Preservation of Wake Forest Open Space

Pressure is Building as we enter the Home Stretch!!

We need your help and donations!! Please see an update from our leader, Rick Ostergard Hello everyone,

I advised you before that we were engaged in negotiations with the developer/owner of the old Wake Forest Golf Course and Country Club to preserve as much open space as possible, protect the watershed, and ensure harmonious development as much as we could. After arriving at a general verbal consensus we expected to see written conditions for our review and approval before being submitted to the town. That did NOT happen. The conditions and a revised plan have already been submitted to the town and are under review by the planning department. There is urgency on the part of the developer to get this approved BEFORE the upcoming November election. That tells you we have little time left to push for what we want.

I have talked with the planning department and while they are still reviewing the submission they are not in favor of approval. This of course does not mean that the BOC will not approve it as we have seen many times. I expressed to them our reservations about some of the conditions not being specific enough. We will provide that feedback to the Town in writing to ensure they know what we are talking about.

We will be consulting a lawyer about the conditions so we will have a concrete counter-proposal leading up to and in the hearing. We are asking for donations to cover that legal support. Please make your contributions through this Go Fund Me account so that your support goes directly into the Concerned Citizens for the Preservation of Wake Forest Open Space checking account.

Finally, a closing word or two. We have worked very hard on this single project because we felt it had the greatest possibility of success in preserving the largest tract of open watershed land. Through this process, we have come to understand the bias that exists at Federal, State, County and Town levels for high-density development. While we have not been as successful as we wanted to be, we have made a significant impact on the way this development is being planned and we will continue to inform the Town and pressure them to exercise oversight to ensure that stormwater management and environmental testing/control are enforced on the developer. Every step along the way requires scrutiny. Stay engaged with the TOWN and make your voices heard in a polite professional manner. Vote for people who will restrain uncontrolled growth and high-density development. You have the ability to shape Wake Forest's Future, but nothing is earned without effort.

Warm Regards,

Rick