Opinion
Any way you cut it, $6 million is a lot of money for a narrow wetland
strip along the Haw River. The state covets it for a gateway to Haw
River State Park now under development in northern Guilford County.
It's
part of a 691-acre tract that Florida-based BlueGreen Communities plans
to use for its upscale, 775-home Patriot's Landing gated community.
Yet,
had state officials been more proactive in trying to obtain the land in
the first place, the current stalemate might have been avoided.
BlueGreen officials say the state never offered to purchase the tract
from previous owners. A park supporter has a somewhat different
account. He told the News & Record's Taft Wireback that contact was
made, but the owners had agreed to sell to BlueGreen.
Either
way, the state has eyed the land since 2005 when it bought the nearby
210-acre Summit Conference center from the Episcopal Diocese of North
Carolina.
And a honey of a deal it was. The $4.1 million price
tag included a conference center with overnight accommodations, a
cafeteria, an amphitheater, a swimming pool, a boardwalk and scenic
walking trails.
So BlueGreen's asking price is a clear case of
sticker shock. But it must be taken into account that land values in
that area have risen considerably in the interim. Also, in a
competitive bid situation, the state usually comes up short anyway.
As
a compromise, BlueGreen would give the state 112 acres along the river,
which it claims are sufficient for a trail. Park officials disagree.
They contend the land is flood-prone and too close to suburbia. Buying
some adjacent land, they say, would insure year-round access as well as
privacy.
That's where the rub comes in. To comply, BlueGreen,
which bought the land fair and square, would lose about 80 valuable
residential lots. Its $6 million asking price would offset that
unanticipated financial setback.
As it stands, the state is
conducting its own land appraisals in the area. Park officials,
however, will need to make a strong argument for spending millions in
tax dollars just to assure aesthetic value and 365-day-a-year access.
There's no guarantee that the meandering walking trail won't encounter
similar encroachments somewhere down the road before completion.
The
state's long-range challenge is convincing owners that land conservancy
is worth forgoing higher monetary rewards from well-heeled developers.
At the same time, real-estate interests must cooperate in protecting
diminishing natural resources.
But in the matter at hand,
there's still time for BlueGreen and the state to iron out details
while both projects are on the drawing board.
