“There’s No PLACE Like HOME”
Borrowing Dorothy’s memorable line from “The Wizard of
Oz,” Town Commissioners last Monday were urged to remember what over 60
citizens had been hammering home for the past two weeks; there’s no PLACE
(Pittsboro Place) like HOME (home town, home grown
Pittsboro).
The first speaker announced that she had been told by Mr.
Jackson II at the end of the first public hearing session that “I always win.” She and approximately 40+ citizens
chose to speak their piece, nevertheless. Citizens also submitted a portion of
an opposing petition with over 400 signatures in what has turned into a classic
“David vs. Goliath” epic. The
citizens of Pittsboro and the surrounding area waxed eloquent and shed a bright
spot light on the deception and half-truths of the presenters representing
Pittsboro
Place. And yet, there is no evidence that the
Town Board will choose to delay deliberation on the most potentially destructive
request to come before the town in its 220-year
history.
When Mayor Voller offered the chance for anyone that had not signed up to
speak, two women took the opportunity to expose an ignoble gesture perpetrated
on two unsuspecting Afro-American congregations by representatives of Pittsboro
Place Partners LLC. The tactic was
to win over the minds of the Pastors and then get the hearts of the parishioners
to sign a petition in favor of Pittsboro Place. But when the pointed question was put to
Mr. Jackson II, whether he went to any
“white churches,” his sheepish response was to the effect that he,
personally, hadn’t gone to any of the churches, but that they would be happy to
go to all churches
Two protests filed by the Estill brothers (abutters to the property now
owned by Pittsboro Place Partners LLC) that could put the brakes on the rezoning
request remain in limbo And at last report the Town Board is considering voting
on the request as early as August 13.
If you have
not as yet “weighed in” on this weighty matter, NOW is the time to register your
appeal to the Pittsboro Town Board. Written letters may be mailed to the
Town Board in care of Town Clerk, Alice Lloyd, Pittsboro
Town
Hall
PO Box 759 - 635 East
St. Pittsboro, NC 27312, or via email to: aflloyd@nc.rr.com.
Here’s what’s at stake, and here are the
facts:
·
Destruction of Historic Pittsboro Town Center
The sheer immensity of the proposed project (if actually constructed over
its projected 12-15 year build out, rather than flipped to another buyer at a
hefty price per acre) would tilt the scales and shift the center of what was
once “downtown” Pittsboro to the East by a mile or so. This would effectively destroy historic
Pittsboro by moving its geographic and economic retail center, and by creating a
massive traffic gridlock at current town center from all incoming traffic. And even building an entire new entrance
(bypass) to town on east 64 won’t ease the gridlock. The value of local home town and home
grown merchants and products that move us toward a healthier, more sustainable
and less consumable and wasteful life style is the direction that all towns and
cities must be heading, given the times in which we live. In our world of shifting
paradigms, Less becomes More and More becomes Less. Anything less is
irresponsible and foolish. Smaller is better and local Mom’s and Pop’s trump
Wally Worlds as we think outside the “Big Box.”
·
Loss
of only viable Industrial site
The
current zoning of the land now owned by Pittsboro Place Partners, LLC (purchased
in the fall of 2006 for a tidy sum) leaves it as the ONLY major piece of land
with the potential to house 21st century industrial, recreational and
arts complex that could make Pittsboro a leader in sustainability and provide
decent jobs and careers as well as leisure and arts opportunities for area
residents This is a GOLD MINE that MUST NOT be used for any other lesser
purposes. The amenities dangled
like a carrot in front of a hungry and unsuspecting populace by
Pittsboro Place Partners LLC (theater, bowling alley, restaurant, shops,
hotel, etc.) are already on the drawing boards of a hoard of other developments
that are lining up on East 64 Busines. All this shall come to pass, but must not
be allowed to displace our only shot at a major clean, green sustainable high
tech industrial campus along with other amenities.
·
Water Depletion and Degradation
Water, a primary
necessity for life itself, not to mention a high quality life, is in high demand
and short supply. Even though the
proposed project may have enough water rights to begin phase 1, there will not
be enough to satisfy this and other future development on the outskirts of town,
much less the historic downtown infrastructure. When questioned by County Commissioner
Barnes where they were going to find all the water needed, Mr. Jackson, had no
answer except a vague suggestion that the county and town would have to deal
with that later. Water is NOT a
never-ending resource, and places to dispose of gray and waste water are not
abundant. When water allotments are
gone, the State turns off the tap and levies fines for overuse. That’s fact, and it happens. And when streams and lakes continue to
be silt laden and polluted by the byproducts of development SAFE water is no
longer a cheap or easily accessible commodity.
(click this link for photos
and information: http://home.earthlink.net/~jordan.lake.watch/)
·
A Line in the Sand (or Clay)
This moment in time
will be remembered as THE defining moment in the 220 year history of this small
southern piedmont community. Who
will write that history… local homegrown and homespun authors, or the Land Lords
of the Corporate Empire that always win at all costs? Some citizens have lost hope that they
have any power to affect their own future, given the power of the Empire. The mission of CCEC is to keep hope
alive and to empower citizens to enhance Chatham’s
future. Who will we allow
to write the future? Whose story
will we believe? What stories will
move us to engage the purveyors of intimidation and deception and the wielders
of power used to satisfy greed and avarice? Its time to draw the line in the sand,
drive the stake into the red clay of Chatham and reclaim the power to write our
own story and determine our own future.
Please start writing.
One would think that the overwhelming will of the People would carry the
day, but there was little evidence from the questioning on the part of the Town
Board that the seeds of opposition planted by the public found enough fertile
soil in Town Hall to take root and bear fruit. As in all planting efforts, only time,
nurturing and fate will tell.
