The following is an open letter to Charlotte City Council Members from one of many concerned Charlotte citizens opposed to the Rea Road Gillespie Property Rezoning:
March 21, 2023
Charlotte City Council members,
With regard to the Rezoning of the Rea Road Gillespie Property I respectfully submit this letter AGAINST its approval based upon the negative environmental impact it will have on our area.
I have many additional
reasons to oppose this rezoning, but for today I will stick with this one.
I moved to the Touchstone neighborhood off Elm Lane in March of 2018 and appreciate the proximity to the Four-mile Creek Greenway immensely.
More
importantly, these birds do as well!
I took all these photos myself, right along the Greenway within less than a half-mile of my home.
A check of Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird stats reveals that a whopping 160 unique bird species have been recorded in this part of the Greenway system (a summary list can be obtained here https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2425288)!
Not all are rare, although some are becoming so.
In 40 years, the once-common Rusty Blackbird lost between 85 and 95 percent of its population, making it one of the fastest declining North American Landbirds.
The stunning Prothonotary Warbler is also in serious decline, due to loss of swamps and forested wetlands in the U.S.
This community values sharing and maintaining our open spaces so that these animals can thrive here.
The point is that
we are currently able to coexist, and it is a testament to the general health
of our environment that these birds call our area home.
Four-mile Creek Greenway with all its bikers, runners and walkers is already pushing the limits of capacity, and often struggles to manage the creek overflow during heavy rains.
I find it impossible to believe that a huge 1,100-unit apartment complex on the edge of the Greenway will not drastically affect this fragile balance.
Please do not allow them to mess this up!
Sincerely,
Christine McCluskey
6 comments:
Christine is right. We take this all this away from nature and expect it to be just fine. But once its gone it is lost forever.
I am in total agreement with Christine. This property is already a home to a wild variety of species and does not need humans to intrude into their space. The natural areas and wetland serve as a repository for rain water runoff and carbon sequestration. The trees and other plant life take carbon from the atmosphere and release oxygen as well as cool the atmosphere.
I am 100% opposed to the rezoning of this property.
Donna Bolls
It is really hard to understand why the city sets zoning guidelines and then turns around and changes the zoning. This area isn't suitable for anything besides single family homes. Which if done right would cause little damage to the tree canopy or wildlife habitat. The city is a mess traffic wise and this would just make it worse.
Charlotte City Council could not be more out of touch and it is not just zoning, but traffic, police, fire and as you may have heard even public transportation CATS. Why does it take a county commissioner Leigh Altman to call out CATS management and how is it that CLTCC remains clueless? They and not the county are responsible for the CATS operations. How did they not know about a derailment?
Agree completely. This area should not be rezoned! There are few upsides if any and many downsides. Let’s make conscious choices that support habitats and human quality of life.
The developer has continually said the property will be a 55+ community or low income housing or high end luxury housing or affordable housing or a nursing home or a greenway extension.
In other words he's a habitual liar.
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