Neighbor's Appeal to EH Land Trust

The following is a letter sent by a property owner adjacent to the proposed Morgan Estates Development recently:

Thank you for speaking with me at length this morning. I contacted you because the developer of the Morgan Estates project currently under review by the Planning and Zoning Commission has expressed to us a willingness to discuss either a modification to the plan in which a majority of the property could be conserved, or an outright sale of some or all of the proposed lots. They have asked us to attend a meeting on Monday, March 2 at 630 PM to discuss a proposal they have prepared. We would like the Land Trust to attend this meeting if they would be willing.

We have been advised that as intervenors in the P&Z process we should not simultaneously negotiate with the developers toward a purchase option. Therefore, we are looking to the Land Trust to help facilitate constructive discussion along the lines of conservation. Moreover, giving the mounting risks that the developer is experiencing in trying to engineer a plan for the property the provides for 8 lots in the context of the declining economy, they have become more amenable to an alternate approach that would allow for preservation of perhaps five of the seven proposed new lots.

The developers initiated their proposal based on eight lots, one of which is the existing, former home of Anna Morgan. They have been working at fitting the remaining seven lots into approximately twenty four acres, much of which is designated as wetland and upland review area including 'facultative' (though not proven to be functional) vernal pools and a large, proven vernal pool under the power lines that imposes a substantial review area on the property. In addition to the wetlands, the nature of soil consisting of Paxton/Montauk imposes severe drainage considerations. In order to support the level of development proposed, numerous, maintenance intensive drainage characteristics including a retention pond, swales and rain gardens are proposed. Coordinating all of these features inside of the proposed boundary of clearance is proving challenging for the developer. During the various review processes, they have been incrementally required to refine the plan's design to make it work on this project. With each revision they become more invested in the plan even though the risk of failure continues to mount and the possible return on investment falls. We believe the plan was untenable from the start, however, once set in motion, the process tends to gain momentum given the increasing investment. Despite the developer's commitment to the plan, they are experienced at gaging risk and reward. Thus, we believe there is a genuine opening to discuss a conservation alternative.

The plan as submitted does not currently meet the public health code. As intervenors, our licensed engineer pointed this fact out during the wetland hearings. Although the IWWC passed the plan anyway, the developer did not or was not able to modify the plan to have it comply with the public health code prior to submitting it to P&Z. As part of the P&Z review, the plan was submitted to the Chattem Health District who confirmed and echoed the flaws pointed out by our engineer.

At the last P&Z meeting, the first public hearing of the process, the commission stated that they would be looking for buffers to be included in certain areas. This additional requirement may make it even harder for the developer to coordinate all of the needed elements in the plan, thus increasing the risk of failure. Meanwhile, the economic downturn and the struggling housing market are coming into ever sharper relief. We believe this is also creating a situation of mounting risk and diminishing reward that is encouraging the developer to be more open to a conservation approach.

We believe that there is now a unique opportunity to open constructive discussion about the possibility of preserving most of this property. Via separate email I will send a copy of the location map and P&Z application, a list of the neighbors and a copy of the Chattem Health District letter outlining the public health code issues. (I'll need to get to the office and scan this stuff for you.) We know for a fact that some of the neighbors would be willing to provide some financial support for a plan to preserve the property. We are asking that the Land Trust take up the role of facilitating the discussion of the possibility of preservation, and perhaps act as a coordinator for putting together a group and a plan to make this happen.

Thank you very much for any help you can give us to make the idea of conservation of this property a reality. We ask that the Land Trust give its best consideration to attending the meeting on Monday evening!