October 12, 2001
An unexpected expansion
Author: Dawn Wotapka; Staff Writer, The News & Observer
Raleigh -- When Patty Hernandez first toured the two-story white house on North Exeter Way in Harrington Grove off of Leesville Road six years ago, she knew it was the one. It was on a cul-de-sac and bordered a creek and a scenic patch of trees. She purchased on the spot.
Her real-estate agent assured Hernandez the road would never be continued and that the creek was protected. The developer of the 1,400-home community promised her that if the neighboring land was sold, residents would be notified and a public hearing would take place before it was developed.
For several years, neighborhood children chased frogs and waded in the creek. They had bike races and played hopscotch around the cul-de-sac.
So Hernandez cried two months ago when the trees were razed, the creek stopped flowing and North Exeter Way, her beloved cul-de-sac, became part of an extended road.
Eastman Development, it turns out, had approval for more than 80 single-family homes on 28 acres. Neighbors say they had no idea the land had been sold, let alone that it was about to be turned into a bustling subdivision. They're upset they weren't notified by the city or by the developer.
Eastman did not return calls for comment.
North Exeter Way will now extend through the new neighborhood, Harrington Pines, and empty onto Shady Grove Road in Durham -- just minutes from Research Triangle Park. This could ultimately mean hundreds more cars traveling the road each day.
"We would have never bought the house," Hernandez said, staring wide eyed into the now-murky creek.
Like residents in other Triangle communities, several neighbors decided a few months ago to fight. They got advice from the same individuals that helped stymie The Oberlin in central Raleigh. They've made newsletters and written letters to city officials.
The situation is hardly unique in North Raleigh, where stories about developers and communities at odds have become routine.
"Everybody resents change," said Ron Commons, who lives in Harrington Grove.
But the Harrington Grove residents quickly have learned that there is not much they can do to stop the road expansion or to save their beloved creek.
The road:
The road extension should be finished later this year and it has the city's blessing.
The development didn't require a public hearing because it was similar to one the former owner, Bill Daleure, had gotten approved more than 10 years ago.
In a recent meeting at the city Transportation Department, Ed Johnson said the extension of North Exeter Way -- which has been on the books since 1987 -- was necessary and that the developer could do little to change the plan.
"The comprehensive plan says he has to. He doesn't have much wherewithal to change his plans," Johnson said. "The city's got some pretty strong policies to get neighborhoods connected."
Mayor Paul Coble, who said he was sympathetic to the residents' plight, also said the connection was needed.
"You don't want the fire truck here [and] you burning here," Coble said, pointing to spots on a map, "and there be no connection."
The neighbors tried a different tactic. They requested a 25-mph speed limit, stop signs or speed humps.
Again, no luck.
Johnson said there wasn't enough traffic to justify Raleigh taking action now. The city can't fix a problem until there is one, he explained.
"Let's touch base when the road does open," Coble said.
Several neighbors grew frustrated, pointing out that officials offering to help and actually helping are two different things.
In fact, Johnson didn't want to hold the meeting that brought the residents and neighbors to the same table to negotiate.
He told Hernandez it would be a waste of time. And when she asked questions, he referred her to the city's Web site and told her she'd be quizzed. He also tried to cancel the meeting two hours before it happened because too many people would be attending, neighbors said.
Johnson said he felt the residents were "inviting him to a lynching."
"I've yet to run into a neighborhood that lives on a street that wants the street to be connected," Johnson said. "I'm not sure what it was that was said or not said that may have irritated [Hernandez]."
The creek:
When the developer placed four 72-inch-long concrete culverts to form the base of the road several weeks ago, he also interrupted the creek's flow.
Since the culverts came in, 12-year-old James Brawley said he's found dead crayfish and frogs. Hernandez said she's rescued three turtles.
"I'm kind of mad that they're doing this," said James, who used to love to play in the creek.
So are the state and the Neuse Coalition, a watchdog group that monitors the river.
Charles Brown, an environmental specialist with the state Division of Water Quality, said the work impacts too much of the stream, violating the permit. Whether the problem is major or minor is to be determined, Brown said.
But Eastman will not have to repair the stream. The company will likely have to pay a mitigation fund that creates wetlands across the state.
"This is not a very big magnitude-type situation," Brown said.
Don't tell that to Jean Spooner.
The creek flows into the Neuse River and Spooner, chairman of the Neuse Coalition, aims to protect any water that feeds the region's dominant river. She's angry the creek's flow has been reduced to a trickle.
"We have a stream whose natural function is being impeded," she said. "A healthy creek needs to have flowing water," she said.
Other concerns include:
- the stream banks could become unstable and suffer erosion;
- sediment could enter the river and flow downstream;
- the new neighborhood could have a lot of pavement, inhibiting rainwater from entering the creek through the soil and reducing the creek level during dry periods; and
- less vegetation along the stream could allow nitrogen to enter the stream. Too much nitrogen can lead to fish kills.
At the recent city meeting, Eastman and other representatives assured neighbors that the creek would flow again -- this time, even better than it was before.
Neighbors say that seems impossible.
"Not only is it a sad and ugly site, but that creek is a death bed to all the other creatures that used to live there," Hernandez said.
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