POSTPONED - Davidson Depot Information Session pushed out!

Tuesday, aShortChronicle told you about the meeting involving a select group of citizens last week regarding the Davidson Depot project.  In that post we told you about the upcoming public information session on September 29th.  That notice had been on the project's page on the town website for weeks.

Interestingly, a couple hours after that post hit the web late Tuesday night, the town emailed out the below press release announcing the same.  That email landed at 12:14am Wednesday morning.

Citizens are invited to a public information session on the Davidson Depot development on the Metrolina Warehouse site on Depot Street led by developer Miller-Valentine Group. This 5.15-acre property is located on Depot Street between the railroad, Eden Street, and Sloan Street and will feature approximately 180 apartments. The developer is coordinating with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Brownfields Program to define the activity needed to make the site suitable for reuse since the parcel contains underground asbestos.

The public input session will be held on Thursday, September 29 between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. in the Davidson Town Hall board room. There will be two identical short presentations: one at 4:00 p.m. and one at 6:00 p.m. to educate citizens about the project. Members from the developer’s team and the state’s Brownfields Program will be available to share information and answer questions throughout the session. All citizens are invited to attend.

That invitation was short lived however.  A little before 5pm Wednesday the town sent out the below notice postponing the event.

Miller-Valentine Group, the developer for this project, had originally planned to host a public information session on September 29, but have made the decision to postpone it. They wish to thank the community for its attendance, thoughtful comments and questions regarding the Davidson Depot project at their September 15 meeting held specifically for adjacent property owners. In order to give the questions raised at this meeting the thought and consideration they deserve, the company feels it is appropriate to postpone the September 29th meeting in order to further advance its redevelopment plans. Miller-Valentine Group appreciates the community’s patience in this matter and looks forward to meeting again early next year.

...early next year!?!?!

That's at least three months. That seems like an awfully long  time to delay.

Also, let's be very clear about last week's  "community" meeting.  The meeting was not a "public" meeting.  It was not advertised.  It did not appear on the town website.  It did not include people from all the neighboring subdivisions.  It was a hand picked group that raised a number of valid concerns.  Concerns would have been raised completely behind closed doors if not for a leaked email that landed at aShortChronicle.

Now, the long planned public meeting gets "postponed".   While the people invited to last week's meeting certainly are the most directly impacted, they aren't the only ones.  Furthermore, they certainly aren't the only ones with an opinion of the safety aspects of the cleanup.

Unfortunately, those added opinions are going to have to wait.