neveryetmelted.com - First, Vermont; Then, Siler City

[Gene Galin]

First, Vermont; Then, Siler City
Culture Wars, Intolerance, North Carolina, The Elect, The Intelligentsia, The Left, Urban Versus Rural
17 Nov 2008

http://neveryetmelted.com/2008/11/17/first-vermont-then-siler-city/

Mark Stinson, in the Chatham (North Carolina) Journal, laments the invasion, and take-over, of Siler City by intolerant representatives of the contemporary community of fashion.

    We have a certain number of people that are transplanted here because they wanted some space. We have others that have money that wanted space too; that like the city life but want to live in the country. These people use their wealth to force the rest of us to do what they want. ...

    Bobby Smith of S&W Speed Shop in Siler City has occupied the same corner lot for almost 40 years. He has been a constant tax paying citizen and local fixture around this area. ...

    This brings me to the invasion of the jug making pot heads that want to turn Siler City into a smaller version of Chapel Hill. You see the arts incubator has grabbed a chunk of mid down town Siler City and proceeded to start transforming the town into a Chapel Hill / Carrboro clone. Bobby never in 40 years had one complaint about a vehicle sitting in his parking spots beside his shop or parts of vehicles stored in his lot behind his shop until the artsy bunch cleaned up town (as they put it) and located a pottery next to him. They have constantly whined and complained to the town forcing Bobby to move just about everything off his property to accommodate their desires to make downtown visually pleasing to them.

    Recently they sent a police officer because Bobby had his truck. which he is repairing sitting in his parking spot “turned the wrong way” and they didn’t like the looks of that truck so they wanted it gone. ...

    Kenny Clark is feeling the effects of their constant complaints as well and Clapp Brothers will be next on the hit list if something isn’t done to balance things out again. They have already complained about things such as shipping crates temporarily stored in Clapps lot.

    I personally love arts n crafts. I enjoy learning new ways to be creative but not at anyone else’s expense. If I want to see pottery I go to Jug Town where it is done the right way. I may be wrong, but in my opinion anyone can learn to make a pot. Not everyone can fix a bull dozer, build engines or repair a truck that helps members of our community make an honest living. ...

    does it make sense to bully the small established businesses out just because you want to make pots? The Arts incubator could never draw the kind of money some of these business have and never will. People involved with the Arts Incubator may have millions but that money isn’t being spread around the community. I was all excited about the arts incubator coming to Siler City until I saw how it grew to push people aside and trample those that are established in the community just to add “culture” to Chatham. ...

    I went through town to see a naked blue lady on top of a building, a half a naked man and a naked anatomically correct statue of a man on a street corner and honestly was upset. I don’t want my children to see such things in what is supposed to be a public place. I find it offensive. Is it better to be offended by art or annoyed with an eyesore of machine parts that are supposed to be outside a garage anyway?

By JDZ

One Feedback on "First, Vermont; Then, Siler City"
ruralcounsel

I was struck by the title to this piece, mostly because (1) I’m in Vermont, and (2) the town adjoining the one I live in, and which my farm sloshes over the boundary into by about 30 acres, is about to vote on a zoning change that will increase the minimum building lot size from 2 acres to 15 acres. (Shoreham VT)

This change, of course, is being advocated by those folks who generally own less than 15 acres to begin with, and who tend to be adjacent to larger farms. These folks tend to be “newcomers”, in the sense they are part of the hippie invasion of the 60’s and 70’s or they are more recent city dwellers who’ve migrated to the countryside …and as my neighbor puts it … “want to raise the drawbridge behind them” because now hat they are here, the want to control who else might show up.

This attempt to “buy the view” at someone else’s expense drives me and most of my fellow rural landowners up the wall.

This is a town whose population is significantly less than it was 150 years ago, and doesn’t have enough growth to warrant having a development plan. There are virtually no local jobs, so you’re either a farmer, a commuter, or retired.

This is, of course, a disaster to any farmer who retirement was based on the possibility of subdividing some of his land and selling building lots to the public. And, I might remind everyone, has paid taxes on this land for decades as if it were much more developable than it is now turning out to be.

It’s of questionable Contitutionality, since a change of this magnitude seems to be a “takings” of significant enough proportion to trigger the Takings Clause.

And finally, it’s just plan rude and inconsiderate by these zoning czars to come out here to the countryside and bring their top-down command and control socialist government model along with them.
17 Nov 2008 um 9:28 am

[Silk_Hope]

The Arts Incubator is a fine idea but what kind of tax revenues does it generate? I think Siler City needs to look at the busineses that have left and are left in town, the 300 houses for sale or forclosed on and the lack of growth. The town is dying, look at Farmers Alliance, Chatham Chevrolet, Joan Fabrics and the list goes on.

During a recent town meeting I was told that a woman that owns an insurance company expressed these views and the response was" If anyone is hungry, food is in the back."

[Snowball]

If those "jug-making potheads" were not leasing space downtown, those buildings would be vacant and casting even more of a pall on the local economy.

[Silk_Hope]

But do they have the right to regulate the S&W Speed Shop, the tire store and Clapp Brothers, all long time established businesses.

[snowcamper]

How's that $20,000 kiln working out then?

They've complained about Clapp Brothers?  These people need to get a grip and find greener pastures.  Clapp brothers is so essential to the maintenance of my place that I literally don't know what I'd do without them.

The people there are wonderful, helpful, and the business is such a part of downtown, that I can't imagine complaining about anything they do.

I drool every time I drive by and wish I had the money for another blue tractor, or some of the stranger implements they have out there.  An eye sore?  No!  A candy store.

The Vermont guy has it right too.  With our current crop of "drawbridge" county comissioners, individual freedom, long range plans, and personal property rights have go out the window in exchange for preferences and opinions.  That's not right and it's just soft in the head.

[peacefulcapitalist]

They've complained about Clapp Brothers?  These people need to get a grip and find greener pastures.  Clapp brothers is so essential to the maintenance of my place that I literally don't know what I'd do without them.

This is not a sentiment that is limited to Siler City.  Even that paragon of yuppie gentility has seen it.  A few years ago they floated a downtown overlay plan that would have required a car repair place at the most prominent corner in downtown to close.  Most of the town's residents rose up against it, pointing out old fashioned messy car repair places are essential to downtown, and btw that place had been there for years.

As far as I know, the car repair place is still there.

[randy]

Excellent post Gene

[girlfrompbo]

I think the Arts Incubator is a worthy thing, and I don't begrudge them the money for the kiln or whatever else.  The Arts Incubator is good for Siler City.

Still, it doesn't sound like they are being very cooperative neighbors!

[Silk_Hope]

How many jobs does the incubator produce? Are Siler City residents being employed? What happens if Clapp Brothers leaves, how many jobs are lost? 

[Snowball]

"They" don't regulate anything. The town council does. Any citizen can call city hall with a concern and it will be addressed pursuant to city structural codes.  If there's no violation, then nothing happens.

[snowcamper]

When I was a younger pup, there used to be this concept of a "busy-body"....that is someone who didn't mind their own business and was always up in someone else's.  These people were not respected, and were usually ignored if not outright told where they could store their ideas they kept wanting to push on everyone else.

Unfortunately, these people are given a platform today, and given the ear of those in power, whether they be the police, the comissioners, the media, whatever.  This seems like the case with the incubator folks.  They're given the sense that they should be busy bodies, so they go out an do it.  This particularly applies to folks from the North Eastern part of the county figuring they know what's best for the rest of us.  From them fighting the quarry south of Siler, to them planning the "corridor" ordinances for parts of the county where they'll never even see....

And this problem becomes particularly acute when the folks don't have to think about what they're doing to their neighbors because their livelihood is provided by the government.  We've had business owners on this board afraid to reveal who they really are because they're worried it might hurt business....but the retired and government employees certainly feel free to speak their minds...and go beyone the board to the real world.

I know too many small business owners who are too busy keeping their heads down to properly speak their minds about anything that remotely smells of the political.  Because of the busy bodies.  Because of folks, with nothing better to do, who might set up a protest, or post negative things on a BBS, or call the police because of some packing crates or a car parked at a funny angle...folks who have nothing to risk because they already have Uncle Sam taking care of them.

Whether the "mission" that the incubator has is worthwhile.  And whether you believe they are good for Siler or not, when they start messing with other people's businesses, money, and freedom, they need to stick it where the sun don't shine.

CR

[belle]

those of us who have lived in the NE for many decades fought the development forced on us, but we got it anyway, because the votes were there to defeat Phillips and give us Bunkey instead.

and now the development has been built out. all those thousands of new homes ate up our open space and wild life, and deposited @2 new VOTERS in every new house.

votes still work the same way. new voters have the same power as old voters. old voters chose to increase the population of the NE, and the NE gets to vote, too. every one living within the borders of Chatham has a vote on county business, and that means Siler, Bear Creek, and the quarry.

[snowcamper]

Again, having the right to do something and doing it are two different things.  Honest people, who really believed in "justice" would let the folks of Siler, and the folks in other parts of the county, be self-determinate.  They'd be free to vote and speak out on issues that directly affected themselves, but beyond that, they should mind their own business.

[belle]

Again, having the right to do something and doing it are two different things.  Honest people, who really believed in "justice" would let the folks of Siler, and the folks in other parts of the county, be self-determinate.  They'd be free to vote and speak out on issues that directly affected themselves, but beyond that, they should mind their own business.

that's how I felt about the development, but it is not how the real world of Chatham County works. you get to find out about that now.

[chathamartist1]

Snowcamper and all, DO YOU PERSONALLY KNOW ANYONE CONNECTED WITH THE ARTS INCUBATOR?   I do, and as far as I know ALL of them live in Chatham County and some of them live within the Siler City town limits.  Several galleries and studios have opened because of the Incubator.  ALL pay sales taxes and attract people FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD to Siler Ctiy.

As an artist (not working at the Incubator) I find many of the posts here insulting.   I am not a pothead, I believe I am considered a good neighbor, and I have added revenue through sale of my work.

For REAL info. go here http://www.ncartsincubator.org

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