You see, it's no secret to those in the know that an automobile plant will never be brought to the site and public officials have already been quoted as saying the water and sewer provided by Greensboro will open up development all along the US 421 Corridor.
The project really is a give away to developers chomping at the bit to find more properties to develop without having to make major investments in water, sewer and other infrastructure.
So how can you stop the Megasite? From the News & Record:
"Requiring certain distances between farms and homes may be one way to balance the interests of farmers with those of residential property owners.
But Surry County does not have any rules that would establish such distances, also known as setbacks.
Neither does the state of North Carolina.In fact, state law exempts large-scale farms from county zoning ordinances that might require setbacks."
And then there's this:
"Counties do not have the authority to implement setback rules on large-scale chicken farms, according Adam Lovelady, an assistant professor of public law and government at UNC’s School of Government."
That's right, as long as your land is zoned Agricultural, neither Greensboro, Guilford County nor Randolph County has the legal authority to stop you from operating any size chicken farm. And almost every acre of the land in question is zoned Agricultural.
And no developer is going to build on properties located next door to a chicken farm.
Better yet, if chicken isn't your thing you can raise hogs. There are limitations on how many you can raise but you can raise enough to accomplish to goal.
Maybe it's time those who are in opposition to the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite pooled their resources and formed a farming co-op to put hogs and chickens on the lands most coveted by developers while raising vegetables and feed on the rest. Stop letting all that farm land go unused. That's how rural property get's taken in by developers.
That would get their goats.
Oh, by the way, a big enough pile of goat dung smells really strong too.
And here's a proven and really cheap way of raising chickens:
