Hill and creating larger car and water pollution problems for the area in general. And next year's election in Chatham will only decide two seats, both of the seats currently held by those perceived to be least pro-development. It don't look good.
But there is some movement percolating, the start of which was the very short-notice protest of the county commissioner's meeting last night that drew over 300 angry voters to Pittsboro. Here's hoping this force can mobilize and prevent the kind of development that will harm the quality of life for all of us in the region. And here's hoping that those of us in Orange County who understand how important this issue is to OUR quality of life will support our sisters and brothers in Chatham as much as possible.
Issues:
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I am also very concerned
I am also very concerned about the development in North Chatham, but as a former resident of a rural community being encroached upon by a larger, supposedly "more progressive" community, I think most Chatham County residents would appreciate more concern and support from us about how this development will affect THEIR quality of life, not the rest of us.
The link to the edit is
The link to the edit is actually http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/chhedits/57-438037.html
For those interested in more
For those interested in more details on this issue, read my Jan. 7 cover story in The Independent Weekly:
http://indyweek.com/durham/2004-01-07/cover.html
Jennifer - Yes, thanks so
Jennifer -
Yes, thanks so much for that story. It was timely and well researched (see the thread on webblogging for a discussion about the opposite of this).
Rickie
The Chapel Hill Herald is
The Chapel Hill Herald is sponsoring a forum for this year's Chatham County school board candidates Wednesday, July 7, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Northwood High School.
So far this election season we've sponsored two forums for candidates in Orange County, and are using the occasion of the July 20 primary to extend the reach of these efforts into Chatham. Wednesday's forum will be the first we've sponsored in Chatham County. We will follow up by holding a forum for the Chatham County Commissioners candidates on Monday, July 12, at 7 p.m. in the Fearrington Barn.
The format of the school board forum will allow for the candidates to interact with each other, and we always invite members of the audience to submit questions. All in all, it's a format that encourages participation. We're hoping for a good turnout and are urging everyone interested in the race to attend.
I haven't seen much coverage
I haven't seen much coverage of this rally. In fact I didn't know about it until Rickie posted here. The Chapel Hill Herald has an illuminating editorial about it today: http://herald-sun.com/opinion/chhedits/57-438037.html
Growth is coming like it or
Growth is coming like it or not. As the Triangle's popularity increases and more major employers move to the Durham and Wake County regions of the Triangle, our area grows. The people want to live somewhere and realize their version of "the American Dream."
To most, but not all, "the American Dream" is to own a single family home on a modest sized lot with a front yard, a back yard, and a garage for their car(s). In addition, they want their "dream" to be affordable and convenient.
The rural areas provide the affordability and the automobile provides the convenience to move about freely.
While Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Orange County have all implemented very restrictive planning initiatives (such as SAPFO, Land Use Plans, etc.), Chatham County and Alamance County have not. Meanwhile, the success of UNC, Duke, RTP and all of its major employers have created an incredible demand for housing and growth that is needed today.
They come to Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Orange County to build. They see the regulations are too steep and too costly, so they look elsewhere. Who do they find? Chatham County and Mebane (Alamance County) all more than willing to approve and annex because they want the growth.
No one (not even our Orange County Commissioners) has been paying much attention to Mebane (mostly in located in Alamance County). Mebane just annexed 130 acres of Orange County two weeks ago and is building up to 500 dwelling units on that land. Coincidentally, one of the builders that is involved was turned down in Hillsborough last November. Rumors are flying around about a larger and much more substantial annexation and growth for Mebane on the Orange County side. The OC Planning Director downplayed the need to invite Mebane to participate in the OC SAPFO agreement last April. I bet he is singing a different tune today!
pdn
Will--I think you may be
Will--I think you may be right about the shifting center of gravity. For the past two weeks, the park and ride lot at Southern Village has been full to overflowing. Just heard yesterday a new park and ride lot is going in at Old Lystra and 15-501. I believe that will be the first lot to go outside of the municipal boundaries. Briar Cliff can only increase the daily flow of traffic into Chapel Hill/Carrboro, placing an additional burden on a frequently crowded bus line. Will the southern part of the county become another commuter parking lot like we have from the east (Friday Center)?
I think it's a great idea
I think it's a great idea Rickie--but who's going to pay for it? I'd love for the bus to come to my neighborhood--so would all the high school students/parents out here. But we live outside the town limits and in the past the (Orange) county hasn't chipped in on the fare-free zone. So what has changed with them building a park and ride in Chatham Co?
Interesting idea. In the
Interesting idea. In the spring the Council met with the Chatham Co. Commissions. One of the more interesting things I brought away from the meeting was that Chatham has a long range goal to provide a shuttle from Pittsboro. One could conceive of the shuttle either stopping at S. Village's park and ride and/or journeying up Columbia to the future Transit Transfer Station that will be located on what is now Parking Lot #2. Of course financing will be an issue. Strong leadership in Chatham will be very important to the effort to make sure the idea continues to move up the transportation wish list for the county.
(Just an aside, anyone read the coverage of the Parking Lot 2 and 5 committee in the Chapel Hill News and the N&O? Despite the very open process, meeting that have been attended by Council members, the press and at times dozens of citizens, and despite public comment being solicited before every decision has been made, AND despite the very public charette process that occurred just prior to the 2001 elections that really got the ball rolling...
the reporters for these papers seemed shocked that the Town continues to move forward with the projects.) (If I wasn't out of town, I'd make this a whole new thread.)
Any reason why we can't have
Any reason why we can't have a commuter line running from downtown Pittsboro to Chapel Hill. I think it would make sense to have Chatham County as part of the regional mass transit infrastructure in the near future.
Rickie, it makes better
Rickie, it makes better sense than running one from here to RDU. Why? You have a halfway decent chance of molding development along the corridor, especially considering the price differential between creating a mixed-use corridor out to RDU.
Imagine having stops at Southern Village, Cole Park/Briar Slappel, Fearrington, Bynum and a park-n-ride off Hwy 64 before ending in Pittsboro. The distance is roughly 18 miles and there's already major development planned or ongoing along the 15-501 corridor.
In the recent independent review (reported here
the expected initial increase in trips is over 3000. I'm curious where the outflows will go - RTP? - Chapel Hill? - Pittsboro? - Southpoint ;-)?
This is one of the issues that I think http://shagbark.blogspot.com/ et. al. will be covering.
I'm hoping that our Town Council will look at factoring the new traffic flows on our southern border into our long-term plans.
With the recent traffic
With the recent traffic studies of Briar Chapel, I'm beginning to wonder just how dramatically this development will shift the center of gravity of southern Orange county and Chapel Hill to the south.
I'd like to recommend these two sites if you're interested in the "low down" on the Newland invasion.
http://shagbark.blogspot.com/
http://www.chathamcitizens.org/index.htm/
Looks like the Chatham
Looks like the Chatham commissioners have learned some lessons from the recent debacle in NYC.
If you want to preempt democracy and close down dissent, have meetings out of the public's eye - say 9:00am when the majority of concerned citizens are out scratching for a living.
To throw more salt in the wound, make sure the meeting involves a decision on whether any subsequent public meetings will occur on our areas newest briar patch, that ersatz new land taking shape just south of the us.
More from here: http://shagbark.blogspot.com/