The development of a quarry on public land by RDU Airport Authority is more than a local issue, there are state and federal policies and regulations that constrain how this public-purpose land may be developed.
The East Coast Greenway bisects the public land that is managed by the airport, and is a 3,000-mile spine route, from Key West north to the Canadian border in Maine.
RDU Airport Authority did not consult with the local governments who own the land, nor the neighboring municipalities of Cary and Morrisville, the State Park System, NC-DOT (owner of this segment of the East Coast Greenway), or FAA prior to signing the lease for the quarry.
In their effort to “secure this public-purpose land”, RDU Airport Authority also designed and applied for permits to build a 2 million dollar (18 mile long, 8 ft tall barbed wire) fence that would cut-off access to Umstead State Park for users of this trail. RDU Airport Authority stated the purpose of the fence was to “Protect Wake Stone” from vandalism and “environmental damage” from off-road cyclists. They falsely represented the true purpose of the fence, which was to accelerate the development of the quarry on the Odd Fellows Tract.
The East Coast Greenway runs from Maine to Florida, but it relies on local governments to ensure that adjacent land uses are compatible with the trail.
RDU Airport Authority is a municipal corporation that has zoning and eminent domain power equivalent to cities. Yet, they have established no zoning board of adjustment, special use or public hearing policies.
Where is RDU Airport Authority’s policy on multi-jurisdictional planning to ensure compatibility of the quarry with the municipalities that border their jurisdiction? Wake County has both a Comprehensive Plan and an Umstead Planning District that the quarry is incompatible with. Isn’t joint planning a requirement that must be followed by all municipal corporations (towns, cities, counties, and municipal corporations) including the RDU Airport Authority? The Towns of Cary and Morrisville have plans for high density development in the headwaters of Crabtree Creek that make this expansion of the quarry especially problematic.
Five thousand people per day have been reported using the Umstead State Park Trail System during the COVID-19 pandemic. More and more people will be moving into this area to live in the high-density multi-family apartments that are in the current development pipeline.
We need effective joint cross-jurisdictional urban planning to protect the East Coast Greenway and provide safe entryways into Umstead State Park. RDU Airport Authority must preserve access to recreational uses of public land that was taken for a public purpose. Doing so will promote the health and welfare of our citizens who rely on safe access to Umstead State Park and the recreational corridor that surrounds it.
What happens when the RDU Airport Authority disregards zoning and development law? Who is responsible for holding them to account? Will local governments, state agencies, Gov. Cooper, or the FAA take action to request that RDU Airport Authority withdraw their lease agreement with Wake Stone and recommend to the mining commission that the permit for the new quarry pit be denied?
S.L. 2017–10 (SB 131) amends N.C.G.S. 1–51 and 1–49 to establish specific statutes of limitation for actions “[a]gainst the owner of an interest in real property by a unit of local government for a violation of a land-use statute, ordinance, or permit or any other official action concerning land use carrying the effect of law.” Importantly, the time limit is a deadline for bringing a lawsuit in court, not necessarily a limit no administrative enforcement actions. The limitation is either five years or seven years depending on the facts known by the local government and the visibility of the violation.
The new limits on court-ordered enforcement do not apply when a dangerous condition exists. Under the new statutes, even if the statute of limitations has run, a local government may still seek a court-ordered injunction “for conditions that are actually injurious or dangerous to the public health or safety.” (1)
The UNC School of Government has a series of videos about upcoming 160 D laws governing zoning and development that need to be enacted by local governments (including RDU Airport Authority) prior to 2021.(2)
There are also Federal laws that govern disposing of property purchased with Federal Grant money. The FAA provides a guidebook on how to develop and lease airport property. (3)
RDU Airport Authority’s rush to develop public-purpose land as a quarry is an abuse of power. RDU Airport Authority has work to do to create policies and citizen advisory boards to comply with existing zoning and development law. They should withdraw their lease agreement with Wake Stone until these are established. The public demands a special use and rezoning hearing on the rezoning of this land from residential/recreational to industrial use, and the required unanimous vote from the 4 municipal owners of this land prior to any long-term lease agreement.
Allowing a quarry to be located within 200 feet of a home, or 500 feet of the East Coast Greenway, that hundreds of people use each day will create conditions that are actually injurious or dangerous to the public health or safety. (4)
The first public hearing was held on June 23rd. A second public hearing will be held on Tuesday, July 7 at 9 am. See following for the Webex link: https://umsteadcoalition.org/StopRDUQuarry
Please submit your comments in writing to the mining commission prior to the deadline of July 17:
Please also take the trail user survey. https://forms.gle/CVBWT73eePvXXnWz5
By withdrawing the lease, and working with community partners, more ideas will come to light, such as obtaining funding thru the Southern Environmental Law Center settlement with NC-DOT on I-540. https://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed/groundbreaking-settlement-agreement-reached-on-raleigh-area-toll-highway
