The mission of DavisandHighHouse.org is to preserve neighborhood quality of life with development density appropriate to our residential communities.  DavisandHighHouse.org continues to serve as a voice for individual citizens, as a focal point for community action, and will encourage voters to support candidates who are committed to a balanced approach to growth. 

                           REQUEST FOR YOUR HELP - JORDAN LAKE

This email is a request for you to contact Cary council at council@townofcary.org regarding a major development planned for Jordan Lake ¹.  Regardless of whether you live in Cary or not, if you are concerned about pollution of Jordan Lake (our drinking water supply and recreational asset) resulting from developments proposed in the Chatham County - Cary Joint Land Use Plan ¹ (CCCJLUP), please tell Cary Council.  Locating a development on Jordan Lake has severe future financial repercussions for Cary tax payers that have not been properly assessed. 

• Jordan Lake is already officially “impaired” according to state ² and federal agencies and must be cleaned up in the near future to meet regulations to provide drinking water…  with a price of $2 BILLION ³ (Durham engineering staff estimate).
  • The new development will worsen the problem by adding 1,000 to 5,000 TONS of sediment; 30 – 90 TONS of nitrogen; and 3-4 TONS of phosphorus per year! ¹⁴
• Current Jordan Lake problems are already expensive.
  • Cary tax-payer funded ^4,5 “water conservation-related expenses”
    • $1.75 million to install an aerator in Lake Jordan to meet current conditions ⁵
    • Tax money given for toilets and grass removal ⁴
• Local and state government regulations did not protect Jordan Lake from the last Cary development – Amberley and associated areas.
  • Despite Cary’s concerted effort to specifically prevent development-related pollution from the Amberly development area ⁶, the run-off pollution and sediment was reported to local and state agencies as being “a mess” ⁷and produced a fish kill in the lake.
• Across the last 14 years, costs of growth in Cary have increased faster than revenue from growth ⁸, which explains the recent discussions of increasing town debt through bonds, raising property taxes, and large increases in water and sewage rates.  The proposed Jordan Lake development will exacerbate and perpetuate Cary’s budget problems into the distant future.

Briefly, the plan¹ involves development of about 11,000 acres of rural farmland on a peninsula jutting into Jordan Lake that sprawls west from Cary across Chatham County to Jordan Lake.  Based on the proposed residential development densities, the development would allow over 8,000 new units (houses or apartments) and (calculating 3 people per household) over 24,000 more people.  The plan also calls for 2 “mixed use nodes” that allow industrial and commercial development.  This development becomes our (Cary taxpayers) financial liability in regards to providing future services. 

A consortium of concerned citizens groups (Chatham County United, davisandhighhouse.org, Haw River Assembly, WakeUp Wake County, StopNC Annexation, and New Hill Community Association) have carefully followed this plan since its inception in 2005 and have previously expressed various concerns.

 Primary concerns:

• Plan is incomplete and vague in its scope, development details, and financial impact analyses.  Water quality assessments are outdated and based on an assumed density ½ the current plan.
  • This is not staff’s fault.  It is an inherent problem of fitting a square peg in a round hole.
  • Any assessment of the plan will also be incomplete and vague and should be shelved.
  • Plan allows developers excessive profit-maximizing / lake-destroying flexibility ¹.
• Increased cost of removing additional run-off pollutants entering our drinking water. 
  • New plan adds 1,000 to 5,000 TONS of sediment; 30 – 90 TONS of nitrogen; and 3-4 TONS of phosphorus per year! ¹⁴.
  • Future water and sewage rate increases are certain.
  • There was virtually no discussion of other developments’ impact on Jordan Lake and our drinking water (e.g. “751 South” residents’ law suit in Durham ^{9, 10} ).
• Decreased water supply due to run-off-sediment displacing water from the lake.
  • See above
• Increased demand on our diminishing water supply.
  • 24,000 or so more people in 8,000 homes ¹.
• Decreased recreational value of Jordan Lake.
  • Decreased Cary home values.
• Increased costs of providing police, fire, trash collection, etc., to distant communities.
• Increased traffic, transportation costs, and pollution associated
  • Long distance commutes from Jordan Lake to employment and shopping centers in Raleigh and Durham.
  • Sales Tax increase proposed in Wake, Orange, and Durham counties for mass transit… that will not serve this development.
  • The nearest high school is 20 miles away!
  • Wake Co received an “F” grade in air quality for 2010 and 2011 ¹².  This plan won’t help.
• Landowners hate the idea for the most part.
  • Survey ¹³ shows they reject the plan by a 40:1 margin! regarding the industrial and commercial development.
• Loss of farmlands and “local providers” of meats, dairy, and produce.
• Destruction of Bald Eagle nesting and other wildlife habitat.
  • Loss of federal game lands for hunters.

Recommendations:

• Table the plan until Cary residents actually stop listing growth as their #1 concern in biennial surveys.
• Direct future growth towards transportation, employment and shopping centers close to Raleigh and away from Lake Jordan.
• Reduce average density of the plan to 1 unit / 5 acres. 
• Eliminate the “mixed use node” of industrial and commercial uses.
• Require development to follow “Low Impact Development” procedures. 
• Accurately assess the scope, as well as the financial and environmental impacts of the plan, before resubmitting.
  • Work with Chatham school board to consider a high school less than 20 miles away.
  • Work with NCDOT to assess required road improvements to NC 751 and Farrington Road.
  • Work with regional municipalities to coordinate Jordan Lake pollution.

Feel free to contact me through www.davisandhighhouse.org for any additional information you require.

Sincerely,
Karl Thor

The most recent version of the plan can be found here. http://www.chathamnc.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=18420

The site also contains all the meeting minutes to verify statements regarding the plan development process.

1. NCDENR report: http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=5aa1cee4-ed17-41c6-b601-ba3a4f2bb87f&groupId=235275
2. N&O May 3, 2009: http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/05/03/32887/jordan-lake-cleanup-will-be-costly.html
3. Toilet, rain barrel, and turf buy-back programs using Cary tax payer money:  http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Public_Works_and_Utilities/Conservation/Water_Conservation/Incentive_Programs.htm
4. Aerator for Jordan Lake: http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Administration/pio/News_Releases/2011_News_Releases/jlaerationsystemnr.htm
5. Cary ordinances put in place specifically to prevent damage from Amberly-related developments:  http://www.townofcary.org/Assets/Planning+Department/Planning+Department+PDFs/northwest/waterqualitymodel.pdf
6. Poor protection from Amberly even with Cary’s ordinances: http://www.hawriver.org/?page_id=171
7. Cary’s diminishing operating budget:  http://www.carynews.com/2012/01/21/51063/cary-likely-to-vote-on-tax-hike.html  
8. Durham residents’ law suit against “751 South”: http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/751-south-lawsuit-headed-for-trial/Content?oid=2634896
9. Durham’s “751 South” developers’ added contributions to Jordan Lake pollution: http://www.thedurhamnews.com/2011/12/21/210239/751-south-plan-revised-reviled.html
10. Silt from construction run off:  http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/05/467583/halted-construction-fills-nc-waterways.html
11. Air quality F” grade from American Lung Association: http://www.stateoftheair.org/2011/states/north-carolina/
12. Chatham resident survey:  http://www.chathamnc.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=15808
13. “Analysis of alternative land use plans for the joint Chatham County – Town of Cary study area”  TetraTech December 17, 2008.