Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2018 12:03:44 -0500
From: Linda Bienvenue
Subject: Exceptional design in Pittsboro
I had to chuckle at the most recent post regarding Chatham Park living up to the commitment under Pittsboro’s Planned Development Ordinances. I live in the densest development in Pittsboro – “Powell Place.” This development was approved as an MUPD (a mini “Meadowmont”) back in 2002 under archaic ordinances that are still in place, when nobody even knew what an MUPD was. Therefore, any further building in Powell Place cannot be restricted because it was approved 16 years ago, using 50+ year old regulations/ordinances.
Now, we are having to deal with 264 unit, three-story apartments being plopped right in the middle of single-family homes on a street that cannot handle the flow because it was approved under those archaic ordinances. There are no rules about conformity of design to match the existing neighborhood, or worries about stormwater runoff, impervious surfaces, trees being cut down, or pollution to streams and watersheds here. So much for commitment to exceptional design that you are exalting about Pittsboro. We are all about density here, which I notice you have no problem with, as long as the environment is protected.
And, of course, don’t forget the beautiful “Meadowmont-style” walking village with restaurants, stores, professional buildings, and the like that we have at the entrance to Powell Place, which is the gateway to Pittsboro. What?? There is nothing there except for a gas station, bank, Subway and Auto-Zone? Darn! I hope that with someone at the helm of Chatham Park like Jim Goodnight, Chatham Park will be exceptional, aesthetically pleasing, and environmentally in line, something that Powell Place is not. It ain’t all just about stormwater, which, by the way, is a natural occurrence when it rains, and has been since the beginning of time.
Linda Bienvenue
Pittboro
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:57 -0500
From: Haw River Assembly < <mailto:>>
Subject: Re: Stormwater runoff
The Haw River Assembly has worked since 1982 to protect the waters of the Haw River and Jordan Lake. Since Chatham Park was first proposed we have advocated for the project to live up to its commitment under Pittsboro’s Planned Development Ordinance to use “exceptional design” to protect the environment, in exchange for a much higher density of buildings. This exceptional design includes managing stormwater to be much more protective than that required by the state. The land that will become Chatham Park is mainly forest, with a mixture of mature and younger trees. When trees are replaced by buildings and roads, these hard surfaces greatly increase the stormwater flowing off the land, which increases flooding and pollution to streams, the Haw River and Jordan Lake. Larger rain and flood events are becoming more normal as we experience the impacts of climate change in our area.
It will take exceptional, if not extraordinary, design to adequately control stormwater with the number of houses and commercial buildings Chatham Park is planning for this new city for 55,000 residents. It is the people who live here, whether new residents of Chatham Park, or their Pittsboro neighbors, who will suffer the impacts of massive downstream flooding and new pollution into the Haw River and Jordan Lake (which provide drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people). We invite you to read more about stormwater and Chatham Park on our website at http://hawriver.org/river-
Haw River Assembly
P.O.Box 187
Bynum NC 27228
(919) 542-5790 <tel:(919)%20542-
Our 36th Year Working for Clean Water!