Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2014 20:54:20 -0400
From: “connectnc.net”
Subject: Open letter to Commissioners and Honorable Mayor John Grimes
I decided to approach this issue after reading an article in the Chatham News about creating an appearance committee to address cleaning up and beautifying Siler City in preparation for the new mega site . I have heard more than one comment on growth in this county and with growth comes change .. To promote positive changes we must embrace what we have and where we want to go all whilst considering the rights and opinions of those who live in the affected areas . In the past we have had departments and or committees with the responsibility of cleaning up the county . These have had little success with lots of negative impact primarily in causing business to close or relocate while costing private citizens thousands of dollars they couldn’t afford to make changes to bring their property up to code .
My daddy once said you get more accomplished with honey than with vinegar so I propose we try an incentive program to address certain eyesores and encourage private property owners with either tax breaks , cash for clean up programs and or assistance in demolitions and waste removal . I understand we cant pay for major demolitions but we can find ways to help property owners accomplish these tasks without bankrupting them or creating more negative feelings toward county and city governments . New business looks at many things and while its always nice to see a polished pretty little town they also look at how county and city government treated its business and private property owners to get it that way. It could become a no sell point if the process displaced existing business with to many regulations and restrictions while creating ill feelings in the community . I personally suffered financially at the worst possible time in my life when I needed every dime I made for my children as the county jumped everyone over junk cars and parts . I had to move things , hide things , purge things that would have made me a good chunk of money loosing what little savings I had to accommodate the junk yard Nazis as they were commonly called at that time . There are business owners in Siler that are feeding families and being a productive part of the community that have been there for years who cant afford to paint and polish their property to appease an appearance board . I feel these business’s are part of Siler City’s Americana and history and should be helped by this process not burdened . In the event that the mega site doesn’t go over as planned I feel it would be a good investment in Siler City to help the business’s that are already in place to flourish while also improving the appearance of the down town area and corridors in and out of town so its a win , win situation . I am not implying an appearance committee is a bad thing but I would encourage everyone to think outside the conventional box of making people clean up and telling them what they can and cant do with their property to actually helping people improve the community . I would look at what government and private funds are available for these types of projects and what funds are available for historical landmark preservation with the qualifying guidelines . There are ways to sweeten up the deal so people will be more willing to participate in the process . When I ask my son to clean up his room sometimes its overwhelming the mess he can make so I offer a little help or cash as an incentive and once the process is started he will get it done quickly . This works with adults too 😉