By Alan Ferguson
Good
Afternoon, Everyone. You may now have heard that late last week the Chatham-Randolph
Megasite was certified as an industrial megasite by the State of North
Carolina. According to the Triad Business Journal, this means that the Chatham
site “has all necessary infrastructure and
engineering in place to be construction-ready within a year.” As of this afternoon, there is no indication
that the site yet has a manufacturer interested in building there. (Here is a
link to the Chatham-Randolph Site’s web site if you would like to see what they
have been doing down there: http://
Diane
Reid, the President of the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation
stated to the TBJ that she is now actively working with David Powell of the
Piedmont Triad Partnership and his executive committee to market the
property. Her target is an automobile
manufacturer. I wish her and Mr. Powell the very best of luck in their efforts.
The
question for us is what effect does any of this have on the efforts to
industrialize our own Greensboro-Liberty Megasite? No one is telling me. The obvious follow-up question concerns the
effect upon our efforts to oppose the development of the GLM.
I
believe the Chatham-Randolph certification changes nothing for us. We should assume that the efforts to
industrialize us will continue, and that the proponents of the project will
soon announce a renewed effort to secure taxpayer financing for the water and
sewer for the acres they now have under option but do not yet own. I believe we will hear nothing about their
wishes for and the necessity of rezoning the property for some time now.
So,
with all your support, our effort will continue. We expect delivery of an additional 200 “NO
MEGASITE HERE” signs tomorrow. They will
be available for pickup or delivery immediately afterwards, and will be available
at our next meeting. We expect to spread them widely throughout our area. We keep on doing what we have been doing.
Aside
from the additional signs, I have no news regarding our project. As of this afternoon, there are no title documents
recorded affecting ownership of any land within the GLM (other than the five acres Alpath Capital, LLC bought after a
foreclosure sale on the acreage this past March). As far as the public record reveals, all is
as it was in mid-2012 when I first became aware of this project.
The
only other related news concerns a tire company which just this week chose a
site for a new tire factory in Chester County, South Carolina south of
Charlotte. This is relevant because the company is rumored to have looked in
our area also. Here is a link to that site if you would like to take a look at
a site on which something is really happening, right now, complete with
acreage, utility and land pricing information:
http://www.
The
best to you all.
Alan Ferguson
President, Northeast Randolph Property Owners
Editor's note: For those who might not be aware, the Chatham-Randolph Megasite is a private for profit venture owned by DH Griffin Sr and the former owner of Greensboro's Tobacco USA whose name currently escapes me. The Greensboro-Liberty Megasite is a proposed taxpayer funded megasite that is located closer to the Chatham-Randolph Megasite than to Greensboro.
