StopChathamNorth (SCN)
To the Residents of Briar Chapel,
In this email you will find information about:
1. Fearrington Preserve, a proposed development that is contiguous to Briar Chapel, considering Briar Chapel as a potential wastewater solution for their development.
2. Updates on Vickers Village and Herndon Farms, two other proposed developments contiguous to Briar Chapel.
3. Updates on the Tri-Party Council.
Fearrington Preserve Development Proposal
On July 29th, Chatham County Planning dept. posted an application by Congruus for Fearrington Preserve asking to extend the compact community map to include their proposed development. They own several parcels that include Durham Farms (which backs up to Hawk Point Rd. in Briar Chapel) runs down to Andrews Store Rd, across Andrews Store Rd along and behind the Chatham County Park and then down on the east and west sides of Parker Herndon Road. A total of 300+ acres.
On Page 3-4 of Exhibit B of their application they state:
The proposed area and the land owned by the Applicant are within the contiguous extended service area “ESA” for at least one privately regulated wastewater utility ( Briar Chapel WWTP) and within close proximity to another (Fearrington Village WWTP). The Applicant has met with local community members as well to discuss the wastewater issue in the region as well as the short term and long term solutions for all stakeholders.
The Comprehensive Plan states that “it is likely that distributed private and public systems will be needed to meet environmental and economic goals.” The Text Amendment and subsequent development of the Property under the CCO could and should allow coordination with existing development along 15-501 to create a regional sanitary sewer solution.
The Applicant believes its attainment of utility services will lead to enhanced facilities for this part of Chatham County, improved service and increased cooperation among private developers, neighborhoods, the County and NC Utilities Commission.
This is vague, but suggests they might be thinking to use Briar Chapel’s WWTP. We contacted Jason Sullivan of CC Planning Board and he referred us to the developer. We reached out to Isabel Mattox, attorney for Congruus, LLC and she confirmed that they have not yet finalized their wastewater plans, but it is their intention to first explore connecting to Briar Chapel’s wastewater (WW) system and if that is not possible, Fearrington Village. They are aware of the history of problems at both the Briar Chapel and Fearrington Village WW systems. We asked if they had considered building their own WW system or perhaps a regional WW system for the 15/501 corridor and she said that was expensive and something they hoped to avoid.
A public hearing for this request will be held at the CC BOC meeting on Monday, August 16th. Since this property is within the Briar Chapel wastewater system’s contiguous service area, this needs to be watched carefully and opposed to prevent further regionalization of the Briar Chapel wastewater system. We have notified the BCCA and hope that they will be willing to work with us in opposing this and future proposals that threaten to regionalize Briar Chapel’s WW system.
Update on Vickers Village
On June 28th a Development Input Meeting was held for adjacent or nearby property owners on Vickers Village. Since that meeting, the developer (Vickers Bennett Group, LLC) has posted a revised map of the proposed community. The developer has submitted an application requesting extension of the compact community map to include their proposed development. The developer is proposing a Compact Community with up to 203 single family homes/townhomes/condominiums 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, two irrigation retention ponds and discharge using spray irrigation of reclaimed water.
A public hearing for this request will be held at the CC BOC meeting on Monday, August 16th. While this proposal does include a private WWTP, we believe this needs to be watched carefully since this property is within the Briar Chapel wastewater system’s contiguous service area.
Update on Herndon Farms
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. 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 located approximately 500 feet from the Veranda and near Briar Chapel public walking and biking trails. As a result of the feedback during the public hearing, that proposal has now been withdrawn as the developer rethinks their proposal.
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:
· 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.
· Newland was not able to provide engineering as-built plans for the sewer lines that run over Pokeberry Creek (originally installed under the creek but due to erosion have become aerial and unsupported). ONSWC is looking at situation to determine options.
· Work has begun on the SD-East Pump station to support connections from the commercial areas under development by Newland east and west of 15/501 near Taylor Road.
· Over the last 3-4 weeks we have seen an increase in odor complaints around the WWTP and have reported to ONSWC, BCCA and NCDEQ.
· The last meeting of the Tri-Party Council was July 13th. Meeting notes are not yet available from that meeting.
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, First Residential, Chip White), documented and tracked.
Fundraising
Total amount donated: $51,750.23 (505 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