Erin Kirkpatrick explains Historic Ventures vote

Town commissioner Erin Kirkpatrick was the only dissenting vote for the revised Historic Ventures project that passed in late March, previously mentioned here.

She wrote a letter to the editor of the Union County Weekly in the Apr 9th-15th issue. I was unable to find the text of the letter on the Union County Weekly website.

So in some rare downtime, I scanned the article from the paper & ran it through some OCR software to see what it could do.

The result was pretty good, although I had to go through the whole thing to check for words that inexplicably couldn't be converted to text. Since I went to all this trouble, I figured I might as well share it here for posterity's sake.

Without further ado, here's town commissioner Erin Kirkpatrick's letter to the editor explaining her dissenting vote, preserved here for posterity's sake.

Historic Ventures project wrong for downtown Waxhaw

The availability of county water and sewer couldn't and shouldn't be sagely dismissed. The Historic Ventures project application with the submitted density and layout lacks harmony due to its scale, density and misinterpretation of the intent of Waxhaw's Comprehensive Plan. This parcel is located immediately adjacent to historic single-family homes. The applicant was unwilling to increase the vegetation buffer to 50 feet to help minimize sound, light and visual disruptions.

The project was resubmitted with virtually minimal change from the initial conditional-use permit zoning application. The multifamily and day care uses were removed, but proposed uses didn't replace them. A rezoning applicant should perform due diligence by submitting all uses. Fortunately, a condition was placed for the undesignated portion that prevents the applicant from submitting (another) plan for those areas for a minimum of two years.

My third rationale for voting against the rezoning at this time was due to the foreseeable traffic congestion I believe will severely impede motorists accessing our historic Main Street corridor, To that extent, the project as proposed has taken on the role of a foreground versus a background to our historic Main Street and actually shifts focus onto the
applicant's project versus our downtown core. Our town has been focusing on reviving this district.

Last, the intent behind smart, sustainable growth is to minimize impact on natural areas and not necessarily to create urban settings. This doesn't mean density should be the same as a large city but rather a potentially higher density compared to Waxhaw's existing density. The Historic Ventures project proposed roughly 18,000 square feet per acre of structure, equating to 200,000 square feet total with more to come. This figure is comparable to big-box development. Traffic for this size development has been determined in the past to be more than our main artery can accommodate with current infrastructure, especially given our railroad challenge. This was a pivotal time for Waxhaw to determine what the increased density for Waxhaw should be.

Finally, the Historic Ventures project doesn't offer much by way of green design, which is clearly the intent of the Waxhaw Comprehensive Plan in exchange for density increase. This project doesn't tread lightly on Waxhaw's culture, history or natural environs.

Councilwoman Erin Kirkpatrick
Waxhaw

Waxhaw 5K getting close

The town appears to be gearing up for Friday's 5K (mentioned previously here & here). The boys keep calling it "mom's race" since my wife will be running her first 5K.

Whether you're running or not, here's a map of the route (and therefore street closures) that may be useful to have.

After carefully studying the map, I've found a few places where if my wife does an abrupt yet surreptitious U-turn, she may be able to win this thing. The intersection of Blythe Mill Road & North Providence Street comes to mind.

New Verizon Wireless store coming to Waxhaw

And the grand opening is the same day as this Friday's Waxhaw 5k, which will run right past the store. Assuming the store will stay open to possibly lure in both the pre & post race crowd, could this be described as "pure marketing genius"?

Found this press release before I realized I need to sew on a Cub Scout patch before I go to bed tonight (thus this is tonight's last post as I'm not a fast sewer of patches despite what numerous townsfolk may attest to).

GREENVILLE, N.C., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A Wireless, an Exclusive Premium Retailer for Verizon Wireless, announced today the plans for the opening of their 100th retail store on April 30, 2010 in Waxhaw, N.C. A Wireless now has 100 locations across seven states. The newest retail store is located at 1100 N. Broome Street in Waxhaw. The phone number to the store is 704-243-8411. The store manager is Les Devatt. The district manager is Ed Kuykendall.

Supposedly there will be some drawings, deals, and refreshments for those of you into grand openings or in need of a Verizon Wireless phone or accessory.

Soldiers for Babies march update

Small update on the Soldiers for Babies I highlighted here & here. WSOC also did a story providing a little more details plus short video interview with Sgt. Jay Monismith.

Normally, Emily’s brother-in-law, Jay Monismith, walks with them, but he is currently serving in Iraq. However, being overseas didn’t prevent Monismith from showing his support. He planned his own walk, rallying 125 troops to support the cause.

“I talked to my boss and asked if we could walk that morning in remembrance of Sarah and he said, ‘Yes, sure,’” Monismith said.

The idea took off after Monismith’s initial request.“[My supervisor] said, ‘Why don't we do this on a larger scale? Let's do like a fun run/walk,’" Monismith said. “The Army doesn't do anything slow, so we were running the whole way."

For those interested in helping Sgt Monismith and the Soldiers for Babies team reach their goals of $5000 (and there's quite a way to go), please consider donating at their respective pages: here and here.

CMC-Union sale coming to a boil

The Enquirer-Journal has an article on a recent county commissioners meeting & the hubbub surrounding the sale of CMC-Union continues unabated.

MONROE-- Emotions spilled over as people hurled accusations at one another over a proposed hospital sale or lease extension.

Commissioners expressed frustration over half-truths and outright lies; area residents demanded that commissioners not sell the hospital and candidates energized a crowd of about two dozen who filled a county board of commissioners meeting, angry at a potential sale of Carolinas Medical Center - Union.

Since the sale of CMC-Union is playing such an important role in delaying CMC-Waxhaw, I figured it'd be worth mentioning. I'm not particularly impressed with the article as it makes no attempt to detail the "half-truths and outright lies" to which it refers so take it for what it's worth.

On a side note, Mark DiBiasio (I link to his Village Scribe site in my sidebar) is taking quite the active role in pushing his point of view, but it was clear he's injected himself into this story long ago even if you skim his blog or the Union County Health Care Watch site he set up. He was apparently the only speaker arguing for the sale, so is quoted extensively in the article.

I'm still looking for a reasonable explanation of this whole mess. Something akin to an Idiot's Guide, but from a relaiable narrator of course.

New Town Spring Festival on April 24th

New Town Elementary is having their Spring Festival on April 24th from 10a-4p.

If sounds a lot like Waxhaw Elementary Spring Fling (held on May 1st this year), which means the little ones will likely have a good time.

More specifics on the New Town Spring Festival is available at the PTA's site.

Spring Fest coming May 15th & 16th

One event that's been very well publicized in Waxhaw is the Spring Fest. Signs are up around town & notice has been posted on the town website one month in advance.

As a Waxhaw blogger, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention it.