A smell of corruption permeates county sale

Folks, you are aware that there is a rapidly accelerating and increasingly angry public reaction surrounding the county sale of public park land to Stewart Coleman for a private development.

This has been a tale of slow discovery of all the details, still ongoing. The latest chapter to unfold revolves around the ... Technical Review Committee meeting, first announced for Monday, July 7, and later postponed so that the developer could prepare some information on storm water runoff issues that he at first insisted he couldn’t have ready for July 7th.

Now, just one day before the public holiday, the following email [floated] in from Alan Glines (urban planner):

“Dear folks,

I am providing an update for the Parkside project that is being reviewed on Monday 7/7/08 by the Technical Review Committee (TRC). The Engineering Department has received additional information regarding the Parkside submission and what had been the basis for recommending continuance appears to have been resolved. The TRC report remains a draft until the time it is reviewed and approved at Monday’s meeting. Thank you.”

Why would the Planning and Development Department first announce that there would be a meeting of the TRC on the seventh, only to postpone it for two weeks AT THE DEVELOPER’S REQUEST only to announce, two days later, just before the public holiday, that the meeting would be held as originally scheduled?

The original “public sale,” which turned out to have been anything but public, seems to have now corrupted the city government as well.

Just like the little kid who, after receiving a bucket of horse manure for his birthday and who then started to paw through the contents, paused only a bit when his parents asked him why he was digging so deep.

He turned back to his work and replied, “With this much horse manure around, there’s bound to be a pony in here somewhere!” Somewhere in this mess, there’s a story, if you can stand the smell of the public corruption that we see exposed.

ALAN S. ROBINSON
Asheville

The Cliffs’ project needs revision

The Cliffs Communities have recently submitted an application to the Army Corps of Engineers for authorization to impact more than 6,000 linear feet of stream channels, wetlands and open water in order to construct the golf course and residential development.

You can read the entire application at the link: http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/wetlands/notices/2008/0701619.pdf
After reading the document, I have to say that the idea that a mitigation proposed include an “in lieu” payment to be performed outside Buncombe County is simply inadequate and should be revised.

Whatever is destroyed in Buncombe County should not be paid back to Hendersonville County, but instead be prevented by buffering the most sensitive water area of development in Buncombe.

Preservation buffers should apply to all named stream and unnamed tributaries on the side of the Spring Mountain community. Wetlands are the starting point of the spring “system” providing water to our residents who drink their spring water for many generations.

A disturbance — and I am not talking yet about the application of future tons of chemical to green the course — will create a point of no return for the water quality of our area.

Disturbance of a watershed is the dangerous opening of Pandora’s Box. We can’t afford to lose our resources for the benefit of sport and entertainment. Special care should be applied in such a major development. A public hearing is needed for our community to address our concerns and give the Cliffs an opportunity to excel in its desire to create a “green” and perfect golf course.

As part of this process, the Army Corps of Engineers is accepting public comment from individuals, organizations and state and federal agencies who are concerned with the probable impact of this development in regard to wetlands, water quality, water supply and conservation and other environmental concerns. They will accept public comment until Aug. 1.

The USACE will read the application and all public comment and decide whether to issue, or conditionally issue, or deny the proposed work. They can also determine the need for a public hearing on the matter.

Public comments, including requests for a public hearing, must be received by 5 p.m. Aug. 1. Written comments are preferred and should be mailed to: USACE, Attention: Lori Beckwith, 151 Patton Ave., Room 208, Asheville, N.C.

28801. E-mail comments may be sent (use both addresses) to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

FRANCOIS MANAVIT
Fairview