02/08/2024
Good morning everyone,
Well, we’ve had a few days to process but it doesn’t make the words come easier or clearer in sharing with all of you.
In a 4-3 vote the Board of Adjustment passed the proposal for the Wilderness Ridge development. Several board members cited our expert and evidence as more credible, acknowledge the flaws in Wilderness Ridge LLC’s calculations and assumptions, along with missing concrete ways of adjusting the proposal to achieve the necessary intersection site distance. And yet, they voted to pass this along to NCDOT. They feel that not only will NCDOT not permit a driveway that doesn’t meet safety standards but if they did they would hold them to fulfill their obligations.
From our vantage point this stance seems weak, cowardly, and in direct opposition with the board’s charter and responsibilities to the community. The board got first hand evidence that the developer is willing to submit flawed and sub-par data, evade rules and procedures not only without hesitation but with a self-assurance that the board won’t hold them to account, and that they legitimately don’t know their own site and surrounding areas when suggesting placing a round-a-bout where a stream is for example. They can’t possibly think that they will act with honesty and integrity as they submit the driveway proposal to NCDOT. But that is what they ruled, NCDOT will handle it.
We could argue so many points on this, and with our disappointment and frustration very fresh easily go on regarding the injustice to the very people the board is meant to protect.
However, there is strength and solidarity to be found in gratitude. We’d like to switch to a big THANK YOU to everyone who has participated in supporting this fight in various ways. The greatest balm right now is a sense of community, to not only see, but deeply feel, our collective desire to shape our growing community in the safest most responsible way. Our shared love of the beauty of the mountains, the diverse flora and fauna we all want to safeguard, from our skylines to our streams, was something each and every one of you expressed in various ways.
In the coming week our team leaders will convene and plan for another community meeting. We can use this time for Q&A regarding the hearing and discussing future options. If anyone would like to suggest additions to the agenda, please email us directly at: [email protected]
Continue to share our newsletter sign up so no one misses out on updates. We’ll be in touch soon. It’s with sincere gratitude that we sign off and acknowledge everyone’s commitment, passion, financial support, ideas, efforts, and good-ole-fashioned grit and gumption that got us this far. Everyone should feel a sense of pride in standing up for what you know to be right, living our values with our best intentions, and going up against a very flawed and skewed system.
