During Tuesday's meeting, Davidson Planning Board member, Martha Jenkins, read a prepared statement about her experience as a neighbor of the construction site. Her statement was not focused on the nature of the facility, but solely on the impact its construction has had on her property.
Her below comments reflecting the impact of a planning decision by the Town on individual citizens and their property came on the same evening the Board voted on the controversial Woodie's Auto facility and the public hearing for a proposed 124 unit retirement community at Exit 30. Both of those proposals drew valid comments from concerned neighbors. Both will likely be very good additions to the town. At the end of the discussion on Woodie's, Commissioner Wessner strongly recommended that Woodie's reach out to the surrounding residents to do what it can to alleviate their concerns and be a good neighbor. That was good advice.
Ms. Jenkins comments show what can happen when that does not occur.
Begin Mrs. Jenkins comments:
April 9,
2013
Good
evening.
My name is
Martha Cooke Jenkins. I have lived at
16824 Davidson Concord Highway in the Davidson ETJ for 21 years. Before that, I lived in Cornelius or its ETJ.
My husband, Lawson Jenkins grew up ½
mile west of our house so he has lived in the Davidson ETJ his entire life. We both have been North Mecklenburg residents
for over 57 years.
Lawson,
Adam, Phillip and I have had an idyllic farming lifestyle on our small 16 acre
tract…an older home with acreage and animals. On our western boundary, we have
had the best neighbors in the world – a family with children about the same age
as ours and the same complement of livestock.
Our eastern boundary was wooded and vacant until 3 months ago. I was called to the Davidson Town Hall at the
end of April 2012 to learn about the development plans for the 34 acre eastern
tract. As I told John Woods that day, “we
don’t own the universe – just a small tract” – but I was in shock with the
series of events that lead to the plans for a mental hospital on this eastern
tract of land. As both a Davidson ETJ
resident and member of the Planning Board, I had been to every charrette and
Planning Board meeting to work on plans for Davidson East and its extensive
residential and business plans. I don’t
think I missed a single session to plan the neighborhood for the then Jacobus
property.
Last week, CHS
installed temporary construction fencing along our boundary which was a welcome
relief. However, there are no plans by
CHS to place permanent fencing. I want
to appeal to the Town to 1) require permanent fencing and/or a berm to ensure
the property lines are permanently delineated and all personnel on CHS’s
property (today and in the future) will clearly know where the property lines
are and 2) that CHS clearly ensures that the Jenkins property does not suffer erosion
from water run off from CHS construction.
While the construction is underway, there is time for measures to be put
in place to prevent run off issues from the CHS paved parking lot and from
their retention pond. Maybe they have
this covered and I will be pleasantly surprised with measures to prevent
erosion issues to our property.
I understand
that ETJ residents have no voting rights so I am using this opportunity tonight
during citizen comment time. I hope the
Town of Davidson will step up and require the adjoining property owner protection
to delineate the property lines as the zoning transitions from business to
rural. We are where we are today… and we
need to ensure that each property owner has the opportunity to use their
property to the fullest without infringing on the adjoining property owner. Please, please, please – follow through with
proper transition from zoning categories and protection of property.
The Jenkins' experience is outrageous. I know the Jenkins family. We have been guests on their beautiful land years ago when Martha was my son's den leader in boy scouts. They are kind, generous, upstanding people and very valuable members of the community. It sickens me to think that they have been treated this way. I will be sure to contact the Mayor and Davidson Commissioners to lend support to the Jenkins' request for consideration of their property rights and common decency. This is the town's job!
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