Buying land for parks and preservation in Chatham County

On: September 19, 2020

Thanks to Megan Lynch for speaking up about Cary buying 217 acres of land for parks and preservation and suggesting Chatham do so, too—I saw a small article in the Chatham News &Record and thought about writing, too. We need to buy land along the Haw River if any is left. The Pittsboro Town Board & town manager, the Chatham County Commissioners & the Parks & Recreation Departments of both town and county all need to hear what Ms. Lynch had to say. We need to add our voices.

Chatham Park Investors refused to negotiate with Triangle Land Conservancy for land it bought along the Haw and has refused to protect creeks and conserve natural heritage areas. Durham got to work on its watershed and worked out land deals a while back. That protects some of their drinking water, though development is taking its toll.

We need to do the same in Chatham–buy land to protect large greenspaces. People need access to the river and the wildness of forests before they’re all privatized and unavailable.

Here is the previous post:

Subject: Why isn’t Chatham County doing this?

Town of Cary purchases 217 acres in Chatham County for parks and open space
preservation at a cost of $13.6 million from funds provided bya 2019
voter-approved bond referendum.

*https://carycitizen.news/2020/08/26/cary-purchases-200-acres-for-recreation-preservation/*

This purchase is adjacent to the New Hope Church Road Trail head for
Chatham County’s section of the American Tobacco Trail. Chatham County
pays the town of Cary an annual fee to maintain Chatham’s section of the
ATT.

One of the reasons Cary has such nice parks (see Hemlock Bluffs Nature
Preserve) and greenways (see White Oak Creek Greenway) is because they are
willing to put park bond referendums on the ballot and Cary voters are
willing to approve bonds to invest in parks and open space. Although I
think Cary is way over-developed for my tastes, at least they seem to now
realize they need to preserve open space before it is all gone and they are
willing to use bonds to help do it.

I really wish our county would try doing park bond referendums to help pay
for all the wonderful things included in their master plans and
park-specific plans. We will never get beyond the paper plan if they don’t
get serious about seeking funding. The longer Chatham County delays, the
more expensive land gets and the less attainable it will become. If
anything, this time of Covid has shown us how important trails and parks
are for all of us.

Interest rates are so low now!