Behind our latest mailer

If you are a Flat Rock resident, you should have received CLG’s latest mailer. And if you’re looking for more detail, below is a breakdown of the data and research behind the mailer. Please email us at clgflatrock@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Side 1:

Whose vision for Flat Rock?

NCDOT?

• Increased traffic speed with wider road.
  • While NCDOT has modified the lane widening for N. Highland Lake Road, they are still adding curb & gutter on the north side, which adds two feet of width, and a paved shoulder on the south side, which adds another two feet. Dampening curves, adding left turn lanes, widening the road, and removing the visual border of trees all contribute to faster traffic, according to traffic studies. 
• More traffic channeled from other roads onto N. Highland Lake Road.
  • Will N. Highland Lake Road become an extension of Upward Road? At least one council member has indicated that a “benefit” of this road project is to make it easier for traffic throughout the county to get to the interstate. Is that what we want for one of the gateways into the village?
• Number of big rigs moving through the Village of Flat Rock to grow.
  • With the widening of the intersection of Greenville Highway and N. Highland Lake Road, the potential for more large truck traffic is significantly increased.

Village Council?

• A broken process: This road project moved up to NCDOT without all Flat Rock Village council members knowing about it, contrary to NCDOT policy.
• Once this project was announced, some council members thought that they could not say “NO” to NCDOT. But as NCDOT has said many times, “Do nothing” is always a NCDOT alternative. The village council has the power to cancel this project.
  • Representatives of NCDOT have repeated several times, including at the April 13 special council meeting on the road project, that “Do nothing” is an alternative for any NCDOT project. In a phone conversation with a former council member, the NCDOT Division 14 head, in stating that the Flat Rock village council and the French Broad River MPO have the power to cancel this project, said that if the project does “not have the support of those two groups, DOT will not continue.”
• Village Master Plan, used to justify this project, is not backed up by current data, with flawed population projections and no valid community-wide survey since 2004.
  • We have written several posts on this problem here, here, here, and here. 
• The village council has received petition signatures from a majority of village residents opposing this project.
  • CLG has submitted to date a total of 1,668 signatures from those opposed to the road project, and we are still collecting signatures online.  

Or the Village Community?

• Almost 1,700 people signed petition opposing the N. Highland Lake Road project (this is a majority of village residents).
• Packed village council meetings, with vast majority of citizens speaking out against the road project.
• Concerns about:
  • An unnecessary and unwanted project
  • Creation of a thoroughfare for pass-through traffic
  • Taking of private property
  • Waste of taxpayer money
  • Infringement into Flat Rock’s historic district
  • Loss of trees
  • Impact on Greenville Highway, one of only 60 scenic byways in the State
  • Loss of acreage in the Park

Side 2:

Top 5 Reasons Plus 1 for Council To Vote No

5. Big rigs through the Village: Rare today, possibly commonplace once a huge bite is taken out of the corner of N. Highland Lake Road and Greenville Highway.

4. Concrete monolith: 150 feet of retaining wall along Pinecrest Church. Railing or wall rising up 3-1/2 feet above the sidewalk where the church’s buffer of pine trees now stand. How long before wall and railing are covered with graffiti?

3. Endless concrete and restricted view of the dam: With construction, major disruption and damage to the ecosystem. King Creek will be re-channeled and the road closed to complete this monument to waste. End result will be a 25-foot wide concrete box culvert with walls extending upward in addition to a 3-1/2-foot high wall along multi-use path side.

2. 24-hour park access, dirty diapers, trash and long lines at the bathrooms: At the dam, the new multi-use path, a 10’ wide swath of blacktop, will tie in to the Park, making it 24-hour accessible. Many visitors will likely trespass on to the Pinecrest Church parking lot as a place to unload and park. Lure in additional “out of towners” and the locals will use the Park less and less…But the toilets will be used more and more.

1. Cost of adding sidewalks/paths: The village must pay for 20% of the cost of building any sidewalks/paths and 100% of all maintenance and repair costs.

And the Most Important Reason for the Village Council To Vote No:

Not wanted by citizens and considered unnecessary by NCDOT

It’s not too late . . . to stop this project! Speak out now!

• Thursday, June 14 at 9:30am: Council meeting at Village Hall
  • There will be a public comment period at this meeting.
• Tuesday, June 19 at 10:00am: Special council meeting on N. Highland Lake Road project at St. John Church
  • There will be no public comment period at this meeting. 

Hope to see you at both meetings!