Drawing winners:
$ 3000.00 Wayne Johnson
2000.00 Mike Otto
1000.00 Rick Lewis
To joint the Asphalt Plant Alert list, email: noasphaltplant@yahoo.com
As of 9/10/2007
Okay folks-We need to make sure the County Commissioners continue to hear us, loud and clear. I was shocked and amazed at the total lack of respect that the majority of them showed to their constituents.They need to know that their constituents won't put up with such behavior. I've been contacted by some other citizens groups who had the same experience. We will be banding together to instigate change. It has to start somewhere and we need to be vocal about our displeasure.That said, here's what we need:A minimum of 3 volunteers to attend EVERY commissioners meeting (5 would be better if we can! In the opening portion there is a 30 minute public speaking period. Every speaker gets only 3 minutes but you are allowed to speak your mind without interruption from them. They must listen to every speaker!!!Meetings start at 5:30, we'll be out of there by 6:00 so it won't take long. We just need to keep our faces in front of them.Schedule: Meetings are on Thursdays, 300 W. Market St. Council Chambers, 2nd floorSept: 20thOct: 4thOct. 18thNov. 1stNov 15thDec 6th.Please email me and let me know which of these you might be able to attend. Linda Moore and I will be at the 9/20 meeting but it would be good to have at least 2-3 more at that meeting if you can.Thank you all-Rene
As of 8/24/2007
County Commissioners approved the rezoning request 9-2 and the special use permit (allowing the asphalt plant to locate here) 8-3. So, it looks like we’ll soon have an asphalt plant for a neighbor. That being the case, look next for the whole area around the rock quarry to become an industrial park.
Billy Yow set the tone by being the first to speak in opposition and continued his attack throughout the proceedings, undermining what little expert testimony those in opposition to the plant were able to muster on a meager budget. Billy’s district, at least at the time of the last election, included much of our area.
Carolyn Coleman, whose district includes the site location, was the biggest supporter, followed by Linda Shaw. Both voted against the propositions.
At Large representatives Parks and Gibson voted in favor of rezoning and special use. Kirk Perkins was the third “nay” vote on the special use permit proposition.
Rene Staley led this fight all the way. The organization she helped found is now in serious need of funds to cover legal expenses. Raffle tickets are being offered at $20 each with a top prize of $3,000. Please contact noasphaltplant@yahoo.com to participate.
8/21 Protest Rally--Rained Out! Pictures Here
Direct link to story:
http://www.newsandrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070818/NRSTAFF/70817049
An appeal has been filed with the Guilford County Commissioners. The hearing will be August 23.
As of 8/18/2007
Per Rene Staley:
As of 7/23/2007
Per Rene Staley:
As of 6/11/2007
Per Rene Staley:
As of 6/11/2007
Message from Rene Staley
Just a quick wrap up of the meeting we had Thursday, 6/7. Lou Zeller and Sue Dayton of Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League provided an informative presentation on asphalt plants. They also gave us some suggestions to refute some of the negative comments we encountered at the Planning Board Meeting.
Petition Results
Forest Oaks area: 151 signatures
The other signatures are presumably from the same area. But, the street names are not as easily recognizable as those included in the counts above.
As of 6/5/2007
Message from Rene Staley
Let's don't forget to continue sending emails to County Commissioners and Alma Adams. I have sent out an attachment with address info previously. If you do not have it please email me and I will resend.
More public awareness- We are going to launch a "Tie a Ribbon" campaign and will be working to get media coverage of this. We're thinking of using Blue Ribbons symbolic of clean air and water. We want to blanket the area-trees, mail boxes, lamp posts, car antennas. We will be selling the ribbon for a nominal fee to cover the cost of ribbon and put some funds into the account.
Contributions- Thank you to everyone who has send a check. Your support is greatly appreciated. But we're still a long way from our goal. Please, if you can send just a small contribution- 10 or 20 dollars, it will help.
Flyer- I am attaching a new flyer with info about the meeting and the fund for your reference. If any of you can print it out and distribute in your neighborhood it would be great.
Committees - We need volunteers. We have 2 committees. One is the strategy committee which meets with the attorney. It is composed of only a couple of people from each community. The second is to be a steering committee-a group to help coordinate fund raising, ribbon campaigns, meetings, etc, basically anything that needs to be done. If you can give some time for our cause it would be greatly appreciated. Please email me if you can help in any way. Noasphaltplant@yahoo.com
Thank you all for your work and words of encouragement. It will take all of us working together to defeat this thing, but I believe we have a good chance with the County Commissioners.
More later-
Rene
As of 5/9/2007
The Guilford County Planning Board voted 7-0 to approve both the rezoning from residential to heavy industrial and the special use permit for an asphalt plant.
What Now?
An appeal has been filed with the Guilford County Commissioners. The hearing will be August 23. Suggestions from the committee to stop the asphalt plant:
Contribute
Email or otherwise contact County Commissioners
Letters to the Editor
It is imperative that we draw attention to our battle against this plant. We cannot rely on yard signs and word of mouth alone to get our message out. We need ALL of Guilford County to be aware of what big business is trying to do to us. The County Commissioners do pay attention to the media--They read the N&R.
News & Record
Letters to the Rhino Times are also encouraged.
Rhino Times
District 58, NC House of Representatives
Guilford County Planning Department
I encourage everyone to send a letter to the Planning and Development Director, Mr. K. Greg Niles regarding the rezoning and the asphalt plant. Please, no email because it's just too easy to ignore!!! I realize snail mail takes a bit more time and effort, but I believe it will be much more effective and much more difficult to ignore.
K. Greg Niles
Director, Planning & Development
P O Box 3427
Greensboro, NC 27402
gniles@co.guilford.nc.us (if you must)
SUGGESTIONS:
- Traffic, safety, school children on buses and teenage drivers.
- NC DOT proposed 421 interchanges @ Williams Dairy Rd, and Woody Mill Rd, and the proposed closing of feeder roads (our shortcuts) onto 421- Hagan Stone Park Rd. and Harmont Rd.
- Heavy industrial zoning is not consistent with the current growth and development we are experiencing
- Environmental impact- this is an area I haven't had time to explore. I am sure the proponents of the asphalt plant have provided some comment on this issue.
Petition Drive
Thanks-
Rene Staley
5/9/07 PB Request:
Thanks to everyone who attended the February 14 Planning Board meeting. At that meeting, the Planning Board voted 4-3 to deny a rezoning request related to a proposed asphalt plant. About 200 area residents were there. Bill and Renee Staley were in the forefront of this effort, but had a lot of backup. Read on for more information on this subject.
News 2 Report and Video: Click HERE
Below is a collection of ideas and resources submitted in response to Lynco email alerts on the asphalt plant issue. In addition to input by Lynwood Lakes area residents, we heard from a number of persons in the Forest Oaks area and some of the comments below are from this source.
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1. Hold an emergency special session for Lynco to make sure that everyone in the neighborhood is aware of the situation (maybe tonight after the water/sewer discussion).
2. Reach out to the other home owners associations to make sure that they know what's going on along with their residents.
3. Make sure that any residential real estate developers building near us know what's going on. They should have some pull with the local county planners.
4. Letters to paper and news stations reminding them that fight is not over and that the rest of the community at large needs to hear the story.
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Some FACTS that should be presented to oppose the zoning:
1) How many school buses travel on Liberty Road - get that info from the Guilford County Transportation Office.
2) Get all the police reports of accidents involving the trucks from the businesses near the proposed asphalt plant area.
3) How many homes do we have in that are - including Lynwood Lakes and Forest Oaks area - and how far away are they from the proposed zoning area.
4) When are those accesses to 421 going to be closed in preparation for the new interstate on 421 - causing more traffic.