Potts Development...development... Public Hearing and Planning Board Review move forward

A few weeks ago, the Potts Development lawsuit had its first day in court. It's now apparent the initial results of that action will result in the project process moving forward - sort of....

An eagle eyed resident passed on information to aShortChronicle Tuesday morning that the project signage had changed on Potts Street.  See below.

The Town project page was also updated.  See here for that.

After following up with the Town, Town Clerk Betsy Shores provided the following statement that was to be read at tonight's Town Board meeting.

Crescent Acquisitions, LLC, the developer of the proposed Potts Development project, filed a lawsuit against the Town regarding the permit for the project.  As the Town argued to the Court, it does not believe that the circumstances warrant the continuation of the permitting process.  However, the Court has ordered planning staff to complete the review and issue a decision on the permit. 

Therefore, as required by the Court, there will be a public input session set for May 2, 2019 from 5-7pm at town hall.  This is an opportunity for citizens to express their opinions directly to the developer regarding this project.  This project will also be on the planning board’s agenda for the April 29 meeting for review and comment.

The Town will update the citizens, to the extent possible, as the permitting process and the lawsuit move forward.

So, what does this actually mean?

According to the preliminary understanding here, this only means the project approval process will move forward a little.  It does not mean the project is approved.  In fact it does not appear to address the most important piece of this case which is the Town's ability to manage its water/sewer extension approvals.  As of this writing aShortChronicle has not been able to obtain the actual court documents to say definitively on all points

It does however absolutely mean this....

Citizens need to get ready to head to Town Hall in force on April 29th and May 2nd.

This is the classic David v Goliath scenario.  A large corporation, one of the largest in the local development business, is attempting to force through a project nobody wants in a location where it does not fit.  That's a common situation these days here in Davidson.  But...as the Beaty Street Property and Griffith Street Hotel projects show, the citizens of Davidson know how to fight these fights.