Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:31:11 -0500
From: Jack STevens
Subject: Chatham Park Debate – Chatham Chatlist #4890
James –
I’ve glad you qualified your final statement there – because it goes along with your first statement.
What is wrong with looking out for financial gain? Or are you one of those people that keep popping up on this with the unspoken but very obvious “I have mine, to hell with anyone else coming after me?”
Personally, I’d like to see some more mercantile exchanges going on locally, rather than seeing it all go out of the county. I’m personally doing OK. Not great, but OK. I’d really like to see the couples across the street from me who live in the “affordable housing” – it’s section 8 – be able to buy their own domiciles and move out, to make room for others who need the “affordable housing.”
Pittsboro isn’t Cary. Cary is an unplanned sprawl, random developers not following any plans other than their own building whatever they want where ever they want, and the city planners are trying to keep up with everything. Some parts of Pittsbro are also like that, and the water and sewer infrastructure show it.
We have the opportunity to do some very long term planning here. Mr. Lewis showed some shortcomings in the Preston plan, mostly to do with transportation and roadways, and not all of that on Preston’s plate to do.
Unless you have the financial wehre-withall to buy the land from the Preston Group, something is going to happen. At this point, the existing citizenry can greatly influence it – not all “affordable housing” or all mercenary, but keep it a pleasant place to live.
As far as the ” flailing restaurant with sub-par italian food” I’m not sure which restaurant you refer to. Donna does quite well, taking over a failed pizza restaurant and making it something of a destination restaurant, something other that just a place to get something to eat, and Brandy does the place where you can just get something to eat, but the food is good, although the last I heard, she doesn’t live in Pittsboro.
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From: James Stewart
Subject: Chatham Park DebateI have been silent for several months in regard to the ongoing Chatham Park debate but find it impossible as a Chatham homeowner to be silent.
I will start by echoing the sentiments of several others – I, like many others, chose to live in Pittsboro because it isn’t Cary. The quesiton I keep asking myself is why would anyone move or stay in Pittsboro with the intent of terraforming it into a congested, cookie cutter world when you can easily just move to one that already exists…..
There is an old saying that if you want to know what is driving something, just follow the money. It is obvious that those with the most to financially gain are working the hardest to discredit Pittsboro matters and misinform/downplay the facts and impact of Chatham Park.
Everyone from top to bottom that supports Chatham Park is thinking with their wallets, period. Whether it is the millions Preston will gain, the false potential for “new jobs”, or the hope of customers to a flailing resturaunt with sub-par italian food.
My guess is it is probably a losing battle, once people with deep pockets want something enough, they buy the people and the system to make it happen. However, through all of this I am yet to meet a single, solitary
individual in support that isn’t thinking of their own financial gain.