Hot Off The Press

Supervisor Boddye just canceled his participation in the Rural Crescent forum.  The Committee of 100 has cancelled tonight’s forum.

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Send in your own personalized message:  Data Center Overlay Changes Will Harm All County Residents

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Supervisor Lawson’s email below provides a comprehensive review of outcomes on data center expansion and Rural Crescent topics from the May 18 Board meeting.

Also below are statements made at the Save Historic Thoroughfare press conference held before the Board meeting.

NOW CANCELLED: this forum TONIGHT 7:30 PM for discussion about what is occurring in the Rural Crescent:

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Supervisor Lawson’s email on outcomes from the May 18 Board meeting:

“Rural Crescent:  The Good News and Bad News

Friends –

It was another late night vote. For those of you who were unable to wait up until after 1am for the outcome, I’ll give you the bad news first: the Board voted 5-3 to approve a study for potential changes to our zoning ordinance that apply to the data center industry, and more specifically, areas where they are most suitably located, known as the Data Center Overlay District (DCOD). Because these buildings are massive and consume enormous amounts of energy, the DCOD was created by stakeholders working together to establish the boundaries of this district for the benefit of all county residents. However, last night’s vote opens the door to an expansion of the overlay into the rural area. As you can imagine, I voted AGAINST this.

As a Board, our job is NOT to provide the data center industry with unlimited land throughout the county. As a Board member, my job is to protect the residents, their water, their homes, their quality of life, their small businesses, and ensure that land uses are compatible with their neighbors. Data centers in the rural area are not compatible with rural communities, agritourism, National Parks (see attached letters), and our watershed…”  MORE

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Thoroughfare

Statements from Frank Washington – Spokesperson for the Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare

Press Conference:
“Although the Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare is hopeful that the future will hold full historic preservation and protections for all land and cemeteries within Thoroughfare and the Gainesville Settlement, we have immediate needs that must be met now.

There must be an immediate stay placed on development activities in Thoroughfare until a full archeological burial study can be completed. On Sunday the Coalition brought in a second archeologist who has discovered another 30 to 40 slave and Native American graves on land that has been designated for a housing development. If the county does not implement an immediate stay, we are looking at another possible bulldozing and desecration of another slave and Native American cemetery in Thoroughfare…”  MORE

Comments to Board Meeting:
“Thoroughfare cannot breathe. Politics, greed, systematic discriminative loopholes, all have their knees on the neck of Thoroughfare. We cannot breathe as we watch our cemeteries being torn apart. We cannot breathe as we watch our land and history being threatened and taken without pause.

A system that does not lend itself to protect us…” MORE
Statement from Joyce Hudson, The Settlement, at press conference and to Board meeting:

“…The fact is preservation of African American history is at a disadvantage.

However, there are actions this county can take to do a better job on equity and preservation, starting with the county’s actions being proposed today and others including:  Purchase land in the Settlement and provide space where that community can celebrate their history, build interactive facilities where our kids and others can remember their history and ancestors.  In Thoroughfare, stop property owners from continuing to destroy cemeteries by issuing and enforcing stop work orders…”  MORE

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