Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:53:01 -0500
From: Pam
Subject: Wa la la la la
I am a true native of chatham never lived outside the county. I have been on both sides of very hurtful land use arguments in this great county. My dad recieved much hate mail and phone calls years ago when he sold some family land that was later involved in the cary annex bla bla bla. I would preach to everyone how everyone should have the right to do what they want with the land they own and pay taxes on. I was a young daughter in my twentys. Then years later on the day the foudation was being dug for my dream house for my little family in pittsboro I recieved a letter saying the owner of the land adjoining my entire back yard was asking for a very drastic rezoning of his property from the strictist residential to the most liberal commercial. So suddenly i was the one out begging for support. To his credit I will say i always and still blame poor planning and hasty aprovals from the pittsboro commissioners for what never should have been a problem. When all the nice housing developments 1st asking for permission to build and water was plenty they approved nice beautiful places to live with NO greenspace required around them. So whoever happened to live on the outside edges had to deal with whatever their backside landowners wanted to do. Anyway… thousands of dollars and tears later we sold the dream house and the zoning was approved and he built and sold his business and left the county .
So as i said earlier i have suffered through both sides of the land use horror that no one can truly understand unless they are really closely affected by it. I dont mean the folks who live 3 miles away and are offended by the neon sign they have to look at as they drive by . Or the people who moved here because it was so country.
What is the answer? For me ive learned to totally research the area i plan to invest in. I didnt even know what common protected greenspace meant as a young person. I now live on 751 which will surely face a four lane expansion in my lifetime. After highway 40 was built our country road became the most popular pass through to get on 40 from 64. And if Durham ever wants to annex this end of the county and run sewer to us I will jump for joy and maybe run naked down 751 urging folks to vote for it.
So we all have to be honest about our motives in these debates. Its usually our own comfort and pocketbook. Not the workers at walmart who may get 38 hours a week so they dont get full time benefits. If you dont like walmart dont shop there and fight for fairer work place laws. If the traffic is too crazy call ncdmv or whoever handles that in nc and keep records and demand traffic lights etc. Otherwise buy a big tract of land way out and be sure to put your house right in the middle. And enjoy your 30 minute drives to the grocery. I havent figured out another answer yet…