PETITION TO NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA COMMISSIONERS:

SAVE OUR FOREST & TREES!!! (SOFT) and the residents of New Hanover county urges the NHC commissioners to DENY the proposed changes to New Hanover County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Specifically, regarding section 5.3.7. regarding Mitigation (aka Tree Retention)

The proposed AMENDMENT GUTS FOREST & TREE PROTECTIONS AND MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROXIMATELY 15,000 ACRES IN NORTHERN NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.  Clearcutting without replanting may start at the Isabel Holmes Bridge and extend north to the Pender County lines between the Cape Fear (west) and the Northeast Cape Fear Rivers.  We, the undersigned residents of New Hanover County, value our environment and protest deleting current protections for retaining and replanting trees anywhere in the county - even when an area is zoned for industrial use. 

Facebook page for SOFT (Save our Forest Trees) We will update on page https://www.facebook.com/Save-Our-Forest-Trees-SOFT-104566035750164

Link to the  NHC Planning Board Meeting where proposed changes was passed; discussion starts at approximately at 2:10. 

https://youtu.be/1_beUU-uDXQ

THESE PROPOSED CHANGES WILL GO TO THE NEW HANOVER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS:  WE ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO ATTEND THE NHC COMMISSIONERS' MEETING AND TO EMAIL AND CALL THE NHC COMMISSIONER. 

Link to contact County Commissioners:

https://commissioners.nhcgov.com/

NEW HANOVER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING:

WHEN:  NOVEMBER 14TH

TIME:  4:00 PM

WHERE: NEW HANOVER COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 24 NORTH 3RD STREET, ROOM 301

IN TEXT BELOW, LANGUAGE CHANGES

5.3.7 MITIGATION

E. Properties zoned I-2 located along the Hwy 421 corridor between the Isabel Holmes Bridge to the south, the Pender County line to the north, the Cape Fear River to the west, and the Northeast Cape Fear River to the east shall not be required to mitigate removed Significant or Specimen trees.  These sites shall still be required to meet all requirements of Section 5.4, Landscaping and Buffering or pay an in-lieu fee as described in D above if the Planning Director determines that the required trees cannot be accommodated on the site. 

This action is being put forward as a "maintenance" amendment.  BUT IT IS NOT A MAINTENANCE AMENDMENT (a technical change such as correcting a misspelled word.)

THIS PROPOSAL IS A VAST CHANGE OF POLICY and should be subjected to a more rigorous period of public comment AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REVIEW.

We are aware that the County and its taxpayers have invested in the highway 421 corridor with water and sewer lines to attract industrial use; however, this drastic change to a newly approved UDO is not in the public interest and should be rejected by the Board of Commissioners because it will:

1. Remove all forest and tree protections in a fragile area between two rivers.  We believe the county should be engaging in repairing environmental damage, increasing beauty, and reducing flooding impacts caused by years of environmental disregard.  This proposal will damage our environment and our areas reputation as a tree city and as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. 
2. This important and fragile area should be master-planned with agreed-upon variances to present a green, healthy, positive welcome on a major road leading to Wilmington.  For example, we could save or create wide (30 feet or more) buffers next to 421, a smaller buffer on interior streets, and designate for protection large groves of forested areas around and in between buildings to develop a wildlife corridor. 
3. New Hanover County including the city of Wilmington is a sought-after location to live, work, play and start a business; we do not need to short-change ourselves by trading off the health of the environment and our communities by allowing clear-cutting. 
4. We oppose the removal of our significant and specimen trees, and we oppose the removal of mitigation (replanting) when a variance is granted.  Replacing several 36" wide Live Oaks or Longleaf pines with 15 young trees per acre is not an equal trade and will not prevent harmful environmental impacts like increased flooding and soil erosion.  The contribution of trees to our community and our environment is incalculable.  Trees provide clean air, clean water; heat mitigation, flood reduction, decrease in crime, slower traffic, and a positive effect on physical and mental health - and help slow climate change. 
5. The proposed change jeopardizes the longleaf pine habitat needed for the federally protected Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. 
6. The process of this change signals a troubling change in county governance.  Having only a year ago approved a revised UDO, why would we now gut it and go back to clear-cutting without any mitigation?  This recommendation is a dramatic precedent-setting action in one of the last undeveloped pieces of land in the county.  It will open the doors for major amendment request by  other landowners and developers. 
7. Although this amendment request is being made to accommodate industrial warehouse operations such as those run by distribution organizations like Amazon, recent news articles report that Amazon is closing dozens of its 100,000-square-foot distribution warehouses, leaving a path of empty structures and environmental ruin in its wake.  Why would we want to ruin a huge section of our county for the short-term gain of relatively low-paying jobs that may be lost at any time?  The county needs long-term, sustainable jobs with high wages that will bring us into alignment with other desirable areas of the state.  This amendment shows a lack of planning, forethought, and vision - three things that our county needs to elevate the corporate culture and environmental culture of the region. 
8. This industrial corridor, if allowed to move forward as "planned" will be yet another blighted entryway to our beautiful coast, strewn with trash, devoid of trees and beauty, and prone to flooding.  We believe the county is missing a great opportunity to make Wilmington and the region shine as a Tree City - something that must be more than a promotional slogan on a roadway sign.