To the Editor:

We turn on our televisions every day and witness to the devastation that neighbors inflict on neighbors.

We live in a world today where “environmental consciousness and green” are the right paths to take, whether it is energy, wind and solar, food, paper products, new buildings or cars. Our planet is warming to such a degree that in 50 years no human will find shelter from our ever-changing weather patterns. These are facts in our future, that unfortunately, neighbor-to-neighbor in Franklin, we cannot predict what results will be. However, we can oppose what is happening in our residential backyard.

Mr. Herman “Bud” Talley is proposing that even without the variance he tried to obtain was denied for various reasons by the Board of Adjustment on Dec. 21, he will build a motocross track on his farm in this residential community. It doesn’t matter whether the neighbors like it or not.

The definition of a farm is for agriculture use. This will no longer be considered a farm and will also not be given farm tax deferments. Taxes will continue to get proportioned off for others to pay in tax hikes.

Mr. Talley has also made comments at meetings ….”If you have a problem … come talk to me … we will work it out.” It is my belief, that Mr. Talley is not hearing us … most of us do have a problem with it, but unfortunately he is turning a deaf ear to our pleas that this motocross track will not only destroy the peace and quiet in the valley, but will contain noise pollution, dust pollution, raw sewage concerns, waste concerns, water table concerns, traffic concerns and road maintainance concerns. I could go on and on, but I know you have heard it all before. Mr. Talley is always quick to point out the development of the Fulcher Vista as a “High Impact Area,” but what Mr. Talley refuses to realize is that all we did was buy lots from a local developer, build our dream homes (just as he did) and want to live in our residential community without the environmental consequences.

Mr. Talley repeatedly brings up his heritage as if he were the only person who had any. We all come from somewhere and frankly his heritage is no greater than yours or mine. I am proud of mine and want to preserve the respect and dignity that comes from having generations before me.

The difference between Mr. Talley and me is that I will honor my forefather’s traditions and pride in a way that will not desecrate their land. He keeps telling us that they have tilled their land since 1935, and now he wants to turn it into a circus. He tries to tie the churches into the dynamics of this project, family activities done together, community economics and all things he thinks will sell this vision in the name of his family heritage. I do question his motives.

I think Mr. Talley must look in the mirror and ask himself, “What would my father and mother want as their legacy?” I believe they would want the pristine land they worked so hard for to remain intact with the beauty they saw in it. The beauty Mr. Talley is willing to destroy. How sad.

Mr. Talley knows exactly what the impacts will be. In one meeting he made a statement in front of the Board of Adjustment, that … “One month before the meets he would kindly notify the press, radio and by any other means and let us know when they would occur,” and [We could go visit someone else.”

He failed to include in his request for variance that there are practice times, time trials and heats, none of which could possibly take place in a matter of 16 days, especially with the estimated 300 to 400 riders he had hoped would attend. The arrogance of his statement goes to the fact that he is very aware of the impact this would and will have on our residential community. Now he states it will run all year.

Clarks Chapel area is a very small, residential community, but all these environmental impacts affect us all in the immediate area and we should all be concerned. We have frail elderly residents who live within the direct impact zone who will suffer terribly from this track. These effects will then have far-reaching impacts to all those in Macon County, possibly for generations to come.

I believe Mr. Talley’s vision is admirable for the children and families in this area, but he is not thinking about his immediate neighbors and the impact it will have on this residential community. I know the economic atmosphere in the whole county is dismal, but not only will this motocross track have an impact on our property values, but we have all heard the term …”trickle down affect.” If this motocross track is allowed to be built the property values in the immediate area will be drastically diminished, the tax dollars collected by Macon County will be affected, your salaries will be affected and people will not come into this area to retire with his operation in their back yard.

We already have evidence of this with buyers backing out of contracts near the Talley Farm simply because of Mr. Talley’s intent to build it. The influx of people from out of the state is enormous. Retirees, whether you want to admit it or not, put a lot of money into this beautiful little town. It will stop! It will be a thing of the past and Macon County will remain one of the poorest counties in North Carolina. This issue was addressed on the front page of the Ashville Citizen Times Newspaper on March 6. That is not what I want for this community. I believe we all want to preserve the integrity of Clarks Chapel Residential Community, City of Franklin and Macon County.

I want Franklin to prosper, I want Macon County to grow with people who want to enrich the area, to keep our grandchildren coming back and to enjoy the fruits of all our labors. I want Mr. Talley to have a heritage he can be proud of! A farmland to pass down to his children and grandchildren, a farm where he can go out on his deck, in his golden years with his wife and have the peace and quiet he deserves.

We will protect our own lands, however we feel fit. This is not a threat, but an absolute fact and the outcome, just as it is all over the world, will come down to neighbors inflicting devastation upon neighbors, either way. Why can’t we work on a solution?

Janet Cramer-Binkley

Franklin