20210224 Ver 1_Public Notice Comments_20211028 (432)

Public Notice Comment Form
ID#*
20210224
Project Name*
Westpoint
First Name
Steven
Version*
1
Number only.
Last Name
Affiliation (if applicable)
Phone Number
Email*
[e-mail]
***The intent for collecting an email address is to allow us send you a receipt for submittal of this comment.
Please pick the response below that represents your stance on the above mentioned project? *
Yes - I agree with the project. No - I do not agree with the project.

Comment
Hello,
As a resident who has lived not only in Durham but right next to the Eno for 31 years, since birth, I deeply
oppose this development proposal.
First and foremost, the concerns being risen by Save Black Forest Meadows group
(https://www.blackmeadowridge.org/clean-water-permit-application) are very valid, particularly about;
- Impacts on water quality due to the Teer Quarry project nearby, and the abnormally large density of
impermeable land in the area.
- Impacts on cultural sites like the mill.
I'm sure you've heard a lot of the same things over and over again but I want to tell you how it Impacts me.
Over 30 years I've seen it all with this river. It's a delicate system that has many environmental threats posed
against it currently and doesn't need any more strain. It does bounce back but sometimes I see it struggling, as I
walk the trails multiple times a week.
Water levels are currently very low.
Pollution is still a concern after the sewage leak near my house on Infinity Road. The land near the new sewage
line still has so long to recover that it won't look like how it did growing up until I'm of age to retire.
Development and population are increasing around the trails fast, and thus, the Impacts. I've picked up at least a
few hundred pieces of trash this season, and sometimes when I look back I still see tons of trash that I was
never able to get and feel hopeless about whether this river can withstand more human impact.
It's an important ecosystem that I personally believe needs to be further protected, not further subjected to what
it's currently going through. It means a lot to me, as a few of my friends who died young would walk the trails with
me, and their memories are still everywhere.
The land and the forest itself should be treated like part of this town's heritage. North Durham is, and moreso
was growing up, an important greenbelt to this city that has benefits that we probably can't even quantify. Our
biodiversity is huge. We are lucky that certain elements like rain and good soil are in abundance, not sparse like
out west.
Every huge 60 acre project we keep turning a blind eye to just means less understory trees, less diversity, more
pollution and runoff that affects the health of what forest remains, eventually less rain, and I'm sure so much
more.
I'm deeply opposed to these huge development projects that are decimating north Durham but this one currently
tops the list, as it has potentially large impacts on our drinking water and the beautiful Eno River.
Thank you for reading!
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