THURSDAY
TOURISM BOOST: Homebuilders convention hits city. 1B
January 28, 2010 126th year No. 28
HAITI RELIEF: Collection sites in High Point announced. 2A
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
STORM CLOUDS: DCCC entertains UNC junior varsity team. 1D
50 Cents Daily $1 Sundays
Board remains at odds over SROs, Tasers BY DAVID NIVENS ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
AP
State of the Union President Obama speaks to the nation to calm economic fears and set the agenda for his second year in office. See story and Republican response, 5A.
GUILFORD COUNTY – While school district officials are divided over the value of school resource officers and the controversy over stun guns, local law enforcement chiefs are not. The schools need the resource officers, and the Taser stun guns they carry are safe when properly used, three agency leaders said Wednesday. “Whether you have the SROs in the
schools is your call,” Sheriff BJ Barnes told the Guilford County Board of Education. “We are more expensive, but you get more and the children are better off.” Barnes Barnes appeared at the invitation of district officials with High Point police Chief Jim Fealy and Greensboro police
TASERS, 2A
Heart of Triad
INSIDE
GENEROUS GIFT: Davidson United Way gets $150,000. 1B
BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
OBITUARIES
---- Mary Baldwin
ARCHDALE – A study that will guide development along N.C. 62 is on track to be considered by the Archdale City Council next month. Jeff Wells, Archdale’s planning and zoning director, said the High Point Transportation Advisory Committee this week approved a resolution in support of the N.C. 62 Corridor Access Management Plan, which will examine how to take advantage of anticipated development along Archdale’s proposed N.C. 62 corridor near Interstate 85 and the Interstate 74/U.S. 311 Bypass. Wells said it was key to get “regional support” from the High Point TAC, which is a com-
Robert Boles, 85 Charles Childress Jr., 49 LaRue Cox Jr., 59 Irene Fields, 73 William Gailey, 75 Benjamin Hardwick, 86 Kenneth Lawson Sr., 71 Patricia Minor, 63 Edward Moran, 50 Robert Reece, 52 Alvin Spainhour, 74 Jerry Thompson, 65 Keith Wall, 47 Obituaries, 2B
SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
The Heart of the Triad is roughly bordered by U.S. 311, Interstate 40, Sandy Ridge and Squire Davis roads. This development off Sandy Ridge Road is near the intersection with Johnson Street Extension. or input was being taken into account. That’s changed in the past year, said Heart of the Triad resident Pat Schreiber. “We appreciate you listening to us now. People are listening to each other respectfully,” Schreiber said at the meeting. The draft land-use plan would split Heart of the Triad property among open space, business and mixed use development and a variety of residential designations, from farmhomes to high-density residences. The land near the northern High Point city limit would be mainly residential. The Strategic Planning Committee doesn’t have the authority to zone property. So its goal by the summer of this year is to
MAP
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The Heart of the Triad is an area identified as up to 18,000 acres along the Guilford-Forsyth County line that could become a mix of residential, retail and commercial development, along with preserving some land for open space. Most of the land in the area is now used for farming or is open space.
mittee made up of area elected officials, including High Point Mayor Becky Smothers. Archdale’s Planning and Zoning Board is set to consider the plan at Archdale City Hall at 7 p.m. Monday. If the study is adopted by the planning board, the City Council will consider it Feb. 23. City officials decided to embark on the study in July because they say the current configuration of N.C. 62 is not expected to handle the anticipated growth in the area. The plan determines a proper design for N.C. 62, as well as connecting streets within the area for the future, according to city officials. “There’s a lot of ‘for sale’ signs out there now, so this indicated
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The Strategic Planning Committee has a draft land-use map for the area. To see it, check the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation Web site (www.partnc.org) under the Heart of the Triad section in the document archives listing. make recommendations to the two county governments and five municipal governments with statutory jurisdiction over the area. Before the recommendations are presented to local governments, the Strategic Planning Commit-
tee will hold an open house to receive public comment on the plan. No date or location has been set, though the open house may take place in April. pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528
NC 62 plan to be unveiled next month BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Maghon Walker Martin joined High Point University as student activities specialist in the Office of Student Activities. Martin is responsible for planning and executing all campus activities in addition to serving as the adviser for the Campus Activities Team and the Zenith Yearbook.
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Effort progresses with consensus
GREENSBORO – The rancor that once permeated the debate over the fate of the Heart of the Triad has quieted into a consensus about the future for one of the last large undeveloped areas in the region. The Heart of the Triad Strategic Planning Committee met Wednesday to map out its plans for this year, providing guidance to residents of the area and elected officials with jurisdiction over the 18,000-acre territory on the Guilford-Forsyth County line. The Heart of the Triad, as outlined in a draft land-use plan map, is roughly bordered by U.S. 311, Interstate 40 and Sandy Ridge and Squire Davis roads. Much of the 18,000 acres now are either undeveloped or farmland, but the Heart of the Triad is envisioned as a place for growth in the coming decades. The goal of the Heart of the Triad campaign is to produce high-quality development while preserving the character of the area and protecting private property rights, said Lee Burnette, planning director for the city of High Point. Burnette is one of several advisers to the Strategic Planning Committee, which is made up of elected officials and residents in the area. Several years ago, the Heart of the Triad campaign, launched in 2004, was embroiled in controversy because residents of the area didn’t believe their concerns
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that we were under the brink of having a potential development boom out there until the economic downturn,” Wells said. “We found out it was a good time to do a plan out there for the corridor to ensure that in the future we have a proper access and connector street plan to make sure that the corridor and its connector street system operates effectively into the future.” Once the study is approved by the council, Archdale hopes to obtain funding for a feasibility study for the relocation of Weant Road, which intersects with N.C. 62, Wells said, adding the road’s location “is way too close to the interchange at I-85.” “The ramps that are already
YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.
signalized there at 62 and I-85, it’s within 300 feet of the interchange,” he said. “We really need to have that located further east for the corridor to function more effectively because right now, you are seeing the most delays on the morning commute when people are going northbound on Weant Road and wanting to turn left on 62, either to get to Interstate 85 or going north to High Point. There are a lot of delays there.” The study, which came at a price tag of about $65,000, is being funded by the N.C. Department of Transportation and the High Point Metropolitan Planning Organization. dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
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