Actually, we are advising anyone that wants to oppose the BOC decision to block immigration enforcement to avoid working with Heather Johnson or CCV while she is playing a lead roll in it. Heather completely screwed the proverbial pooch on these operations.
While ALIPAC has conducted successful operations around the state and nation, we got off on the wrong foot because Heather Johnson invited me to speak at her CCV meeting and I did not know how duplicitous and inexperienced in leadership she was.
She has spent most of her time attacking me and ALIPAC because she wants to gain some local political power and was upset that me and my organization garnered so much attention instead of her.
We are advising our people to avoid CCV and Heather and soon enough, most of the people in CCV (many of which recently joined due to my participation earlier) will be advised of Heather's open and destructive attacks on me and ALIPAC here and in the local papers.
Highly unprofessional and immature actions from Heather cost us most of the momentum in Chatham.
To date, Heather Johnson has been the most negative experience I've ever had working with someone that was supposed to be on our side of the issue in the four years Ive been doing this around the nation.
Hopefully, some new leadership will arise in Chatham or even within CCV that will displace Heather and her antics so progress can be made.
W
William, I'm all for your organization goal to simply uphold Legal Immigration and is a lawful and honorable thing to strive for in upholding the laws of our great nation. But I'm a member of the CCV and the Chatham Commissioners ICE Resolutoin that was totally a irresponsible decision along with Sheriff Webster who supported the Resolutoin. Every citizen of Chatham County that I've spoke with personally had agreed 100% that the Commissioners had no business passing such a Resolutoin. But the CCV has many other issues we our fighting for in our county and will not make just one resolutoin our main priority. We also have many issues we are working on as if you can see by visiting our public web site
http://www.tccv.org/. The next item we are taking up is as follows
Republican party brainstorming session March 17
Land Grab AKA Chatham County Overlay Districts
Petition to rescind illegal immigrant resolution
Liquor By The Drink Confusion
Open Government
Civil Discourse and Illegal Immigration
LTE from a Chatham GOP member
Alert Center
This is our next Focus item we are bringing to the Public's Attention;
Land Grab AKA Chatham County Overlay Districts
Written by Chuck
Friday, 06 March 2009
For a long time now, people in Chatham County have been concerned with ensuring the right type of growth occurs in the right places. There are many reasons for this and it is a noble goal. However, the definition of "right" is highly subjective and a comprehensive solution that encourages growth, preserves Chatham County, and statisfies everyone has been very difficult to find.
The latest plan on the block goes by many names. At the Chatham County web site, you can find the official documents on a page labeled Proposed Plan for Major Corridors. Some of us refer to this plan with the nickname Land Grab.
Dr Michael Sanera from the John Locke Foundation has done extensive research into this proposal. Following are two articles he has written along with links to more information.
Chatham County’s Land Grab: A selfish elite is trying to take over 23,000 acres for their personal benefit
Chatham County’s proposed Corridor Overlay District ordinance, if adopted, represents a radical land-use plan that would allow county government to take control of over 23,000 acres of private land without financial compensation.
The “Scenic Overlay” part of the ordinance would transfer over 23,000 acres of private property from private control by landowners to political control by planners and the most powerful interest group in the county.
The “Overlay Nodes” that the ordinance would establish would restrict most retail business to ten specific areas of the county, which would severely limit the supply of land for commercial and retail developments to less than 7.5 percent of the county’s land, thereby making a few landowners very rich.
The ordinance would also make starting or expanding a business extremely costly, which would severely limit the ability of Chatham County entrepreneurs to start or expand businesses.
As a direct result of those high costs, if the ordinance were adopted, Chatham County residents should not be surprised if only national chain stores open in the county.
Additionally, such high costs would inhibit competition, driving up prices primarily for rural residents. Businesses outside the county and in the cities in the county would benefit from the higher prices caused by this lack of competition.
The ordinance would give county planners enormous discretionary power to interfere with landowners’ ability to use their land. This arbitrary and capricious rule by planners would provide opportunities for graft and corruption.
Finally, this ordinance would unjustly take private property without financial compensation, thereby imposing costs on some landowners for the benefit of an elite that believes its aesthetic vision justifies the use of governmental force.
Author: Dr. Michael Sanera
Download PDF file: Chatham County’s Land Grab: A selfish elite is trying to take over 23,000 acres for their personal benefit (461 k)
Chatham corridor plan would hurt most affected landowners
RALEIGH -- Chatham County landowners would bear the costs of a "radical" land-use plan designed to benefit a small, politically connected elite. That's the conclusion of a new John Locke Foundation Regional Brief.
Click here to view and here to listen to Michael Sanera discussing this Regional Brief.
"Chatham County's proposed Corridor Overlay District would impose dramatic restrictions on people's freedoms and property rights," said report author Dr. Michael Sanera, JLF Research Director and Local Government Analyst. "The ordinance would result in a large-scale coercive wealth transfer. Whether intended or not, it would have a 'Robin Hood in reverse' effect, benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor."
County commissioners are considering the Corridor Overlay District plan, which is billed as a tool for maintaining Chatham's rural character, protecting open space, promoting economic development, and improving property values. It would "strictly control" use of privately owned land along 60 miles of the county's major roadways, Sanera said.
"The proposed district ordinance would allow county government to take control of more than 23,000 acres of private land without having to pay the land's owners," he said. "It would also force most, if not all, new commercial and retail development into 10 designated intersections along major county roadways. These intersections, or nodes, contain little more than 7 percent of the county land outside existing cities and natural areas."
The new ordinance would do more than just limit the location of future development, Sanera said. "The county would also prescribe the type of development acceptable in these designated nodes," he said. "Regulations would control the size, location, and proportion of new buildings, along with the location of sidewalks, parking, and landscaping. The rules would even limit the heights and widths of windows and doors and specify the types of trees and shrubs permitted for mandatory landscaped buffers."
Property owners would face even more restrictions in the 60 miles of major roadway covered by a 3,000-foot-wide scenic overlay district, Sanera said. "These new rules would create severe restrictions of the supply of land," he said. "Land prices in the nodes would skyrocket, benefiting a lucky few landowners. Meanwhile, landowners along the major corridors who sit outside the nodes would suffer a large loss of land value. A cash-poor, land-rich property owner would suffer the most damage."
Property owners in the nodes or within the areas covered by the scenic overlay district would be forced to get a conditional-use permit from the county for all new nonresidential development, large subdivisions, and mixed-use projects, he added.
"This provision places a great deal of discretionary power in the hands of county planners and commissioners," Sanera said. "It sets up a relationship in which landowners who should be free to use what is rightfully theirs in ways they see fit would be forced instead to act like medieval peasants groveling toward the king with hat in hand."
"Ambiguous language would help county officials reject any planned development that they deem to be inconsistent with the county's 'rural character,'" he added. "Commissioners would be free to justify imposing their personal preferences. Given these extremely broad grants of power, it is likely that landowners will face major injustices."
This type of ordinance opens the door for problems, Sanera said. "The process leaves plenty of room for graft and corruption," he said. "Those who control the county commission can benefit fellow members of the Chatham County elite."
One bizarre consequence of the new land-use rules would involve the types of business that would sprout up along Chatham County's major roadways, Sanera said. "Along with high land prices, the nodes would carry so many stringent development requirements that local entrepreneurs and their families would not be able to afford the development costs," he said. "Only a national chain store such as Home Depot or Wal-Mart would have the resources to cover those costs before recouping them through sales."
Chatham County is considering this land-use plan largely to offer a presumed aesthetic benefit to people driving through the county, Sanera said. "This plan would place all of the costs on the property owners and give all of the supposed benefits to those who use the roadways, most of whom would pay no cost."
If county commissioners believe scenic buffers are in the public interest, the county should pay for the buffers, Sanera said. "Justice requires them to use tax money to buy property or easements from affected property owners," he said. "The county should buy and plant any trees required for the buffer. That way landowners would not be forced to pay all the costs for supposed benefits shared by all county residents."
Sanera recommends another step before commissioners move forward. "Any radical land-use plan such as this one would create a drastic change in Chatham County's future development," he said. "The idea should be put to an advisory vote of county residents, rather than a vote of a temporary majority of county commissioners."
Michael Sanera's Regional Brief, "Chatham County's Land Grab: A selfish elite is trying to take over 23,000 acres for its personal benefit," is available at the JLF Web site. For more information, please contact Sanera at (919) 828-3876 or
msanera@johnlocke.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . To arrange an interview, contact Mitch Kokai at (919) 306-8736 or
mkokai@johnlocke.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
We by no means our giving up on getting the ICE Resolutoin re scened, but it's one of many issues we our giving our free time to educate the Chatham County citizens.
I hope you may find volunteers for your organization that our willing to give 100% of their time fighting for Legal Immigration, but I have several other issues that also affect our great county. I wish you the best in your fight and hope for your cause as I would hope you wish the CCV and GOP and others in theirs, their all noble cause to be involved in. Heather Johnson is a honest and valued member of our county and a friend. Rock on
