StopChathamNorth (SCN)
To the Residents of Briar Chapel,
In this email you will find information about:
1. Updates on proposed developments: Herndon Farms, Vickers Village and Fearrington Preserve contiguous to Briar Chapel.
2. Notice of Violation for an April 12th sewage spill at Great Ridge Parkway and Copperleaf Avenue.
3. Updates on the Tri-Party Council.
Herndon Farms Proposes WWTP – Located just North of Briar Chapel Veranda and Trails
Herndon Farms (formerly Rigsbee Farms) has proposed rezoning to a Compact Community located on the east and west sides of 15/501 adjacent to Briar Chapel. The east side is just north of Dogwood Veterinary (across from the Veranda) and will be a 55+ community offering 161 residential units. The west side runs north of the Veranda and along the Briar Chapel property line from 15/501 to the Bennett Mountain area (beyond Catullo Run) near Briar Chapel Parkway. The west side includes a WWTP that they plan to use for Herndon Farms and Dogwood Veterinary. This WWTP will use spray irrigation for discharge of the reclaimed water on both the west and east properties. Here’s a map of the proposed development showing the WWTP located off Oak Island Road, near the power easement not far from the Veranda and Briar Chapel’s bike skills area and walking trails. Here’s information on the Herndon Farms Compact Community Rezoning request.
The Public Hearing was held on June 21st at the Pittsboro Historical Courthouse. Two representatives of SCN spoke to oppose the rezoning request as well as other property owners who live in the area. The BCCA was represented by Jerry Cole, but they elected not to speak at the Public Hearing. Originally Herndon Farms had planned to rezone the WWTP to general use Light Industrial which would have allowed the WWTP to expand to a regional WWTP – as a result of the feedback during the public hearing, that proposal has now been withdrawn. CC Board of Commissioners (CC BOC) will decide on this rezoning request at their July 19th CC BOC meeting.
We continue to be concerned with the proposed location of the WWTP which is approximately 500 feet from the Veranda and runs along Briar Chapel public walking and biking trails.
Vickers Village Proposed Development on 15/501 between Jack Bennett and Vickers Road
On June 28th a Development Input Meeting was held for adjacent or nearby property owners on Vickers Village. The developer is proposing a Compact Community with 60 single family homes, 111 townhomes, 15 condos and commercial retail on property located between Vickers Road and Jack Bennett Road along 15/501, across from the entrance to Briar Chapel. This proposal includes a private WWTP (located off Jack Bennett) and two irrigation retention ponds which are located near existing property owners on Jack Bennett. Here’s a map of the proposed community.
During the Development Input Meeting, the majority of attendees were concerned about the location of the WWTP and retention ponds. We learned the WWTP will be @ 40,000 gpd and will be operated by NC Aqua. When asked why they are not planning to put the WWTP in the back of the neighborhood (further from existing property owners), they cited recommendations from their engineers, environmental studies and the need to put in an additional road if they move the WWTP further away from Jack Bennett. Chatham County requires developers to provide their own WW systems. Unfortunately, the developers do not have restrictions on where they can be located to minimize the impact on existing property owners and the new residents that will come with the development.
Fearrington Preserve Planned Development on Andrews Store Rd/Parker Herndon/Morris Rd
We’ve recently heard that another new development, Fearrington Preserve, is preparing to apply as a Compact Community. This development includes the parcel that used to be known as Durham Farms (located behind Woods Charter, along Hawk Point Rd.) and has added four other parcels that extend across Andrews Store Rd, behind the park and down along Parker Herndon towards Morris Rd. We understand that the developer (Congruus LLC) has had initial meetings with the Chatham County Planning Department and expects to be submitting a proposal in the near future. No word yet on their plans for handling wastewater.
NOV for April 12th Sewage Spill at Great Ridge Parkway & Copperleaf Avenue
On May 20th NCDEQ issued ONSWC a Notice of Violation for a sewage spill that occurred April 12th from the manhole located at Great Ridge Parkway and Copperleaf Avenue. The spill was due to a plug that had been left in the sewer line when they tested the sewer line for inspection. In a response provided by ONSWC to the violation, they stated “they had not been notified by the developer of this problem and we need better communication when sections of the development are completed and ready to be turned over to the utility.”
Status Update on Tri-Party Agreement
Here’s the latest information we have on the status of the work outlined in the Tri-Party Agreement:
· The force main bypass was certified and put into service on June 3rd. This replaces force main A which has been the source of so many pipe failures. We hope this will significantly reduce the number of sewage spills in our community.
· Work on the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) expansion to 500,000 gpd is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. NCDEQ has approved the permit to allow the odor control improvements to be added as part of this expansion.
· NC DEQ is reviewing two additional permit modification requests from ONSWC (which will increase spray irrigation capacity to just over 500,000 gpd) that would convert some existing spray irrigation from potable to reclaimed water (e.g., Encore residential homes) and allows the construction of some additional spray irrigation fields (area north and south of Western retention pond and in common areas within Encore and behind Cliffdale homes). At the last BCCA Board Meeting, Jerry Cole confirmed that NCDEQ will not allow trails in the spray irrigation areas planned around the Western Pond. We expect this additional irrigation to be approved soon. In the meantime, irrigation in Encore will start with potable water since conversion to reclaimed water has not yet been approved.
· The BCCA will do irrigation sampling and testing in Encore and other areas of the community.
· The last meeting of the Tri-Party Council was June 8th. Here are the meeting notes from that meeting. Items of note:
o Newland was not able to provide as-built plans from the installation of the sewage pipes under Pokeberry Creek (that are now aerial and unsupported).
o SD-East Pump Station (for the commercial development on 15/501 near Taylor Road) has begun and should be completed by end of summer.
o Newland’s development of the new David Weekley town homes (off Catullo Road) is nearly completed. Newland expect to wrap-up development of Firmage (located off Andrews Store Rd) by mid-July.
Documenting our Concerns
We are extremely thankful for the information shared with us by BC residents. We need to continue to document resident’s complaints/concerns, particularly odor and spray irrigation issues. To date, residents have reported over 500 complaints about spills, odor conditions, irrigation and other issues. When you have a complaint, please call ONSWC’s customer service number 877-511-2911. To make sure your complaint is documented, we ask that you also email your concern to us at STOPCHATHAMNORTH@gmail.com. We will make sure your complaint is shared with all the appropriate parties (ONSWC, NCDEQ, BCCA board, First Residential, Chip White), documented and tracked.
Fundraising
Total amount donated: $51,430.23 (502 families contributing)
Spent to date: $42,603.06 (Legal: $35,317.50, Engineering Expert: $6,142.00, Administrative: $1,143.56)
You can donate via PayPal by using this link:
https://paypal.me/STOPCHATHAMNORTHNC?locale.x=en_US
If you prefer not to use PayPal:
You can write a check to: STOPCHATHAMNORTH and mail it to: STOPCHATHAMNORTH in care of Liz Rolison, 1900 Briar Chapel Parkway, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 or simply drop the check at Liz’s house.
We are maintaining a full accounting of these funds and will return any unused funds to all contributors taking into account the weighted average cost to contribution basis. Thank you again for contributing.
StopChathamNorth
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Mission Statement
StopChathamNorth is an incorporated non-profit 501(c)(4) social welfare association representing concerned homeowners within Briar Chapel. StopChathamNorth does NOT support a regional wastewater treatment plant within the residential community of Briar Chapel. We are aware that there are several new communities surrounding Briar Chapel that are planning to utilize our WWTP. We are opposed to all of these plans to expand Briar Chapel’s WWTP for uses outside of the Briar Chapel residential community. We also believe that the WWTP and ONSWC must be fully compliant with all governance and regulatory guidelines to ensure operations do not create a nuisance, unhealthy or hazardous conditions for Briar Chapel residents.
For more information: www.stopchathamnorth.com