Davidson Lands Conservancy
Comments to the Town Board
July 14, 2015 Public Hearing on Narrow Passage development
I am Autumn Michael with the Davidson Lands Conservancy. On behalf of the DLC Board, I would respectfully request that the Town Board support both the Town staff and Planning Board recommendations to delay approval of the Narrow Passage development until a comprehensive Rural Area Plan could be completed.
Unfortunately, the DLC was not aware of this project until March of this year, but we have worked diligently since that time, listening to our members’ concerns, participating in the Randall Arendt charette, meeting with the developer, as well as sharing our concerns at numerous public meetings.
Our primary concerns are still the same as those stated in our May 2015 letter to the Town Board. In our view, the proposal is inconsistent with the Comprehensive plan on which I—and many others—worked, and which is supposed to be a reflection of the core values of our town about conservation of open space. There is grave concern among many citizens that this development sets a precedent for continued growth in the rural area and just “moving the line” so to speak a little bit here, and then a little bit more with the next development request, and then a little bit more, and then voila, the rural open space is no more and we have unchecked and cookie-cutter suburban growth.
It is for this reason that we at DLC continue to advocate for the Rural Area Plan. The process would be an opportunity to engage the entire community in a conversation about its commitment to open space protection that heretofore, has been an important value of the town. There are so many questions that a Rural Area Plan could explore and answer:
- Do we care just about the rural viewshed from the primary roadways or do we care about rural uses—helping support small agro-business and agro-tourism efforts, particularly in light of our wildly successful Farmers Market and a community that has seemingly embraced the social value of locally sourced food? A Rural Area Plan would tell us.
- Do we care about the Rocky River and the West Branch and how do we address streambed restoration and protect the natural habitat—including the uplands—along those green corridors? A Rural Area Plan would tell us.
- Do we care about connectivity to the newly enlarged Fisher Farm/Abersham park, both for critters and wildlife, as well as pedestrians, as well as cars? A Rural Area Plan would tell us.
- Do we care about recreation linkages—greenways, and other walking trails, as well as cycling routes that are safe? A Rural Area Plan would tell us.
These are actually really sophisticated questions of public policy, and as a Town, we have traditionally responded in a really sophisticated, cutting-edge way, and I hope we can continue to do so. A rural area planning process for the rural area will allow us to stop, look, and listen—to decide what we as a community care about and what are the most contemporary best practices nationally to protect those places. We could have the opportunity to look at the area as an integrated whole and not just as an individual parcel as each one comes up for development and is considered in a vacuum.
If one looks at the positive side of this proposal, it has stimulated much needed community discussion about community values and whether there remains a commitment to past growth control philosophies in a future Davidson. To that end, I would request the Town defer decision on the current proposal until a comprehensive Rural Area Plan for the rural area could be completed.
Here is a link to DLC’s letter to Davidson’s Town Board: Letter Regarding Narrow Passage