http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/johnston-county/article163254948.html This is also posted in Neighborhood. Just curious where that money is??? I feel that whom ever has it, you should put it in a fund to incorporate. It is with my understanding it has been tried before, to incorporate. I only wish to help in facilitating incorporation for our area. Please feel free to reply here. Thanks in advance!
I would welcome a renewed effort to incorporate our community. The benefits that I would expect to come from it would be modest at first such as a planning board, police department, some form of mayoral / town manager / council government system to promote / restrict or direct the growth of our community. I would also welcome the addition of a parks and recreation department and municipal services such as trash collection. The downfalls I envision would be paying taxes on the order of 1.5-3% or more. Corruption overbearing and overzealous police and burdensome processes for mundane things such as development and construction. The main fear that I have is being drawn into one of our surrounding communities and losing the opportunity to capitalize on the enormous tax base we have available to us and losing our autonomy. It would be great if we could use the money to kick-start our incorporation process. Maybe we could hire a professional "naming Consultant" so we don't get mired down like the last few times.
So basically, incorporating would mean, now that I bought a house in Cleveland we should restrict building permits. Everybody I know has trash service if they want it. Sheriff patrols the area constantly. I deal with the sheriffs often enough to have 3 deputies private number. If you need law enforcement, call the operator and ask for the number to 911. We've got the finest fire department in the county! Since the beginning, all I have heard is "I don't want another subdivision next to mine". I know 2 community leaders that resigned because of nightly calls about "not in my back yard".
All good points, but you can't have the planning board without some controls (burdensome processes) on development and construction. That's kind of the whole point, but they certainly do not have to be burdensome. Instead, they can be in the best interest of the community as it pertains to sustainable growth (no need to build homes that will outpace schools and roads). As far as corruption overbearing and overzealous police, I think this jumps to a rather large conclusion/assumption that is unfair to those who serve.
I would like to venture a guess that most people who complain about NIMBY are more concerned with common sense issues when it comes to planning (site buffers, or lack thereof, road improvements, commercial next to residential, etc.) and the overall effect growth has on the community. However...I am sure when they express it to local leaders, it comes across as simply NIMBY!!!!!!! I would also guess that many of those complaints do not come from newcomers, but those who have been here a while. Personally, I think it is shameful that a community this large, with this many children does not have a parks and recreation department. GCAA does it's thing, but if you have ever been involved you would know that it has a shoestring budget, severe lack of resources, and it's share of leadership issues (all volunteer).
As the saying goes....If you like the Cleveland area now, you should have seen it before you moved in. Ask the people in Archer Lodge how well they are enjoying incorporation now. Restricting growth is a little harder than you think. Coming up with a name that most people can agree on has been a total failure. Cleveland is already taken so it cant be that. Cleveland Springs was, if i recall, as close as we ever came with a name but i believe it was shot down as well. Cant call it the Town of 4042. I think one name was also Cleveland School but that didnt work either. Post office shot down a lot of names. One of the first steps is coming up with a name. Best of luck.
Never understood why Cleveland School didn't work. It didn't get votes because it sounded too "country" I think. It is simply what the area was and has been known as. The school still stands and it appears as a place name on old maps (along with Old Drug Store). I think it has charm, history, meaning and a bit of novelty. No one wants to restrict growth (at least not me). Just want to make sure it is done in a way that makes sense. Take the intersection at 42 and Cornwalis (near Sheetz). All of the f'd up ingress and egress, median barriers, new turn lanes, etc. is a flipping mess. That is just one tiny example of lack of foresight. What's wrong in Archer's Lodge? Buyer's remorse? Haven't heard anything.
No one wants to restrict growth (at least not me). Just want to make sure it is done in a way that makes sense. Take the intersection at 42 and Cornwalis (near Sheetz). All of the f'd up ingress and egress, median barriers, new turn lanes, etc. is a flipping mess. That is just one tiny example of lack of foresight. How would you, or our new government, direct traffic at the sheetz as opposed to the county?
42 and Cornwallis highway project. This is the worst traffic control ever. There needs to be a cop at intersection. Turn stop light off while construction is going on east of intersection. The guys with the stop signs are clueless!!!!
I think the only problem at 42 and Cornwallis is the fact that 42 needs to be 2 lanes in each direction, and there needs to be a long right turn lane on Cornwallis heading south. All of the other improvements are good right now.
DOT crews, or DOT approved contractors,are going to do the work of course. The issue here is that the plans never include satisfactory fixes for the new traffic patterns they create. So Sheetz goes in and they allow it with the teeniest, tiniest of turn lanes off Cornwalis. The turn lane off 42 is ridiculous for these reasons, I presume: a) there is a riparian buffer there and it would be too expensive, and b) it would cut into the usable space of the lot to the east. So traffic be damned. Add all of this to the unsightly median barriers/posts they have to erect because there is zero foresight. I see they are now widening these turn lanes again. I seem to recall this will be the third time the intersection has been reconfigured/widened since Sheetz was planned. This is a major intersection for the area. Just take care of it when it is originally needed. If you want to develop a corner of an already super busy intersection and benefit from all that traffic, then you need to pony up the cost of your additional impact on that intersection. To specifically answer your question of what I would have done: create a turn land / 2nd lane the length of the Sheetz commercial property going east/west from Cornwalis to the lots of Austin Pond. When 42 gets widened, this becomes main lane and NCDOT has to build new turn lanes. Basically, all direction of this intersection need about an additional 200' of widening, but you can't expect to have Sheetz or the developer to foot that entire bill since it cannot be attributed entirely to them.
I agree Harvey. However, I don't think adding another layer of bureaucracy will fix things. If we required all projects to envision future dilemmas, nothing would get done because of cost. One of the top DOT engineers sat in my shop and laughed about building the 70 bypass on 40. He said you won't fix anything till you add lanes to Benson. It's a money thing. Not lack of planning.
You come across angry, If i have offended you I apologize it was not my intention. I have worked in development and construction the entire time I have lived here, Since 2000. I'm not a Nimby person at all (except the power lines, They would have literally been in my back yard) but I hate to see the difference in the way we handle growth compared to better planned areas. I feel that the two major developers at the heart of my neighborhood have put our community interest first. Probably because they live here too. I worry about outside developers with out that conscience. I agree that trash service is available to anyone that wants it. My neighbor apparently loves his trash and collects it until his barn is full then illegally burns it. The fire department is truly great and we love that they have been able to keep up with growth. Same with the sheriffs office. but what happens when Mr. Bizzell retires or is (Hope Not) voted out? What if we get a sheriff nobody out here likes? I personally am really excited about the new development at Cleveland School, So much so that I have been at the planning meetings to offer my input. I am not against development at all, But if you need to be present at every meeting to ensure things like sight lines and speeed limits are noted on the plans then I feel an elected government is better equipped to handle that. Above all else I don't want to end up in a position where our community is divided into parts and incorporated or voluntarily annexed into another community.
