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| Would it be great to have an American Tobacco Type Trail in our area? |
Dear West Pender
Rail-Trail Supporters,
We have hit a bump
in the road and need your help! As
you may recall, we received a Recreation Trails Project grant from NC Dept. of
Energy and Natural Resources through Pender Country to develop the first mile
of trail in the Pender
Commerce Park
on 421 near the Pender/New Hanover County line. We were also in negotiations
with the Department of Transportation to run the trail along the cleared water
line parallel to 421 from the Commerce
Park to
Blueberry Road . We have enjoyed strong support from
Pender County
and several local and regional planning agencies for this project.
We have recently
learned that Wilmington Business Development has advised Pender
County to drop the trail project on
that property because they feel it will be a hindrance to business recruitment
and that it will conflict with their new plans for the
Commerce Park .
We disagree with their arguments and have offered numerous studies showing that
trails such as these are actually considered enhancements for development. We
also believe that the health and economic impact of regional facilities such as
these cannot be ignored ($60 million annually from cyclists in the Outer Banks-
see DOT study link below). We also
believe that turning down a $74,000 grant will inhibit
Pender County 's
ability to secure future funding for other parks and trail-related projects
through the NC Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources.
We believe
that our currently funded and heavily supported trail project has great
potential for economic and quality of life benefits to the area and should not
be dropped for a hypothetical future conflict of interest with a potential
business that may see a trail facility as a detriment.
Next Monday, October 15nd, at 4:00 pm, Wilmington
Business Development will present an update on their plans for the
Commerce
Park at the Pender County Commissioners
meeting at 805 S.
Walker Street, Burgaw ,
NC . It is the first item on the agenda. We
have also been told that we will be able to present our case to the
Commissioners at their November 5th meeting.
We are
asking you to attend these meetings with us to show your
support and to let the commissioners know that there is another side to this
story. We recommend business casual
dress and early arrival to get on the speaking list. We plan to leave after our agenda items
are concluded. We need to have strong community support at these meetings to
save this trail project that we have all worked so hard on!
Sincerely,
WPRTA
