Beware, Pittsboro and Chatham County Citizens

Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 09:02:25 -0400
From: John Alderman
Subject: Beware, Pittsboro and Chatham County Citizens

I’ve traveled much of our Southeast United States working as a conservation biologist, and I have a warning for you:

Pay attention to your leadership in Chatham County and Pittsboro. We’re getting ready to be hammered by massive development.  What’s coming at us?  Development, traffic jams, and death on our roads similar to that seen in Johnston County.  Here’s an example:  Using the Internet, go to Google Earth and do a search using these coordinates:  35.606856, -78.564335.   You will be carried to the I 40/NC 42 intersection in Johnston County.  Use the historical icon at the top of the page and go back in time.  Zoom in and out looking at the landscape at various scales and think about Chatham County looking like this.  It will happen very soon near the US 64/US 15-501 intersection and near the planned US 64/US 15-501 bypass around Pittsboro.  This kind of development will only be modified and properly managed if you become involved.  Don’t wait.  As a start, visit the website PittsboroMatters.org, become educated, attend public meetings/hearings, and sign the petition asking for quality development in Pittsboro.  Currently, it is clear that the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners are not listening to our concerns about Chatham Park, which will bring an additional 55,000 residents to Pittsboro (almost doubling Chatham County’s population with one development)!

Finally, demand that our County Commissioners do not allow this to happen elsewhere in our county.  If they disagree, vote the rascals out.  As a biologist who has observed first hand the rapid loss of quality of life in Johnston County, I know that we will lose our quality of life in Chatham County in a flash without your involvement.

John Alderman
Pittsboro