Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 19:52:13 -0400
From: virginia penley
Subject: Chatham Park: time to tell the town it is “ok” to move forward
It is time to move forward with a positive vote on rezoning the land owned by Chatham Park. I have lived in North Chatham for a long time and I have been a witness to a lot of change. My husband died here. We raised our daughter in Chatham County and I intend to die here (but not soon). I love the people of Chatham County and the community we have built here.
I have also supported smart, balanced growth, which is comprised of a lot of factors including economic development and what I believe Chatham Park ultimately represents.
Naturally, the community will need to continuously monitor the protection of the Haw River, the pacing and type of economic and residential growth as well as giving a strong voice to Pittsboro’s ideas and spirit in order for the project to reflect the town and its character.
From my perspective, the potential growth from Chatham Park will benefit the people of Pittsboro and the region. And it is my understanding that Chatham Park has committed its resources to making downtown Pittsboro a better place to live, visit and do business. It appears that they are making substantive and reasonable attempts to work with the community at-large and enhance our downtown.
I also believe the President of the Chatham Country EDC, Dianne Reid, provided a nice summary of the economic advantages of the project in her February 2014 Chatham County Line article, http://chathamcountyline.org/
Chatham Park has also agreed to help the Town government of Pittsboro develop infrastructure that will give all the people better water, schools, emergency protection and roads.
And Chatham Park will provide jobs and facilities here in Chatham County so young people will not have to go out of county to find them, a situation that is killing rural areas all over the US. Consequently, Chatham County will become the place people from all over the state will be coming to for opportunity.
At tonight’s special town board meeting which is a public hearing that will be held at the Historic Pittsboro Courthouse, the Pittsboro Town Board has the opportunity to move Pittsboro forward and take this opportunity to make it the best location to live, work and play of any town in North Carolina. It is time to move forward.