Green Growth Explained, Jan. 26, Sou. Pines

SAVE OUR SANDHILLS SPEAKER EXPLAINS “GREEN GROWTH TOOLBOX”

On January 26, Save Our Sandhills will host Brenda Johnson, a specialist in ecology and wildlife, to describe why The Green Growth Toolbox, a cooperative, non-regulatory effort developed by the Wildlife Diversity Program of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, is so important to North Carolina in general, and Moore County in particular.
By its own definition, “Green Growth is a nature-friendly way of developing communities. It means conserving habitat and biological diversity while building homes, businesses and shopping centers.” Its tools consist of a handbook, GIS data package, and a website.
This project was conceived because of the unprecedented population growth fueled in North Carolina in recent years, along with projections that over the next 20 years, 3 million additional people would move to North Carolina, threatening our environment, public health, and quality of life.
Therefore, in 2005, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission developed the North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan, which identified sprawling patterns of land development as a top threat to wildlife resources. Since land use in North Carolina is regulated at the local government level, where officials often do not have sufficient knowledge concerning risks to wildlife while they develop policies concerning growth, The Green Growth Toolbox concept gained traction.
Green Growth helps to bridge the gap between scientists and local decision makers by offering wildlife data and important wildlife conservation principles so that well-informed decisions can be made. While planning for growth, communities learn how to protect important species and habitats by locating their important natural resources and determining how best to conserve them through land use planning. Habitats support much more than wildlife.
They also sustain healthy ecosystems, healthy economies, healthy communities, and a high quality of life. This is why The Green Growth Toolbox emphasizes 10 benefits to communities: “1. Better health all around, 2.Economic return, 3.Environmental safeguards, 4.Avoid environmental conflicts, 5.Attract new economy businesses, 6.Increase prosperity, 7.Generate tourist income, 8.Reduce costs to taxpayers and local government, 9.Respond to public demand, 10.Improve quality of life.”
In North Carolina, 45 local governments (including counties and municipalities) have received Green Growth Toolbox training at 11 workshops which targeted jurisdictions that are experiencing significant habitat conversion to development. Twenty-one local governments have received technical guidance on 31 land use planning projects. Locally, both Moore and Harnett County planning staffs attended Green Growth Toolbox Workshops and received follow-up technical guidance, including one that took place at our local Weymouth Woods Nature Preserve Auditorium in mid-2010. The NC Wildlife Resources Commission has been working in partnership with regional organizations, including Sustainable Sandhills, the Coastal Land Trust, and Land of Sky Regional Council.
In Moore County, The Green Growth Toolbox has been used to provide recommendations to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that is currently under revision by the Planning Board. UDO’s are the rulebooks for how building and development occur in a community, and thus can have heavy impacts on wildlife habitat. Most Green Growth recommendations to the Moore County UDO were made to the Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Subdivision Ordinances, since these usually impact large tracts of land at a time. The UDO process is currently ongoing, and work continues to see Green Growth recommendations adopted.
Brenda Johnson has worked with Sustainable Sandhills for two years as their Green Growth Planner. Sustainable Sandhills, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving the natural resources of the eight-county region surrounding Fort Bragg, concentrates on four main program areas: Green Business Certification, Green Schools, Green Growth, and Local Food.
Johnson holds a B.A. in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University, an M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences from NC State University, and has several years’ experience in ecology and wildlife biology research. Her work at Sustainable Sandhills is funded by a fellowship through Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE).
She is currently working with both Moore County and Harnett County to incorporate Green Growth strategies into their land use policies.
Join us for an informative and interesting evening; refreshments will be served. Thursday, January 26 at 7 PM in the Southern Pines Civic Club, corner of Ashe Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. All are welcome.

SS Sustainability Lecture, Nov. 10, SCC

Sustainable Sandhills - Moore County

Sandhills CC, Dempsey Student Center, Clement Dining Room

Tuesday, November 10th, 6:30-8:00pm

Lyle Estill is a founder of Piedmont Biofuels, which anchors an eco-industrial park in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Since launching into his quest for sustainable biodiesel, he has found himself deploying solar technologies, green building strategies, and is currently immersed in everything from sustainable farming to vermiculture digestion to alternative boiler fuels. He is the author of Biodiesel Power (New Society 2005) and Small is Possible (New Society 2008), and the winner of various awards.

We will also include updates on community events and projects.

Please help us spread the word! Together we can make a difference!

You're Invited, Oct. 22, Sou. PInes Election Campaign

"As a downtown Southern Pines business owner I am very interested in the up coming Southern Pines Town Council Election. I love the feel and activity of Southern Pines and am invested in its success. I know many of you feel the same way.
I would like you to have the opportunity to meet and talk to my friend Marsh Smith who is running for town council.
Marsh is long term Southern Pines resident and business owner himself. He is dedicated long term economic prosperity for our community. Attached please find a note inviting you to my Office on Thursday October 22nd at 5:30 pm for a chance to meet Marsh. We’ll be here for about an hour and I’ll even spring for some refreshments!
Hope to see many of you then, feel free to bring your friends.

Best Regards,
Sue

PS: if you do not live in SP… sorry to bother you but feel free to come and meet him anyway. Moore county towns are so connected we are all impacted by each other.

Sue Stovall PT DPT
Southern Pines Physical Therapy
210 S Bennett Street
Southern Pines, NC 28387
(910) 692-8269 V
(910) 692-8479 F

Small Mart Revolution

http://allalongtheedge.blogspot.com/2009/02/small-mart-revolution.html

Statement from Councilwoman Dowd, Tuesday, Feb. 12

I would like to make a statement for the record, because so much of what I say in these meeting reaches the public through the Pilot newspaper that often plays politics with the issues and lifts quotes out of context.

In August of 2006 I wrote a letter to the former council, which was reprinted in the Pilot, stating my opinion that before Southern Pines adopts a PUD ordinance or approves a development under such ordinance, that the town must first adopt a master plan for the future development of our town. That was my opinion then, and it has not changed.

This is not the right project at the right time for Southern Pines.

Our town is distinguished from surrounding towns by a resort atmosphere centered around our historic downtown. In order to maintain this character, and in turn our livelihood, we must look at Southern Pines as a whole and create a master plan to guide future development.

Good design depends on the overall, and no one piece no matter how well planned can take precedence over the whole.

Every good developer starts out with a pro forma to run the numbers, they know the projected revenues and expenses. But we have not done the same for our town. And while everyone is talking about the benefits of this project and the viability of this project for the developer, we do not know the costs of this project to Southern Pines. Study after study shows that residential development does not pay for itself and that many costs end up being absorbed by the taxpayers.

Not once during the entire review process of this application has the developer shown that the cost of this development will not be born by current residents. In fact, no one has provided a cost/benefit analysis of the impact of this project on the Town of Southern Pines. So, at this time we have no idea what the actual cost of Pine Needles Village will be to the citizens.

What we do know is that in 2007, our citizens absorbed significant tax increases:

~ the property tax revaluation hurt a lot of people and the County recently voted to make this 4-year accelerated revaluation schedule permanent.

~ the Moore County School Board adopted an ambitious $144 million capital improvements plan; but to make it palatable to voters, they only brought $54 million of that $144 million to the public in the form of a bond issue, which leaves $90 million left to be dealt with.

~ a $15.5 million bond was also approved for Sandhills Community College.

~ The Moore County Commissioners just voted to put the sales tax increase on this year's ballot, which will still not cover the $69.5 million bonds.

~ We have water problems and no drought prevention plan;

~ We have not yet received approval for a new reservoir and have not discussed how we are going to pay for it.

Now having said all that, in the past week, I've been swamped with e-mails from residents who are scared. And what they're scared of is that if we don't approve this project, the developer will retaliate by building something very inappropriate, like the corporate park, on that piece of land.

And I don't blame them for being scared. That land is zoned to allow exactly that.

And who zoned it?

A former Town Council.

And why?

To pave the way for the corporate park that people don't want there - and never did.

So, if the developer can build something totally inappropriate on that piece of land, it's because a previous council rezoned the property and then approved the corporate park without considering the future of Southern Pines as a whole, or the consequences that we are now faced with.

For years the Council, including the previous council, has continued to renew the corporate park conditional use permit on its consent agenda and would have done so in June of 2007 had the developer not pulled it, claiming vested rights.

It is time for the current Council to address this issue - not by voting for something in order to correct a mistake in the past, but by beginning a process for a master plan that will allow the citizens of Southern Pines, for the first time, to have a voice in the future of this town that we all take pride in.

I have always felt that we can do a better job of preserving and developing Southern Pines; therefore, I cannot, in good conscious, approve this project.

That is why I will vote to deny this application.

People Want Mass Transit, Smart Growth

[We the people are usually more progressive than our elected officials, and, here again, it is so]

2007 Growth and Transportation Survey: People Want Mass Transit, Not New Roads
Three-fourths of Americans surveyed believe that either being smarter about development or improving public transportation are both better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of REALTORS® and Smart Growth America.

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007102502?OpenDocument