BlueGreen project should be rejected
The following is a Counterpoint
By Lynn Tutterow and Susan Davis
We urge you to help block the proposed rezoning case in which the BlueGreen Communities of Boca Raton, Fla., has proposed a 691-acre gated, golf course community with 755 homes, including single-family, patio and town houses. This proposed Patriot's Landing development is directly adjacent to the new Haw River State Park.
There are a number of reasons why this proposed community is not a good idea for the area.
• If you estimate a conservative number of six one-way trips per planned home, this would equate to more than 4,500 additional daily trips on Church Street -- a two-lane road with a speed limit of 50 mph that would not be able to safely handle the additional traffic.
• The land in currently zoned for agriculture. A gated, golf course community is out of character with the surrounding neighborhoods of farming and working class families.
• It is our understanding that BlueGreen has plans to take up to 100,000 gallons of water a day from the Haw River to water its golf course. Taking that much water from the river would have serious negative effects on the wetlands in the Haw River State Park.
• It is reasonable to assume that golf course and 775 residences will use large quantities of fertilizers and pesticides that will likely leach into the river.
• Based on its most recent housing projects, The Preserve at Jordan Lake and Chapel Ridge, BlueGreen has not proved to be an adequate environmental steward, violating state environmental regulations and conditions of permits while building both.
This isn't about increased property values -- it is about quality of life! Please oppose this development for the good of the neighborhood, for Guilford County, and for North Carolina.
The writers live in Greensboro.
Comments (5)
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As an environmental professional I have worked and lived in Greensboro near the proposed golf course area for the past 7 years. I have watched as residential development has crept closer and closer to the Church Street corridor. I am impressed that a developer of such a caliber has considered our area for a project of this size.
After reading this uninformed editorial I felt compelled to offer professional insight.
Item #1:
North Church Street is under engineered for the current traffic flow and a project of this size would free up funding from the DOT to allow for a proper traffic study and subsequent widening for safe traffic flow.
Item #2:
Who wouldn't want to improve the area around where they live?
Item #3:
The State has strict legislation and regulations for the "permitted" uses of any waters including surface water. An extensive usage survey will be conducted by a qualified environmental consultant and a permit will be applied for before such a withdraw of water from the Haw River will take place. NCDENR will have to approve the water usages and issue permits that will then be updated on a yearly basis ensuring the proper usage of water. The issuance of these permits will ensure that the "negative impacts to wetlands" as stated above will be avoided before they happen. P.S The City of Greensboro placed a pipeline for the removal of several times the proposed amount, by BlueGreen, for usage of the Haw River Water during times of severe drought, how is this any different?
Item #4:
Usages of fertilizers and pesticides in a planned community as such are also regulated and given strict oversight unlike most rural "agricultural" operations. The houses that are incorporated into a planned community usually do not include crops, barns and large farm equipment. Agricultural activities have historically been associated with contamination and environmental impacts including the storage, dumping and spilling of said stored pesticides and petroleum products (including diesel fuel and gasoline). Farms maintain 55 gallon drums of hazardous substances for usage on crops and farm equipment. The last time I looked I had 5 gallons of gasoline and a bottle of bug-b-gone in my shed.
Item #5
All large development projects like the one proposed have violations during the project phase. For this reason there are State inspectors that actively inspect the sites as they are being built. There would be no violations if there were no inspections.
Obviously this opinionated individual has not noticed the Stream Restoration Sign that has been posted on Church Street at the Haw River bridge for the past two years. The area in question has been under reconstruction by the State due to the past agricultural damage. A State Park is in the works to help "restore" the general area from the former and historical decline due to the agricultural usage.
A planned community of this calliber would ensure that a part of the area near the State Park would be well maintained.
Posted on August 8, 2007 11:51 AM
I know nothing of this project. However for the first time in my life I travel 70 in Haw River. This area is awful, I am for the man above, your town needs a imptovement.
Posted on August 8, 2007 2:28 PM
We took our students to the park last year for HARP. It was a beautiful facility and the kids had a great time. I'd hate to see it changed from rural and accessable to exclusive.
I see both sides of this issue - particularly as a resident of McLeansville where development of all sorts has its foot in the door and is ruining the rural landscape and feel of the area. It is understandable that some large scale ag farms are not great stewards of the land as profits are of paramount concern....however, that is not ALL farmers. And wouldn't it be just as "noble" of a project to work towards sustainable & responsible agricultural practices as it is to welcome BlueGreen to "develop" the area.
Frankly, I'd prefer to see more trees developed in Guilford County to replace the ones being destroyed under the guise of road improvement and development.
Posted on August 8, 2007 2:51 PM
Dog,
I believe the park and development are in Browns Summit area. The Haw River Park is not in the town that enjoys the same name.
Posted on August 8, 2007 3:50 PM
I have lived off Hwy 150 for 28 years and I have seen the pasture lands disappearing one after the other. Since the addition of Triple Lakes ,the sub-divisions and new homes have been built the traffic has been unbearable at times. I shutter to think what the commute every morning and evening would be like if a developement of this size is allowed. Church Street was not built to carry the amount of traffic that it is currently supporting. It is easy for developers to come into an area, build what they want and then move on. But they leave the current residents behind to deal with it. How can a community mean anything to them if they do not live in it every day as we do.
Posted on August 9, 2007 1:55 PM