Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 20:39:45 -0400
From: Pittsboro Matters
Subject: April 14 Pittsboro Town Board Meeting Update
Conservation Areas are at Great Risk!
Despite what you may have read in local press accounts, Chatham Park Investors continue to stonewall on key issues associated with protecting the environment and quality of life in Pittsboro. It appears that the town board, either through misunderstanding or miscommunication, is caving into false and misleading arguments by the developers that would have serious consequences for Pittsboro and Chatham County. The developers seem to have persuaded a majority of the town board to ignore some of the consultant’s most important recommendations. If the developers get their way, Chatham Park would not be required to: set aside 30% of the total land as conservation areas, eliminate proposed high-density development along the Haw River, pay for construction of parks, and provide a traffic impact assessment and mitigation plan as part of the overall master plan.
Thanks to your efforts, the Mayor and town board received over 100 e-mails in March asking them to require Chatham Park Investors to revise their plan to implement all the recommendations of the nationally recognized Lawrence Group planning consulting firm. We were all pleased when they initially voted to approve most of these recommendations at their March 10 meeting. And we were not surprised that the developer rejected key environmental and transportation improvement recommendations. We hoped the board would continue to listen to the voice of Pittsboro citizens and stick to their guns. But that did not happen at their April 14 meeting.
If you would like a more detailed report and analysis from the citizen point of view of those observing the April 14 meeting, you can access it on our website, here: http://pittsboromatters.org/
Unfortunately, due to archaic public input rules, citizens have not been allowed to speak in person to the board for the last two months to respond to purposely misleading straw-man arguments of Chatham Park Investors and Commissioner Fiocco.
Next Steps
When we do get an opportunity to speak it is important we remind the board that it is their duty to put the interests of Pittsboro and its residents before the financial interests and development flexibility of an out-of-town mega development company, Chatham Park Investors. And there is only one voice beside yours who the board should listen to concerning the requirements of the Chatham Park master plan – the Lawrence Group professional consulting firm.
But soon we will also get a chance to remind the Commissioners where the citizens stand on protecting water quality, promoting downtown businesses, preserving our natural resource economic development attractions and avoiding being constantly stuck in traffic.
On May 5, a revised master plan is scheduled to be heard by the Town Planning Board, which must determine if it is consistent with the town’s comprehensive land use plan. It isn’t, as we will document in a subsequent newsletter. Chatham Park Investors are required to provide a revised master plan to the town one week before this planning board meeting, which would be Monday, April 28 at the latest. We will provide you a summary and critique of the revised plan shortly thereafter. We will also be sending you specifics as to why we believe this latest master plan revision contradicts key provisions of the town’s last use plan.
A public hearing is schedule for the first town board meeting in May, which normally would be held on Monday, May 12. However, since the courthouse is not available that evening, it has been tentatively rescheduled for May 20. We will keep you informed when we learn of the exact date. But everyone should mark their calendars for that public hearing because this may be your last chance to be heard in person. The revised master plan could be voted on at their next town board meeting, May 27.
Given the threats to the town water and air quality, downtown business survival, future traffic nightmare, loss of important natural areas, we are seeking your financial support to start a fund that we can use to contract for environmental, planning and legal expertise to assist citizens to make their case before the board and possibly before other government review bodies. You can make a tax-deductible donation to Pittsboro Matters through the Haw River Assembly. Please follow the link, http://hawriver.org/join-hra/, and scroll to the BOTTOM of the page to find the special donation area for Pittsboro Matters. Thank you for supporting Pittsboro Matters!