I need HELP! crosspost from the environment/energy group

[MuseRider]

The county is planning to rezone a huge mass of land, they are not saying how much and I can't tell by the map they sent for an "economic growth corridor" within 1000 feet of my farm. I don't need to go into all the reasons I do not wish to have 24/7 truck traffic and 24/7 lit up like the moon on the boarder of my farm. They are planning for my new neighbors to be warehouses and light industrial. My guess is they are getting way ahead of themselves but are reserving the land mass for this purpose anyway. I doubt any thought has been given to an environmental impact study and I am at a loss how to go about requesting one done by someone other than the people that are pushing for this. I know I can't beat them but if I can slow the process down I would like to try. This land is being used for farming. They do not own it yet but they want to rezone all of it so they can move in when they find someone to build on it. I am new to this kind of thing on a personal level so I could use any advice any of you might have.

We have a few information meetings coming up to "educate the landowners". I will be there but I would certainly like to be armed with real information rather than just stomping my foot.

The area now drains into my large pond, that is a concern and from previous projects the county has done those down stream from what they do end up in a mess both with pollution and little or no planning for water movement. This area floods, not my farm, but just a few hundred feet down the road they have been under water several times in the last 20 years simply from large amounts of rain.

I have a lot of migrating waterfowl that stop yearly. I also have Bald Eagles that sit in my trees and hang out around the ponds. Light pollution will be a problem. Noise as well.

Where do I start? Please help if you have ever done anything like this and at least maybe I can go in with my mind calm and with information.

[ejpoeta]

1. wish I knew. Maybe you could call for clarification

but beyond that I am not sure. Have you googled this subject? You'd be surprised what you can find. Good luck!

[MuseRider]

2. I have gotten a lot of help

from the E/E forum. I also got some suggestions from the Nature Conservancy. I was told of someone else in the area who is hot to stop this, I don't know him but I have read some of his LTTE's over the years, we might make a good fit working together on it. I plan on calling him today.

This is just the rezoning. It may be a long while before anything would ever happen this far South but it would serve us well to get the pressure ramped up at the very start. They are pretty hot to get this done but for the life of me I don't know where they will ever find the money to make it even possible for the preliminary work. The city is looking pretty worn and the people there are unhappy with it so I would think a lot of the money they come up with would have to be spent there first. Of course I always underestimate how stupidly they do things.

Thanks!

[ejpoeta]

3. better to be proactive. and it's good that there are others in your area who are feeling the same

way. probably be better to have others to bounce ideas off. good luck. i hope you are successful. And never underestimate how less than smart some folks can be when spending money. We have that around here too.

[MuseRider]

4. :-) thanks. n/t