Chatham Park
Chatham Park, a new city the size of Chapel Hill or Burlington, is being built in Pittsboro’s ETJ (extra-territoral jurisdiction) adjacent to the Haw River and Jordan Lake. It will be the biggest master plan development ever built in NC. As 8000 acres are developed from existing forestland, we are very concerned about the impacts on our waters and environment. We have fought for better protections, and will continue to do so, but are sorry to see our predictions of environmental degradation coming true.
Latest News on the Chatham Park Development:
December 2023: Disney Corporation Announces Plans to Build their newest “Storyliving” development in Chatham Park” North Village. Read Disney’s Announcement.
HRA Urges Disney to Do More to Protect the Environment and Water as They Build “Asteria Storyliving” in Chatham Park: The Haw River Assembly sent Disney Corporation and their Arizona based developer, DMB, an open letter on January 25, 2024 asking them to go above and beyond Chatham Park’s minimum requirements in order to protect the Haw River and the environment where they will be building.
We challenged them to apply the concepts they have committed to in their 2030 Environmental Goals to the Asteria Storyliving community. Read our full comment letter HERE.
Sign your name!
In March, 2024 HRA launched a petition to Disney and DMB asking community members to join us in urging stronger environmental protections as Asteria Storyliving is built. We now have over 1000 signatures. You can sign the petition below. We also sent Disney and DMB a more detailed list of recommendations we would like to use. See the full recommendations HERE
HRA RECEIVES RESPONSE FROM ASTERIA DEVELOPER, DMB on April 5 and HRA WRITES BACK
HRA finally received a response on April 5, 2024 to our letter to Disney and DMB developers concerning their planned “Asteria Storyliving” development in Chatham Park. The letter was only from DMB,and echoed the statements from Chatham Park Investors that the standards approved for them to build under will be sufficient to protect the environment and Haw River. We disagree. We have not heard anything from Disney Corporation. HRA sent a response yesterday, April 25 to DMB and Disney hoping to make them more aware of the environment and community they will be impacting. We included photos of sediment violations during Chatham Park construction, and photos from our Procession of the Trees demonstrations in 2019 when we rallied to save more trees in Chatham Park. We also sent them our petition with the current signatures gathered so far. You can read DMB’s letter HERE and HRA’s latest response HERE.
…Previous Chatham Park News
We asked Pittsboro in 2023 to Deny the Chatham Park Amendments to their North Village Small Area Pla
Chatham Park Investors (CPI) have proposed amendments to their North Village Master Plan to the Town of Pittsboro, who has jurisdiction over this development. (Scroll down to see the information about the North Village Small Area Plan previously approved.) The Small Area Plan for North Village encompasses 2,225 acres between Pittsboro and the Haw River – not small at all! While the Plan previously approved will result in significant deforestation and environmental impacts, these new proposed changes will greatly increase the adverse impacts to the Haw River, the wildlife corridor, the Lower Haw State Natural Area, and downstream water quality in Jordan Lake.
These changes should be rejected by the Pittsboro Town Board of Commissioners. The North Village Small Area Plan is currently being reviewed by the Pittsboro Planning Board and expected to be discussed and voted on by the full Town Board of Commissioners at their meeting on August 28. We presented the petition to them on August 14.
LInk to the Pittsboro Town Staff Memo and Comments from the Public on the Amended North Village Plan: https://www.pittsboronc.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/405?fileID=4068
Link to the Full Chatham Park North Village Small Area Plan Amended Document:
https://pittsboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2995/NV-SAP-Amendment—PB-Draft-06052023?bidId=
HRA’s comments to the Pittsboro Town Board
Our Petition to the Pittsboro Town Board asked them to reject the amended North Village Small Area Plan (presented to Board on August 14, signed by over 1500 people)
How the Pittsboro Town Board Voted
-We asked them to reject a proposed through-road route that would go very close to the Haw River buffer – rather than a more direct and central route. This new road alignment would create more traffic, light, noise, and runoff pollution near the river. The Town Board allowed this new route
– We asked them to reject a plan for a 10 ft wide, paved Chatham Park pedestrian and bicycle greenway, in a 30 ft cleared easement along the Haw and through the Lower Haw River State Natural Area. Any trail along the river should be apart of the overall Haw River State Trail Plan, and be a natural surface trail in keeping with conservation goals for the State Natural Area. They will allow a paved trail
– Reject any further weakening of tree coverage requirements; and ensure compliance of Chatham Park’s prior commitment to 35% tree coverage of preserved existing trees within 2000 ft. of the Haw River; The Town Board did not require CPI to ensure this percentage, despite allowing a new road that could be built within 300 ft of the river.
– Reject Bynum Beach Road being used by North Village for anything other than emergency access. There should be no widening or expansion of this road, which is very close to the river and within a flood hazard area. The Town Board agreed to Bynum Beach Rd. only being used for emergency access.
These Additional points were not discussed by the Town Board, although the public brought them up.
– Require swales instead of Curb and Gutter: The Town should require alternatives such as swales instead of curb and gutter for all roads, streets and alleys within a 1000 ft of the Haw, and within the “regulatory” and “voluntary” stream buffer areas for all stream crossing road sections not yet constructed (including in the future South Village)
Reject the Boundary Changes: Nine planning sections have boundary changes with a net loss of contiguous dedicated non-residential acreage, not required or related to the relocation of the hospital as CPI claims. Some separate non-residential acreage needs to be maintained for some future job-growth opportunity, different from the retail or office park uses that are shrinking away.
Reject Changing Tree Coverage Planning Areas: Many Tree Coverage Planning Areas (TCPAs) are enlarged, especially in residential sections between the Village Center and the Haw. This is NOT justified (as claimed) by “more apartments” as there is only a listed increase of 384 apartments in the entire North Village. Haw River Park tree coverage shouldn’t be used as an offset for a larger area. Tree coverage is needed to offset heat sinks throughout Chatham Park.
Parks and Parkland: There many proposed revisions related to parks. Two park areas have been deleted, a third has changed boundaries, a fourth possibly altered or enlarged but not clearly enough, and 30 acres of a larger park area miles away at the southeastern tip of C.Park towards Moncure is supposed to substitute for parks actually in the N.Village.
More Age Restricted Housing? There is an increase in the percentage of housing units that will be age restricted developments. At what point is it too much? If these are more of the upscale developments with housing units priced $550,000 on up this means yet more new housing that could be unavailable by both price and age restrictions.
Land already under development in Chatham Park North Village area (aerial photo by Emily Sutton:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CHATHAM PARK
Chatham Park, a new city the size of Chapel Hill or Burlington, is being built in Pittsboro’s ETJ (extra-territoral jurisdiction) adjacent to the Haw River and Jordan Lake. It will be the biggest master plan development ever built in NC. As more than 7000 acres are developed from existing forestland, we are very concerned about the impacts on our waters and environment. We have fought for better protections, and will continue to do so, but are sorry to see our predictions of environmental degradation coming true.
Environmental Pollution as Chatham Park is Being Built
Chatham County Watershed Protection Dept. Staff have issued 10 Notices of Violation for sediment and soil erosion problems from January 2019 – Sept. 2021. Not included are many other incidents that required corrective actions after county inspections.
Muddy water on Feb. 6, 2020 flowing through yards and forest to Thompson St. in Pittsboro from Chatham Park’s construction site for The Vineyards and Thales Academy.
The huge rainfall over 2 days in February 2020 brought the Haw River up to major flood stage in Bynum. We have been seeing more of these non-hurricane major floods in the past few years, triggered by climate change and development that replaces forest with rooftops and pavement. The Town of Pittsboro has seen increased flooding of yards and roads after these huge rain events. Older neighborhoods are being damaged by the flooding from new development. Stormwater and floodplain regulations need to be improved in order to deal with the amount of rainfall/hour happening with these storms.
The Mosaic at Chatham Parks pays $10,000 Fine for Violation on January, 2020: The Mosaic development at Chatham Park had its Land Disturbance Permit revoked on January 10, 2020 by Chatham County’s program for Sedimentation and Erosion Control, after a worker drove heavy equipment through a stream on the property.
The developers paid a $10,000 permit re-instatement fee once they took corrective measures. But what is a stream worth? We expect Chatham Park to make sure that workers have knowledge of environmental laws, and are under adequate supervision to ensure this kind of incident does not happen again.
BACKGROUND ON CHATHAM PARK ISSUES:
Throughout the watershed, large scale developments are occurring at a rapid rate. In some cases, development and growth are necessary, and it is not always done poorly. However, when developers place profit over human and environmental health, Haw River Assembly and our passionate members will take action. The largest of all these is Chatham Park, a new city the size of Chapel Hill or Burlington, being built in Pittsboro’s ETJ (extra-territoral jurisdiction) adjacent to the Haw River and Jordan Lake. It will be the biggest master plan development ever built in NC. Read our concerns below.
Pittsboro Town Board Approves Chatham Park Development Agreement and North Village Small Area Plan, with few changes to these insufficient plans (updated Oct. 2021)
(To get updates on Chatham Park issues send an email to info@hawriver.org to be added to our listserve)
Chatham Park Development Agreement – Who Does it Benefit?
The Development Agreement between Chatham Park Investors (CPI) and the Town of Pittsboro would cover 40 years and ALL of CP’s current 7091 acres, and even allow more land to be pulled in under the agreement in the future. All the perks seem to be for Chatham Park, with many costs and uncertainties falling on Pittsboro. It would lock the Town into an agreement far into the future, despite changes driven by climate change, the economy, water shortages, and more.We strongly disagree that CPI is doing enough to protect “natural resources and environmentally sensitive property within the Property” or “minimization of adverse off-site impacts” that are supposed to be benefits to the Town from this Agreement. The Tree Protection, Open Space and Stormwater Elements are NOT sufficient to protect natural areas, wildlife habitat, forest cover and waterways, and current construction has already led to degradation of waters of the Haw River. Unfinished discussions and plans between CPI and Pittsboro include the lack of an Affordable Housing Element, and no plan yet for South Village. The Development Agreement commits Pittsboro to paying for amenities and infrastructure that should be CPI’s responsibility, or shared with new Chatham Park residents, not just the current Town taxpayers.
Link to the latest Chatham Park Development Agreement (submitted July 1 2021) (skip to page 80 for the “clean” version, instead of red-lined changes)
LInk to Haw River Assembly’s full Talking Points
North Village Small Area Plan
The Small Area Plan (SAP) for Chatham Park’s North Village development covers ~ 2,225 acres. It’s not so small – and it will include over 7500 dwelling units, as well as 11 million sq. feet of commercial,institutional buildings. The North Village is located between the Haw River, US 64 Business, and US 15-501 and will have very large impacts on the Haw River, on the wildlife that will be harmed and displaced by this development and on the lives of those who live here already. The Town Board will continue their discussion (and might vote) on the SAP at their July 26 meeting and said they will take public input. Both this Small Area Plan and the Development Agreement raise many questions about who is paying for some of the costs of North Village as it grows – current or future residents?
Link to North Village SAP and additional documents.
The Town of Pittsboro has the decision making authority for Chatham Park. Contact info for the Town Board and staff:
Town Board of Commissioners
Mayor, Cindy Perry cperry@pittsboronc.gov
Mayor Pro-tem, Pamela Baldwin pbaldwin@pittsboronc.gov
John Bonitz jbonitz@pittsboronc.gov
Jay Farrell jfarrell@pittsboronc.gov
James Voss jvose@pittsboronc.gov
Kyle Shipp kshipp@pittsboronc.gov
The State NC Division of Water Resources approved the 401 certification for Chatham Park and DOT. It still does not have adequate protections
The initial 401 Application was denied by the state due to incomplete and conflicting information. We believe the revised permit still does not provide adequate information, or justification for the negative impacts it will have on water, the environment and the surrounding community, and should be denied again. The 2240 acres of North Village and the new North Chatham Parkway could be built without this permit. Final approval of the permit by the state included a long list of conditions, but they do NOT satisfy our concerns about stormwater, cumulative impacts and other issues. Read our letter to NC and Town Board HERE.
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Earlier News:
State Initially Denies Chatham Park’s Initial 401 Application
Chatham Park Investors and DOT applied for a 404 permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) that would allow over one mile of streams, and over 2 acres of wetlands to be destroyed as they build North Village and Chatham Parkway. This permit would cover all of Chatham Park’s land between Pittsboro and the Haw River, as well as a new major roadway. Construction projects of this size must have a state 401 Certification approved in order to build in, dredge, fill or otherwise disrupt or destroy wetlands and streams.
On June 1, 2020 the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR) sent a letter to Chatham Park Investors (CPI) and NC DOT denying their application for the 401 Certification. No work can be done in Chatham Park for the North Village development that would impact streams and wetlands, without the 401 Certification. DWR told CPI that the 401 application was incomplete due to a large number of reasons – many of which HRA pointed out to them in our comment letter to DWR and the Army Corps of Engineers. Reasons for denial include an incomplete analysis of indirect and cumulative impacts and incomplete stormwater management information.
Thanks to everyone who sent comments in, and a big thanks to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners for letting the state know their concerns about the permit and the inadequate public opportunity for commenting.
You can read the full denial letter from DWR to Chatham Park Investors here: https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WaterResources/DocView.aspx?id=1202250&dbid=0&repo=WaterResources&cr=1
Chatham Park Investors can appeal this decision, or re-submit with more complete information. We will be watching carefully, and will let you know what happens next, and actions we can take.