Keep Franklin Woods

Here is the videotape of the September 19 City Council meeting, at which several Council representatives stated their positions on the Franklin Woods rezoning before the matter was tabled until November 21. A curated index to the video:  issue starts at the 1:32:15 mark with City staff presentations.  1:53:00 Pearson speaks.  2:15:00 JEE speaks.  2:35:00 others speak. 2:40:00 Pearson stormwater person speaks. 2:46:00 Pearson rep speaks. 2:55:35 Pearson rep says Keep Franklin Woods name is trying to appropriate something as if its theirs. 2:50:35 JEE rebuts that. 2:54:00 Planning Commission reps speak. 3:09:00 Humphries explains his vote. 3:15:00 Kellogg explains his vote. 3:18:00 Kirlin explains his vote. 3:26:00 Gallagher explains his vote. 3:30:00 Pierceall explains his vote.  3:36:00 Kirlin comment.  3:39:00 "the haw" begins- discussion, mainly mumbled, of delaying the vote. 3:42:00 Ash Smith speaks.  3:45:10 it's over, for ...

...and Your Yard Sign. Five Council members expressed opinions last night about the rezoning vote, three for (Kirlin, Gallagher, and Pierceall) and two against (Humphries and Kellogg), before a substitute motion tabled a final vote on the matter until November 21 so that City staff might provide more information on water issues at the parcel. The vote starts afresh then, so your continued lobbying and support is appreciated. The current Council will be votin g on the matter then, no matter the results of the election. We will post a curated link to a tape of the meeting in the next day or so. A video summary of the meeting is at this WCCB newslink. Thanks to the dozens who showed up September 19, the several who spoke on our behalf, and the over two hundred of you who so far have signed our online petition .  Let's use the delay opportunity to be civil, and share respectfully with those who might differ with us why commercial zoning is not a good solution ...

Christie Williams' dog Ruthie has the right idea The City Council will vote on the rezoning proposal for the Lineberger parcel portion of Franklin Woods on September 19.  The item has been scheduled to be the last public discussion item that night.  The meeting starts at 6pm on the second floor of the county courthouse, but our item may not be heard for an hour or more.  We ask folks to sit patiently with us, and then stand with us at the end to show your opposition to commercial rezoning here and your desire to Keep Franklin Woods. I will asked to be certified to speak on behalf of our neighbors and friends who have opposed this effort and those who are part of our 200-person email list. But there are things you can do now, this weekend, before that vote occurs, to maximize our chance for success. Here's a list of ten of them. 1.  Tell City Council "just say no." 2.  Post a sign in your yard that says "Keep Franklin Woods" -ours, or your...

Notes from Gastonia Planning Commission Meeting, August 3, 2017 Despite assurances from their first meeting with neighbors in January that they would do a commercial project and help with flood control, Pearson Properties made clear early on Thursday that flooding was not their concern.   Charlie Pearson gave the initial presentation for the developer and said that “neighbors had purchased into floodplains and that floodplains flood.” I pointed out that last year’s Commission spent a long time during the Academy Sports review talking about increased flooding concerns.   Seventy minutes of our required neighbors meeting with the developer had been filled with people worried about greater frequency and intensity of flooding.   We were worried that we did not know any details of Pearson’s solution that they proposed to us and city councilmen - the building of a retention pond of unknown dimensions on the city-owned land upstream and buffering the Lineberger parcel...

Last update to the bubble plan proposal discovers the color green (locations may vary) What can you do now to help stop this?  Given the Planning Commission's 6-0 vote on August 3, 2017 in favor of the proposal - a vote driven by fear of a clear-cut threat by the landowners and other facts beyond the rezoning proposal itself - we are not likely to win outright on an appeal to City Council without overwhelming public support, with the presence of an overflow crowd of people, in the actual Council meeting.  We need the presence of residents all over town , not just next to the creek.   But given that 27 of the 41 acres on the southside of Franklin Boulevard are still owned by the City, even without a full stop of the project, work remains to insure just the City portion of the wooded buffer.   Please appear at the rezoning hearing appeal September 19, and stand to to answer these questions in the affirmative.  1. Would all those stand who want the ...

Duharts Creek, January 2010, photo by Thomas Hopkins The City has spent $4 million securing land for the FUSE district. Stopping neighborhood decay while adding commercial value can be a good use of community resources. The City is working with developers and private citizens to come up with an additional $15 million for investment in a multi-use stadium and surrounding commercial development to inject life into a stagnant part of our place. This guest editorial was published as a letter to the editor in The Gaston Gazette on July 5, 2017 While we are looking at ways in our historic downtown to improve its vitality, I believe it’s time to ask for something better in our current commercial downtown at a fraction of those other costs.   April 20,2016 Gazette reporting on the 7-0 Council vote to reject commercial zoning in Franklin Woods A year ago City Council rejected plans to build a big box store on wooded land south of Franklin Square.  ...