Grins and Gripes

Delighted or dismayed by something in your community? Share your thoughts in 40 words or less

online: nwobserver.com e-mail: grinsandgripes@nwobserver.com Grins & Gripes are published based on available space and editor’s discretion.

„ The woman and her son in the back Suburban who stopped on 1-73 to check on me after I had blown out my tire. That was very kind of you, and you put a smile on my face! „ Jessie, who found my driver’s license, which apparently dropped out of my pouch while I was on the A&Y Greenway, and mailed it to me. I had been looking all over for it, and am super appreciative to have it back. „ All the people who stopped to see if my husband was OK after he had come off his bicycle on Witty Road on the morning of Friday, July 16. We are both very grateful. „ Oak Ridge Fire Department for clearing the entrance to my driveway when a big limb fell across it Saturday (July 17). „ Elizabeth at Bugle Boy Farm. We love your eggs and blueberries – and they’re even delivered to our door! Thank you for serving our community with your working farm. You are what makes Summerfield special. „ All my neighbors on Brookbank Road who are proudly flying those beautiful American flags. „ Oak Ridge Fire Department’s Captain Wyatt and the crew he sent to our home to install two additional smoke detectors in two rooms with very tall ceilings. They were thorough and very respectful of our home during the installation. „ GreenGo Buggies. Congratulations on your expansion! Thank you, also, for revitalizing a building in our Summerfield community and bringing life back into that section of U.S. 220 that needed some TLC. „ The nice man who stopped his car to help me when I turned my cart over and fell at the Lowes Foods’ shopping center. Your kind gesture meant so much to me! „ The cyclist gripe from the last issue, “Cyclists who... well, just cyclists.” I’ve been reading this paper for eight years and I’m a cyclist myself. That was the funniest gripe I have ever read!

„ The lousy person who stole the catalytic converters off of the Laugh & Learn Child Care Center bus. Those children rely on field trips four days a week and you took that from them. Shame on you! „ Banks that try charging a fee for cashing their own checks! Just say: “I’m sorry, I do not consent to that. I require the full amount I’m due, as specified in the check that I have presented.” Works every time! „ Summerfield Fire District and town council. Do you think building a new water tank system in town will be less expensive than using the hydrant at Creative Leadership to fill the water trucks, as you do now? Editor’s note: We reached out to Summerfield Fire Chief Chris Johnson to give him an opportunity to respond to this gripe and here is what he wrote: “The money that would be used to build these water tanks would be money already allocated by the state to the towns and not all from Summerfield taxpayers. There are other factors that must be considered. Because fire grows so rapidly, the goal is to get water and personnel on scene ASAP. The reason we utilize the hydrant at Creative Leadership is because it only

takes one person to fill the truck, which allows more personnel on the fire scene; but, depending on the location of the fire, that hydrant may be impractical due to distance and tanker turnaround time to keep water flowing. That is the reason we feel water tanks at key locations within Summerfield would greatly benefit homeowners and make for a safer community. As far as expense, we choose to put the cost of human lives over dollar bills.” „ People of all ages who I see crossing white and yellow lines on the road because they are looking at their cell phone. It’s unfair that you get to risk my life. Please, pull over or put it away. „ Oak Ridge Town Council for giving 6% raises when the rest of the business world is giving 2 to 3%. Government spending our money again. „ Northwest Observer. Your headline, “Northwest Guilford’s housing scarcity,” is deceiving. This is not a problem unique to Northwest Guilford, but a nationwide problem. After a year of COVID this shouldn’t be a surprise. Editor’s note: While it was certainly not our intent to be deceiving, we regret if after reading the headline the reader felt we were implying this situation is unique to our area. As for whether this situation is a surprise, we agree, and given the circumstances it certainly isn’t. But, surprise or not, we maintain that the housing scarcity warrants our research and reporting on how it has affected Realtors, builders, homebuyers and home sellers in our area. „ Summerfield residents who think $250,000 homes will bring in lowclass people or heaven forbid, minorities. Most people in Guilford County can’t even afford $250,000. Before all you folks from other areas came and moved into your $500,000 homes, homes were normally priced. „ Oak Ridge Fire Department’s board of directors for changing your bylaws and restricting community involvement. „ The obscene extravagance of Guilford County Schools, providing a $20,000 “signing bonus” for new teachers. Don’t whine about underpaid schoolteachers as you flip off us taxpayers. And don’t even bother with the “It’s for the children” spiel. What a nerve. „ The person who said it’s only people in $800,000+ homes who don’t want Summerfield over-developed. You’re so wrong. FOX8 spent hours trying to find anyone who actually wants the development. It doesn’t take an $800,000+ home to have common sense. „ Subway in Oak Ridge Commons for their rusted outdoor tables and chairs. Who wants to sit outside and eat on them, and ruin their clothes? They are also blocking the walk. Please renovate or replace them! „ Electric company scammers. I almost fell for it when someone who said they were a representative of the local power company called asking for a large amount of money in order to keep my power on. Beware! „ Owners of the white picket fence along N.C. 150 in Oak Ridge. Are they waiting for the cost of wood to come down before replacing? The fence has been damaged for over a year. Editor’s note: We assume the fence this reader is referring to is the one running along Oak Ridge Plantation’s perimeter on N.C. 150, just west of Oak Ridge Elementary; that fence was damaged by trees toppled in the ice storm our area experienced in mid-February. During that storm, thousands of trees throughout our area were damaged and toppled. Randy Floss, president of Oak Ridge Plantation’s HOA, said it initially took six weeks to get the HOA’s insurance company to assess the damage, get three bids and complete the clean-up.

After the insurance company approved the initial cleanup, Floss reached out to Duke Energy as well as to three arborists to discuss the state of the trees.

Meanwhile, the HOA put a committee together to represent the property ...continued on p. 31

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amend the town’s unified development ordinance (UDO).

The board voted 3-1 on Monday, July 26, to delay for two months its decision on whether to recommend approval of Couch’s request for a text amendment to Summerfield’s recently adopted UDO. The developer is seeking changes, including higher density for apartments and other multi-family housing, for his proposed residential and commercial expansion of Summerfield Farms.

The board’s meeting in Revolution Academy drew more than 70 people, including 20 who spoke in support of or opposition to Couch’s plans. Critics said the developer’s proposal for the creation of a Master Planned Village District as a new zoning district lacks details – particularly a proposed housing density – for the project spanning about 1,000 acres from Summerfield Road to Interstate 73.

“The biggest issue is the uncertainty,” said Planning Board Chair Dick Feulner, explaining he’s opposed to making a recommendation to the Town Council for “a district with no density at all.” He joined board member Clark Doggett and Clint Babcock, a board alternate, in voting to delay discussion until the board’s Sept. 27 meeting. Board member Cathy Rooney voted against the motion.

Couch said he’s not yet determined density for his project. The developer, his lawyer Tom Terrell and designer Victor Dover said repeatedly that amending the UDO wouldn’t give the project the green light.

“It does not approve the plan,” Dover emphasized. Instead, if the council were to vote to amend the UDO to create the village district, it would enable Couch to seek rezoning of his property. At that point, negotiations between the developer and town staff, the Planning Board and the council would determine density, acreage set aside as green space, building standards and other requirements.

“You have absolute control over density from beginning to end,” Couch asserted.

If council were to approve the amendment, both the council and Planning Board would hold public hearings to help them determine whether to approve Couch’s plan for developing his property and imposing regulations.

“I can promise you it would be stricter by a high factor than what the current UDO has,” Terrell said.

Couch is seeking higher density and other development requirements less stringent than currently allowed by the UDO for his proposed expansion of Summerfield Farms, where he raises cattle and operates a wedding venue and retail market.

After hearing Couch’s proposal, the town would have “the authority to turn it down,” Terrell said.

Town Attorney Bob Hornik affirmed Terrell’s position. Approval of the text amendment “doesn’t mean you’ve got to approve anything they bring in front of us,” Hornik told the Planning Board.

Couch, Terrell and Dover told the board they’re in the process of determining density and other specifics of the project. Reflecting opponents’ skepticism, former council member Elizabeth McClellan said she believes Couch has determined density, but isn’t willing to share it because residents would “freak out.”

“What we have tonight is zero facts,” McClellan said.

Several speakers expressed support for Couch and urged the Planning Board to recommend approval of the developer’s request for the text amendment.

“All you are doing is allowing those details to come forward,” said John Van Kemp. “It is not a commitment to approve.”

Church Brown said he favors approval of the new zoning district proposed by Couch because it “would allow us to create a community that allows my children the opportunity to come back to Summerfield to live.”

It would also allow “empty nesters to downsize in Summer eld and allow our parents to move closer to us as they age and allow police, teachers and artists and other important service folks to live in our community,” Brown said.

On July 15, an informational meeting organized by Couch drew more than 50 people along with differing views on his plans. Asked to provide an estimate of density for the project, Dover said he and his design colleagues at Dover, Kohl and Partners of Coral Gables, Florida, are still mapping the proposed layout of the development, conducting a traffic impact analysis and taking other steps to determine density.

Determining which areas to preserve as open and community space precedes the placement of houses and the calculation of density, Dover said.

“The wrong way to do it is to pick out a number at random ahead of time and do planning by the numbers,” the designer said. “If you do it that way, you are going to wind up with conventional suburban sprawl.”

During this week’s meeting, viewpoints during roughly two hours of public comments veered from the board’s consideration of the text amendment. The composition of the board itself led to sparring between Couch and Jolinda Babcock, an organizer of Stand Up For Summerfield. The group is leading opposition to the developer’s expansion plans and proposal to extend water and sewer services from the city of Greensboro to his property.

Couch pointed out that Babcock’s husband, Clint, serves as a Planning Board alternate. Later in the meeting, Clint Babcock voted to continue the discussion for two months.

Jolinda Babcock told Couch that board member Doggett’s daughter, Beth Kaplan, has expressed public support for Couch’s development.

“So don’t call me out without calling him out,” Jolinda Babcock told Couch. As she abruptly left the meeting, she said, “That was a jerky thing to say, David.”

Discord spawned by the debate “has pitted neighbor against neighbor,” said Kevin Kenjarski, a supporter of Couch’s proposal. “And some of these relationships I don’t believe will ever be mended.’’

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