By Cadmus Gray
Chatham County, NC – The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) will be a problem for the “have-nots” in Chatham County. If you are wealthy you will be able to enjoy all of the beautiful views as you drive your $100,000 electric car through Chatham as envisioned by the commissioners. Rural, scenic and unpopulated they will pat themselves on the back over a job well done.
If you are of modest means you will not be able to afford to live here even though you will find work here. For you the scenic drive is an expensive tax on you for being a moderate income worker. As you drive from Alamance, after dropping your kid off way too early for school, you will be frustrated by the long drive and high cost of fuel. The lot size minimums and set back rules and zoning changes send a clear message: you are not wanted here.
Those who own existing rental houses will make lots of money. They will drink fine wine while marveling how rent has risen from $1000 per month to $2000 a month for a simple rental home in eight short years. If you are Chatham Park you are overjoyed because the commissioners will have made sure if it will be built in Chatham it will be built in Chatham Park.
Of course all of those in favor of such rules cover their disdain for those with less money by coating it with a veneer of concern for the poor. You will force a developer to set aside a tiny amount of affordable housing, but it still will not allow a work truck to park in the drive and there will be so few units that their existence is a sad joke to those making the drive.
It is actually embarrassing being around people who pretend to care while their actions clearly show they do not.
The Chatham County commissioners are mostly not from here. I fear the fix is in. They will sit quietly at the public hearings feigning concern and then impose the vision of those who voted them in: wealthy voters from northeast Chatham.
Congratulations! You are intentionally destroying the futures of natives who keep a tidy lawn around their double wide and leave for work at 5 a.m. in their trucks. You will pretend to care and tomorrow they will be in your rear view mirrors. You will not think of them again until the next election. You will campaign on your concern for the less fortunate, but they are not your target audience. Your audience are other voters who want to feel good about themselves while crushing the dream of home ownership for the very people whose suffering you create and co-opt for your own gain.
If this UDO passes it will truly be a sad day with plenty of virtue signaling hypocrisy to go around.
You can find more information on the Chatham County UDO process at recodechatham.com