SAVE OUR EAGLES! REJECT TOLL BROTHERS PROPOSED
PRIVATE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT NEIGHBORHOOD
🦅 "DEAL LAKE" 🦅
ACT NOW! Sign and share our petition and let your voice be heard! https://www.change.org/NoDealWeddington
FRIENDS OF WEDDINGTON!
**Change.org will ask for a donation after you sign this petition. Do not donate as 100% of donations will go to Change.org. Our group, who created this petition, is not accepting donations at this time.
ASK WEDDINGTON PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS AND WEDDINGTON TOWN COUNCIL TO REJECT TOLL BROTHERS FUTURE PLANS FOR A PRIVATE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT FOR THEIR 93 HOME DEVELOPMENT "DEAL LAKE"
Please sign and share our petition! https://www.change.org/NoDealWeddington
What we know:
Located off HWY 84/Weddington Road, a 182 acre farm with open pastoral views, owned by the Propst and Deal families, has remained preserved in time, untouched for five generations, as development and growth have slowly surrounded it.
Toll Brothers, a national tract home builder, went under contingent contract to purchase five parcels of the Propst/Deal farmland (167 acres) on HWY 84, for a proposed development “Deal Lake”, zoned as a residential conservation development (RCD). The Deal farmhouse and 15 acres of land it sits on, will not be included.
Toll Brothers is in the planning stages for "Deal Lake" and has not brought plans before the planning board or Weddington's town council.
November 28, 2023: Toll Brothers held an “on-site visit” and design charrette meeting for adjacent property owners, passing out copies of their sketch plan. Adjacent neighborhoods to the proposed development are: Aero Plantation, Weddington Hills, Lake Forest Preserve, Stratford on Providence and Lochaven Estates.
Sketch plan details: “Community wastewater treatment plant/with septic disposal field” serving 93 homes, 4-5 homes bedrooms on slab, lots averaging 15,000 sq. ft., price range for the homes is $1-1.5 million dollars, 61 homes on the west side of HWY 84, adjacent to Aero Plantation, 33 homes on the east side of HWY 84, adjacent to Weddington Hills. Per the sketch plan, homes will be clustered together while half of the remaining land will be left as natural conservation space, per the RCD guidelines.
The private “community wastewater treatment plant” will pre-treat over 30,000 gallons per day of gray and black wastewater and disperse the effluent into subsurface leach fields, located on a sloped 10 acre field above Aero Plantation’s lake.
More than half of Weddington's citizens are on conventional septic systems. At the moment, Union County lacks the infrastructure and sewer capacity to serve the Mundys Run basin area, on HWY 84.
An active bald eagle's nest has been spotted on the Propst/Deal farm, in very close proximity to the treatment plant site and Aero Plantation's lake. The eagle pair and the nest have been reported to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Toll Brothers will need a special permit to perform any work around the federally protected eagles, who have resided here since the 1960’s.
New rules took effect January 1, allowing owners to utilize an Engineer Option Permit (EOP). An EOP allows an engineer to fast track their permitting and inspection processes, giving them full authority to approve all permits and inspections, accepting liability for the treatment plant. Toll Brothers has opted for an EOP. New rules: Wastewater Treatment and Dispersal Systems https://ehs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oswp/docs/rules/15A-NCAC-18E-Color.pdf
Before the new EOP rule, the processing time for applications, permits and inspections, overseen by either the health department or the Department of Environmental Quality, would have taken 6 months to one year. The EOP fast track option could cut down the wait time to two months +/-. New EOP Rules: https://ehs.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oswp/docs/rules/GS-130A-336.1.pdf
Deal Lake’s homeowners association and a third party operator will be responsible for management and operations of the treatment plant. The plant operator will be required to do on-site visits throughout the week and will monitor, repair, clean and truck out sewage as needed.
In 2008, IB Development LLC submitted an application to construct a private wastewater treatment plant for a luxury home development "The Woods", on 218 acres, 200+ homes, priced at $1.5-3 million dollars.
In June 2008, Janice Propst and I founded a grassroots group "Friends of Weddington" to fight against the private wastewater treatment plant. Weddington’s townspeople rallied their support behind us, packing Weddington High School's auditorium, where Weddington Town council took a vote and rejected the private wastewater treatment plant as it was "not harmonious to Weddington's land use plan".
The Woods' land, located beside the Propst/Deal farm, was never developed. It was recently purchased by Mel Graham, whose website states they facilitate land deals with Toll Brothers.
Reasons to reject Toll Brothers proposed development are:
- Environmental impacts due to system malfunctions and sewage leaks, putting residents and adjacent neighborhoods at great risk. Disruption and harm to wildlife, noise pollution due to the treatment plant, loss of nighttime sky, air pollution due to odor, negative visual impact for neighbors adjacent to the treatment plant.
- Health risks due to system malfunctions and improperly treated wastewater effluent, releasing antimicrobial pathogens, viruses, drugs and PFA’s into the groundwater, lakes, and in close proximity to neighboring wells. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in lake causing algae blooms and fish kills.
- Negative impacts on property values
- Increased traffic congestion due to an extra 93 homes on HWY 84.
- Increased burden on overcrowded public schools. *218 acres of land, located next to the Propst/Deal farm, recently purchased by developer Mel Graham, has the potential to add 200+ additional homes in the future on HWY 84.
- A wastewater treatment plant is not harmonious to Weddington’s land use plan.
- Homes clustered together on both sides of HWY 84, appearing as high density, not fitting with Weddington's rural character.
- If approved, it will set precedent for other treatment plants to be approved in Weddington.
What is next and what YOU can do:
Plan to attend Toll Brothers community meeting for "Deal Lake", which could be scheduled sometime in March.
- Town of Weddington's website will post a 10 day notice announcing the date, along with a yellow rezoning sign placed on the farmland.
- Please attend and share your voice. Toll Brothers is required to write down all concerns and deliver them to Weddington's Planning Board for review.
Stay connected
FRIENDS OF WEDDINGTON, WE MUST CONTINUE TO STAY UNITED TO PRESERVE WEDDINGTON TODAY, TOMORROW AND INTO THE FUTURE!
Toll Brother's Sketch Plan handed out November 28, 2023
