October 12, 2017
STANDING UP FOR RURAL AMERICA
What's New on the Site.
Rezoning to Heavy Industrial by the County (See "News" for January 7, 2016)
Proposed Electrical Transmission Line Right-Of-Way (See "Letters to Members", June 30, 2016)
Meeting Regarding Electrical Right-Of-Way ("News", August 25, 2016)
New Meeting on Power Line Right-Of-Way for September 13, 2016 ("Letters to Members", September 2, 2016)
Water Line and Sewer Line Delayed ("News", January 14, 2017)
The Real Reason for the Megasite Project ("News", October 12, 2017)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
I. We Have Property Rights Too
II. Why We Came Together
III. "Megasites"
IV. Northeastern Randolph As A Megasite
V. Costs and Land Prices for Similar Sites In The Southeast
A. Failed Clarksville, Tennessee megasite
B. Jefferson County, Tennessee, formerly proposed site
C. BMW in Spartanburg
D. Volkswagen in Chattanooga
E. North State Ports Authority, Brunswick County, NC
F. Fosters Crossroads Site in Lancaster County, South Carolina
G. Mercedes Plant, Vance, Alabama
VI. Cost Per Job For Automotive Megasite Projects
VII. Manufacturing’s False Promise of a Decent Payday
VIII. Discounting the Importance of Incentives
IX. Other Available Sites Around the United States
X. Randolph County's Official Growth Management Plan
XI. What We Have Now As Stewards
I. We Have Property Rights Too
II. Why We Came Together
III. "Megasites"
IV. Northeastern Randolph As A Megasite
V. Costs and Land Prices for Similar Sites In The Southeast
A. Failed Clarksville, Tennessee megasite
B. Jefferson County, Tennessee, formerly proposed site
C. BMW in Spartanburg
D. Volkswagen in Chattanooga
E. North State Ports Authority, Brunswick County, NC
F. Fosters Crossroads Site in Lancaster County, South Carolina
G. Mercedes Plant, Vance, Alabama
VI. Cost Per Job For Automotive Megasite Projects
VII. Manufacturing’s False Promise of a Decent Payday
VIII. Discounting the Importance of Incentives
IX. Other Available Sites Around the United States
X. Randolph County's Official Growth Management Plan
XI. What We Have Now As Stewards
I. We Have Property Rights Too.
A big part of that bundle of property rights that we and our ancestors have enjoyed since about 1215 is the right to enjoy our property without someone coming in and taking it or, nearly as bad, fooling folks into selling out for prices far beneath the true worth of their land. "We are from the Government, and we are here to help you": gosh, we sure wish that we who are now forced into protecting ourselves in the Northeast Randolph Property Owners had never heard that phrase from the urban developers and their friends in Government who are upon us now.
We are a group of property owners and residents of northeastern Randolph County and its surroundings, and those who support them and their principles, who are interested in preserving the high quality of their rural way of life. Each member either makes their home upon land in our area, owns property there, or supports the goals and activities of the property owners. We are concentrated northwest of Liberty, around US 421, Old 421, Troy Smith Road, and Browns Meadow Road. Some of us are the descendants of folks who farmed this land long ago and raised generations on their family land. These families were born, lived and died here.
Each one of us believes that our little refuge in the heart of rural America gives the average person a very good chance at a high quality of life. Most of us have put a lot of sweat and sometimes blood and tears into the improvement of properties that each of us believe are unique and valuable in a way that is special only to those who hold them or live upon them. We have become upset that our homes are referred to by urban developers as "undeveloped". Many of us could live in any of a number of other places, but we chose to live in northeastern Randolph County. Each member of NERPO is glad to be where he or she is, and is eager to continue life there. This is where we will make our stand in life.
For goodness sake, we are certainly not against jobs. There are no members of our group who do not or have not during their working years had to work for a living. And no one gave us "incentives" or bailed us out of trouble when it came our way. But we do believe that there are some costs to pay that are too high for the good things that our tax money can purchase.
II. Why We Came Together.
During the summer of 2012, a number of area residents began receiving notices that an unnamed party was interested in buying our property. In particular, the mailbox-notices stated that a local real estate agent was interested in talking to property owners about selling out. When appointments were made, and the meetings occurred, property owners were told that they were being asked to give an "option to purchase" to a party as yet unnamed. Residents were also asked for their silence regarding the details of the solicitation process, and were told that secrecy was a pre-condition before price could be discussed.
The reason given for the prospective purchase of our properties was that "someone" was interested in putting together something called a "megasite" in the hope of attracting an automotive manufacturer to the area for the purpose of constructing and operating an automobile assembly plant.
That is everything we could find out, and many of us became alarmed. Who was behind all of this? The Federal government? The State government? Randolph County? Or was it just some people who stood to make a lot of money speculating in rural property by fooling us into selling cheap ? Was someone lining us up for an attempt to take our property through the exercise of eminent domain? There was no one to ask, other than the one agent who had been sent around to contact property owners and he wasn't saying much. And there were a lot of rumors swirling around. We could uncover nothing else about numbers, names, motives or time lines for the proposed project.
Our response was to get busy and to come together and start researching as to the unknown plans outsiders had been making for our homes and properties. We called a meeting, discussed the profoundness of our ignorance and organized and incorporated a limited liability company called "Northeast Randolph Property Owners". Our stated purpose was to educate ourselves regarding the plans for us, and to communicate with public officials and any private parties interested in our properties about our own plans.
III. Megasites.
Our first job was to find out what government officials and industry mean when they use the term, "megasite". We found that the term refers to a tract consisting of at least 1,000 acres with water, sewer, highway and rail access such as would support a large industrial enterprise. Our area, consisting of more than sixty parcels of land, had been targeted for megasite development. Here is a link containing more general information about megasites. http://www.tvaed.com/pdf/bus-facil-meaning-megasites.pdf
IV. Our Northeast Randolph As A Megasite.
We learned that an organization called the "Piedmont Triad Partnership", headquartered in Greensboro, NC, was one of the entities interested in our land, and that a shell company called "Alpath Capital, LLC" had been incorporated with the purpose of acquiring our property. We found out from a search of public records that Alpath seemed to be doing nothing that was visible, as there were no recorded documents in its name in the office of the Randolph County Register of Deeds.
Who identified our Randolph County property to begin with as a megasite? At a February, 2014 meeting of the Alamance County Board of County Commissioners, the PTP's "Haystack" megasite project was discussed. Mike Solomon with Timmons Engineering spoke to the merits of the Haystack project. During the course of that talk, he made some comments about the Greensboro-Liberty Megasite. He stated that he had been hired by the "about three years ago" to find a megasite for them, and that "one Saturday morning at my kitchen table" he had located the property now proposed as the GLM. He further stated that it represented "the best site in the South".
We also learned that our properties had recently been openly discussed on a weekly business program on the local NPR station, where the speaker reported that the worry was that we might find out what was planned and raise the price we would accept for the purchase of our properties. The following link was to a clip of that radio program where you could have heard therecording. http://wfdd.org/audio/news/WFDD_News_120525_Looking_for_a_Megasite.mp3 Unfortunately, this site has been taken down since we posted it. This seems to emphasize our point regarding the strategy of deceiving property owners by keeping information regarding the value of their property from them. We leave this site up here as a reminder of that strategy.
We also learned that the same Greensboro attorney, David Joseph, who incorporated Alpath Capital also incorporated another limited liability company, "NC Megasites, LLC", and that this new company is now (as of February, 2014) the legal entity under which PTP intend to attempt to acquire title to the indentified property.
Now, through the hard effort of our members, we know we don't want this project, and we have come to see this project for what it is, an Urban Developer-driven effort to acquire rural property for a song, and then do with as whomever are the new owners may please. We now know that there is no end user for this land, and that no one really has anything more than a crystal ball with which to pronounce upon the future for taken lands.
The following map shows the original perimeter around the targeted properties and a hypothetical factory scheme.
The following map shows the original perimeter around the targeted properties and a hypothetical factory scheme.
Here are outlines of the targeted properties.
V. Costs and Land Prices For Similar Sites In the Southeast.
We have learned of similar projects to that proposed for us. Here are the facts regarding those costs per acre.
A. Failed Clarksville Tennessee Megasite. Megasite projects do not always succeed, even after the expenditure of extraordinary sums of money. Recently, Montgomery County paid about $17,000 per acre for approximately 1200 acres of farmland, totaling up a purchase price of $20,000,000. The State of Tennessee kicked in millions more to turn the agricultural land into industrial land. Government then gave the land it had bought and upfitted to a company called "Hemlock Semiconductor". Hemlock spent $1.2 billion more dollars building a plant on the site, and hire workers to man the plant. On March 4, 2013, Hemlock announced it was firing everyone and closing the plant permanently, blaming, you guessed it, "global trade problems". Local folks now have an empty factory on their hands producing nothing but weeds, paying no taxes whatever, and purchasing no local good and services. These gambles do not always pay off. Here's the link to the story.
B. Defeated Effort In Jefferson County (Knoxville), Tennessee . In early 2013, Jefferson County, Tennessee government officials announced an effort to assemble a megasite in the countryside outside of Knoxville. The size and specifications of the site were similar to our own. The bait for the project was an automobile plant. The government there commissioned an "Economic Impact Analysis" to study the costs and benefits of the project. Now, for the first time, we have some 2013 numbers to apply to our own prospective site. Here are the numbers from the Jefferson County megasite estimating the expense to the taxpayer of assembling, building and recruiting an industrial occupant for this site:
$60 Million to buy the land and "for infrastructure and site development [page 3 of study]
$246.6 Million of "additional public fund" [page 3 of study]
$340.6 Million of property taxes "abated" (not paid on the value of the private enterprises property) over a 30
year period. [page 4 of study] That's a total taxpayer outlay of $657,200,000. That's right, million.
The residents of Jefferson County stood up and loudly said "No Thank You" to their own unelected economic development planners. Recently, their Government officials withdrew their support for the project! It can be done!
C. There is a BMW factory near Spartanburg, South Carolina, built back in the early 1990's and expanded several times since then. We were impressed that the state of South Carolina paid $37,000,000 for the original 900 acres of land composing this tract, and that twenty years ago. We were equally impressed that that math came to $41,111 per acre in 1992 dollars!. Here is the link to a story about that acquistion from the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/26/realestate/focus-greer-sc-making-millionaires-of-southern-farmers.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
D. Volkswagen built a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee more recently, apparently with substantial incentives from the State of Tennessee. We were particularly interested to learn that this property had been valued after its acquistion at approximately $80,000 per acre! Here is a link to a story about the assembly of this property. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/sep/24/chattanooga-state-cash-flows-vw/?volkswagen
E. Closer to home, the State bought a parcel with features similar to our own. While not a "megasite" along the lines of that proposed for our area, an approximate 600 acre parcel or rural, agricultural and woodland in Brunswick County was purchased in 2006 by the North State Ports Authority from Pfizer, Inc., the international drug company. According to the state tax stamps shown on the face of the recorded deed, our own State paid $30,000,000 for this parcel. That's roughly $50,000 per acre right here in North Carolina for vacant farmland. As are the plans for our area, we presume that the State has plans to industrialize this parcel as part of an expansion of the State ports facilities near Wilmington. Whatever the proposed use, the price paid would indicate that the property was valued as industrial property and not so as to preserve it as farmland. (This deed was recorded April 12, 2006 in Book 2369, Page 907 in the office of the Brunswick County Register of deeds.) Following is a copy of the first page of that deed which proves by the "tax stamps" the price paid property. It's interesting that if this per acreage fair value were paid to the human beings who own our lands, as it was paid to international drug giant Pfizer, the total cost of our lands would be over $100,000,000!
There is an interesting update to this would be mega-project. Nothing has yet been done with the state's investment in this land. Recently, a proposal was made that the site be made into a new state park, as there were no takers for this land, and it appears that it will remain as it is for some time. As one of the trustees for the Ports Authority remarked, there is no on else coming forward with an offer to pay us $30,000,000 for the property. So goes state land speculation.
F. Fosters Crossroads, Lancaster County, South Carolina
This one is instructive regarding land values for properties being marketed as megasites. Attached is the listing sheet published by the State of South Carolina. Note that this site is being marketed for industrial lots from 5 to over 3,000 acres, and that the price is $20,000 to $25,000 per acre. It has no sewer, no natural gas, no railroad, and no four lane divided highway access. It seems in every way inferior to the Greensboro-Liberty Megasite. Here is the link to the listing:
http://carolinasi77megasite.com/pdfs/34-Foster_Crossrds_Ind_Site.pdf
http://carolinasi77megasite.com/pdfs/34-Foster_Crossrds_Ind_Site.pdf
G. Mercedes Plant, Vance, Alabama
Not long ago, we discovered a report about the economic and social impact of the 1993 decision of Alabama state government to provide incentives to attract a Mercedes assembly plant to the little town of Vance, Alabama. Vance lies about half-way along the forty or so miles between the cities of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. The effects of this project seemed so much like those against which we have been warning for over a year now that we have decided to quote the story in its entirety. Highlights include the paucity of benefits to the immediately surrounding area, the high cost to local and county governments, and the taxation required to pay for the incentives demanded by Mercedes. The facts most relevant to the Greensboro-Liberty Megasite project are highlighted in yellow. Here it is.
H. Whites Kennel Road, Burlington, NC
This is a 90-acre "certified" industrial site near Burlington in Alamance County.
The price: $42,000 per acre. Here is the link to the listing itself.
The price: $42,000 per acre. Here is the link to the listing itself.
| accessnc.commerce.state.nc.us_ncdoc_search_marketingreport_1.pdf |
I. Sheetz Distribution Center, Alamance County
These two Alamance County parcels have now been united to form the new Sheetz Distribution Center, which will soon be under construction on Whites Kennel Road. Each recorded deed, from December, 2012, is attached. The details, taken from the recorded deeds, are as follows:
1. 16.358 acre parcel; sales price $649,000; price per acre $39,674.
2. 28.253 acre parcel; sales price $871,000; price per acre $30,828.
1. 16.358 acre parcel; sales price $649,000; price per acre $39,674.
2. 28.253 acre parcel; sales price $871,000; price per acre $30,828.
| sheetz_deed_1_1.pdf |
| sheetz_deed_2_1.pdf |
J. Highway 311, Randleman
Here's a listing by H. R. Gallimore for an "undeveloped" property near Randleman, which the listing calls a"great industrial location". It is on a two-lane road, with no rail and no improvements, and he's got this one listed at $28,571.43 per acre. This is one of the best examples yet of what we have been talking about for months.
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17906231/00-Island-Ford-Road-Highway-311-Randleman-NC/
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17906231/00-Island-Ford-Road-Highway-311-Randleman-NC/
K. Walmart Distribution Center, Alamance
The central 38 acres of the Walmart Distribution Center property over in Alamance just sold for over $39,000 per acre. Attached is a copy of that deed.
| alamance-walmart_deed.pdf |
VI. Cost Per Job For Automotive Megasite Projects
Part of our continuing struggle to convince County Government to formally withdraw its support of the Greensboro-Liberty Megasite, is the study of the true costs of these large public projects. An illuminating study was published in June of this year.* The authors examined 240 publicly subsidized projects which they described as “megadeals”, and defined as projects for which state and local subsidies of $75 million were given.
The average cost per job (dividing the number of projected jobs by the subsidy given away) is $456,000. (pg. i). The cost per job was more than $1 million in 18 of these projects! (pg. 2). Here are the auto assembly plants which have been subsidized, the amounts given, and the cost per job:
Ford, Kentucky $240,000,000 1800 jobs $133,333 per job
Ford, Michigan $151,236,000 13,740 jobs $11,006 per job
Ford, Michigan $174,700,000 4700 jobs $37,170 per job
Ford, Missouri $150,000,000 3900 jobs $38,461 per job
Ford, Ohio $83,400,000 2000 jobs $41,700 per job
GM, Michigan $98,900,000 1500 jobs $65,933 per job
GM, Michigan $284,600,000 2800 jobs $101,642 per job
GM, Michigan $1,015,500,000 1200 jobs $864,250 per job
GM, Missouri $336,800,000 1260 jobs $267,301 per job
GM, Ohio $82,100,000 3900 jobs $21,051 per job
Honda, Alabama $158,000,000 1500 jobs $105,333 per job
Honda, Alabama $89,700,000 2000 jobs $44,850 per job
Kia, Georgia $410,000,000 2500 jobs $164,000 per job
Mazda, Michigan $125,000,000 3500 jobs $35,714 per job
Mercedes, Alabama $119,300,000 * 2000 jobs $59,650 per job
Nissan, Mississippi $1,250,000,000 4000 jobs $312,500 per job
Nissan, Tennessee $200,000,000 2000 jobs $100,000 per job
Nissan, Tennessee $230,000,000 1275 jobs $180,392 per job
Toyota, Kentucky $147,000,000 3000 jobs $49,000 per job
Toyota, Kentucky $146,500,000 750 jobs $195,333 per job
Toyota, Mississippi $354,000,000 2000 jobs $177,000 per job
Toyota, Texas $133,000,000 2000 jobs $66,500 per job
Volkswagen, Tenn. $554,000,000 2000 jobs $277,000 per job
*Initial incentive only.
(from pages 25 and 26).
One in ten of the megadeal payments was made to subsidize the relocation of an existing facility. (pg. i). North Carolina recently gave MetLife more than $100 million to move various pieces of its operation to our state, from other parts of America.
56 of the 240 subsidy payments were to foreign companies. Since auto makers have been mentioned for our site, the foreign companies receiving subsidies, and the amounts given are as follows:
Nissan, $1.778 billion
Toyota, $780.5 million
Volkswagen, $654 million
Hyundai (and Kia), $644.6 million
Mercedes, $553.3 million
Honda, $389.2 million
(all on pg. 13)
Over $64 billion has been given away by state and local governments in these projects since 1980. (pg.1). North Carolina has given away $1,569,600,000, spread over 8 of these projects. (pg. 3).
*Good Jobs First, “Megadeals: The largest Economic Development Subsidy Packages Ever Awarded by state and Local Governments in the United States”, by Philip Mattera and Kasia Tarczynska and Greg LeRoy, June, 2013.
The average cost per job (dividing the number of projected jobs by the subsidy given away) is $456,000. (pg. i). The cost per job was more than $1 million in 18 of these projects! (pg. 2). Here are the auto assembly plants which have been subsidized, the amounts given, and the cost per job:
Ford, Kentucky $240,000,000 1800 jobs $133,333 per job
Ford, Michigan $151,236,000 13,740 jobs $11,006 per job
Ford, Michigan $174,700,000 4700 jobs $37,170 per job
Ford, Missouri $150,000,000 3900 jobs $38,461 per job
Ford, Ohio $83,400,000 2000 jobs $41,700 per job
GM, Michigan $98,900,000 1500 jobs $65,933 per job
GM, Michigan $284,600,000 2800 jobs $101,642 per job
GM, Michigan $1,015,500,000 1200 jobs $864,250 per job
GM, Missouri $336,800,000 1260 jobs $267,301 per job
GM, Ohio $82,100,000 3900 jobs $21,051 per job
Honda, Alabama $158,000,000 1500 jobs $105,333 per job
Honda, Alabama $89,700,000 2000 jobs $44,850 per job
Kia, Georgia $410,000,000 2500 jobs $164,000 per job
Mazda, Michigan $125,000,000 3500 jobs $35,714 per job
Mercedes, Alabama $119,300,000 * 2000 jobs $59,650 per job
Nissan, Mississippi $1,250,000,000 4000 jobs $312,500 per job
Nissan, Tennessee $200,000,000 2000 jobs $100,000 per job
Nissan, Tennessee $230,000,000 1275 jobs $180,392 per job
Toyota, Kentucky $147,000,000 3000 jobs $49,000 per job
Toyota, Kentucky $146,500,000 750 jobs $195,333 per job
Toyota, Mississippi $354,000,000 2000 jobs $177,000 per job
Toyota, Texas $133,000,000 2000 jobs $66,500 per job
Volkswagen, Tenn. $554,000,000 2000 jobs $277,000 per job
*Initial incentive only.
(from pages 25 and 26).
One in ten of the megadeal payments was made to subsidize the relocation of an existing facility. (pg. i). North Carolina recently gave MetLife more than $100 million to move various pieces of its operation to our state, from other parts of America.
56 of the 240 subsidy payments were to foreign companies. Since auto makers have been mentioned for our site, the foreign companies receiving subsidies, and the amounts given are as follows:
Nissan, $1.778 billion
Toyota, $780.5 million
Volkswagen, $654 million
Hyundai (and Kia), $644.6 million
Mercedes, $553.3 million
Honda, $389.2 million
(all on pg. 13)
Over $64 billion has been given away by state and local governments in these projects since 1980. (pg.1). North Carolina has given away $1,569,600,000, spread over 8 of these projects. (pg. 3).
*Good Jobs First, “Megadeals: The largest Economic Development Subsidy Packages Ever Awarded by state and Local Governments in the United States”, by Philip Mattera and Kasia Tarczynska and Greg LeRoy, June, 2013.
You can read the full report at the following by pasting into your browser:
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/megadeals
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/megadeals
VII. Manufacturing’s False Promise of a Decent Payday November 26, 2014
Here is an article which appeared today in "Reuters", making many of the points NERPO has made for months about the false promises put forth by the proponents of the Greensboro-Liberty Megasite. As you can see from reading the article, modern manufacturing operations, while desirable for county, often bear a very high cost to the taxpayers, and don NOT pay the generous wages promised by the promoters of the megasite project.
| manufacturings_false_promise_of_a_decent_payday.pdf |
VIII. Discounting The Importance of Incentives December 6,2013
Today, the Raleigh News and Observer reported on a meeting between our legislature's own "Fiscal Research Division" and two dozen members of our legislature regarding the value to our state economy of economic incentives. At that meeting Patrick McHugh of the Fiscal Research Division reported that "the preponderance of evidence is that incentives have little or no measurable impact on job creation or on unemployment". He further stated that the evidence gathered by people whose job it is to study these matters has revealed that "while incentives can matter in specific cases, they're not fundamental game-changers in most cases." Mr. McHugh emphasized that businesses who are looking for a site for their activities look for advantages that cannot be substituted by incentive payments. These included skilled labor, cheap land prices, tax rates, access to community colleges and universities and infrastructure.
Not a "game changer"? Isn't that contrary to everything the megasite boosters have been telling everyone since we first exposed this project to the light of day? Well, yes it is, and thanks. These are points we have been making for many months now. In other words, economic strength is attained the old-fashioned way, by investments in the backbone of our community--education, training and transportation. It is gratifying to see professionals agree with us that the proposed squandering of scarce state and county tax dollars on field-of-dreams projects is really little more than it first appeared to us, a waste and a pity.
Here is a link to the complete story in the Raleigh News and Observer:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/05/3435575/importance-of-nc-incentives-debated.html
Not a "game changer"? Isn't that contrary to everything the megasite boosters have been telling everyone since we first exposed this project to the light of day? Well, yes it is, and thanks. These are points we have been making for many months now. In other words, economic strength is attained the old-fashioned way, by investments in the backbone of our community--education, training and transportation. It is gratifying to see professionals agree with us that the proposed squandering of scarce state and county tax dollars on field-of-dreams projects is really little more than it first appeared to us, a waste and a pity.
Here is a link to the complete story in the Raleigh News and Observer:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/05/3435575/importance-of-nc-incentives-debated.html
IX. Other Available Sites Around the United States
We have learned of a number of large, industrial-ready megasites containing 1,000 acres or more around the United States. In fact, according to the January, 2013 issue of "Site Selection" magazine, which references itself on its cover as "The Official Publication of Red Hot Locations", there are 180 of these available for immediate occupancy. If our properties were assembled into another of these sites, we would be site number 181. Here is the listing of those 180 sites. Here is the link to that site: (the listing of megasites begins on page 54 of this issue). There are 12 of these megasites listed in North Carolina by "Site Selection"! http://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/?i=140691
X. Randolph County's Official Growth Management Plan.
We believe the 2009 Randolph County Growth Management Plan bears particular relevance to the effort to change our area from agricultural to heavy industrial. Here is a portion of the preamble to the plan:
"EXISTING SITUATION
We are living in a challenging time as the first decade of the 21st Century draws to a close. Major economic challenges are occurring in Randolph County at a tremendous pace. Anticipating our future and planning for the inevitable social and economic changes has become more important than ever. The Randolph County Growth Management Plan serves as a long-range guide for public policy decisions concerning the overall growth and development of the Randolph County community. The Growth Management Plan focuses on the physical growth and development of Randolph County. Land use policies are designed to recognize that sustainable economic growth, environmental protection, and rural quality of life can be pursued together as mutually supporting public policy goals."
We have highlighted that last sentence because we couldn't better summarize our sentiments any better than Randolph County government did so back in 2009.
Here is a link to the relevant portion of the plan:
/uploads/1/2/8/2/12824695/growth_management_plan_randolph_county.docx
XI. What We Have Now As Stewards.
Here are a few pictures representative of what we have that is precious to us who live in our area.
An early spring morning.
Typical sunset over the tracts targeted for industrial development.
