Tuesday, June 13, 2017

More details on this evening's Davidson Town Hall "Ethics" protest

Organizers with the Save Davidson Facebook page have sent out the following press release.

Save Davidson  
(formerly Save West Davidson’s Tree Canopy)
Media Alert: Citizens Plan Protest for Tuesday, June 13, 2017
“Save Davidson March for Ethics”

WHO: Davidson citizens are planning to protest, calling it “Save Davidson March for Ethics,” to continue voicing their objections to the town commissioners ignoring a 1985 signed agreement to make the Beaty Property a park.

WHAT: Citizens’ primary concern is that the town board will vote on June 13 to move forward to develop Beaty Street Property. Citizens view this as a violation of an agreement the town made in 1985 with Mrs. Venie Clontz. In a new development, it has come to light that a private entity donated property to the Town when the Hobbs Hill neighborhood was developed. According to an e-mail from the private entity to the mayor and town manager dated April 19, 2017, these parcels were donated as a condition of the Hobbs Hill I & II Subdivision approval by the town. The parcels were required to be given to the Town as 1) a buffer against future development along this portion of Beaty Street and 2) to interconnect to a future park within the adjacent pond site. Considering two different entities provided land for park and buffer purposes, is it ethical for the town to now develop those properties?

WHEN: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 13, 2017. This is the evening that the town board meets.

WHERE: Davidson Town Hall, 216 South Main Street, Davidson, NC

WHY: It’s a violation of trust if the Board chooses to proceed with this development process now that it is aware that it directly conflicts with the agreement with the seller 32 years ago. The Town owns the land, not developers. A Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation commissioner cautions about the loss of town-owned land to development considering projections for growth in the region. After numerous documents have come to light (we can provide these to media) citizens are concerned the town is not keeping its word. Added to that is concern about adversely affecting water and air quality, traffic flow and overall quality of life, particularly considering a major development just north on Highway 115.

UPDATE: Davidson Town Hall sent out an updated agenda this morning just before 10am that did not include a vote on the Beaty Street Property.  A previous agenda as of 3pm yesterday still had tjis included indicating something possiy happened in the overnight hours to cause this to change. While this is seen as a step in the right direction by activists, per the Save Davidson group this has no impact on the planned march.

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