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30 REASONS to REJECT the OCCONEECHEE LAND SWAP Currently, there are no golf courses in any Virginia State Park. 1.
Budget amendment # 381 attempts to bypass and interfere with the
protocol of SB249.
SB249 was signed into law in April 2002, was designed to include
adequate public processes and decision-making safeguards, and requires
approval from the Director of the Department of Conservation and
Recreation, the Attorney General and the Governor, in order to
determine if, for the first time ever, VA State Park land will be taken to
build a golf course on. Budget
Amendment #381 is unnecessary and should be rejected.
It conflicts with the intent of SB249. Its affect is to apply
political pressure on the DCR and others. #381 attempts to supplant the
public will, public scrutiny and current public policy on this issue. 2.
Article XI Section I of the Constitution of Virginia clearly
states: To the end that
people have clean air, pure water and the use and enjoyment for recreation
of adequate public lands, waters and other natural resources, it shall be
the policy of the Commonwealth to conserve develop and utilize its natural
resources, its public land and its historical sites and buildings. Further
it shall be the Commonwealth’s policy to protect its atmosphere, lands
and waters from pollution, impairment or destruction for the benefit,
enjoyment and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth. 3.
The Virginia Division of State Parks mission statement parallels
Article XI Section I of the Virginia Constitution and is “to protect,
conserve and manage significant state natural, recreational, historical
and cultural resources and to provide recreational and educational
services, opportunities and facilities consistent with the needs of
Virginians and their guests. 4.
The citizens of Mecklenburg County and across the Commonwealth have
communicated over-whelming opposition to the development of both public
and privately owned and operated golf courses on Virginia State Park land.
Several other proposals to develop golf courses in state parks have
failed due to public opposition. 5.
Occoneechee State Park land is considered sacred by the
Occoneechee-Siouan Indians. The VA Council on Indians has indicated its
opposition to the Governor regarding locating part of a golf course in
Occoneechee State Park. Other
organizations and people as well, have formally expressed their opposition
to the golf course. Some of
these are, the NAACP Chapter of Mecklenburg County, Brunswick County
Historical Society, High Plains Saponi Indians of Halifax, VA, Audubon
Society, Richmond Times Dispatch, VA Forestry Watch, Southside Concerned
Citizens, Sierra Club of VA, Southside Virginia Native American
Descendants Association. Virginia Native Plant Society, The Daily Progress
of Charlottesville, VA, and the Chairman of the VA Board of Conservation
and Recreation. 6.
The DCR’s responsibility as a conservation agency has always been
to protect state parks and natural areas from commercialization and
encroachment from surrounding development.
The VA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is charged
with being the steward of our State Park land.
#381 is an attempt to diminish the DCR’s role in the decision
making process, because the patrons of #381 feel the DCR will not support
their efforts to put a golf course in a VA State Park.
Over the past few months, some 4000 people have expressed their
opposition to golf in Occoneechee, to the DCR and others.
Less than 700 people have expressed support for the golf course to
the DCR. Of those expressing their position on this matter, there is a
6 to 1 margin of citizens opposed to golf in a VA State Park.
This 6 to 1 margin against the golf in Occoneechee has been
confirmed by the DCR as being consistent with its findings of public
opinion statewide regarding golf in VA State Parks, and consistent with
the findings in the Virginia Outdoors Plan. Therefore, over 80% of those responding are opposed to
locating a golf course in a VA State Park. 7.
The conditions of the local economy should not be a deciding factor
in how we utilize Virginia State Park land. Economic downturns should not
be used by developers and others as “windows of opportunity” to take
state park lands or alter state park lands forever, for commercialization
that will benefit only a few, at the expense of the great majority. 8.
The Sam Snead outfit wants the precedent to be set for locating
golf courses in VA State Parks, and they want as much free land as
possible from various government entities.
Occoneechee State Park is public land, not commercial land.
If the Snead’s golf course cannot survive without State Park
land, then perhaps it doesn’t hold so much promise.
9.
In a 1998 letter from the VA Tourism Corporation to then Secretary
of Commerce and Trade, Barry Duval, summarizing a meeting with the Sneads,
it was stated, “there is a
scarcity of investors or community funds to develop the Snead’s concept.
They (the Sneads) were hopeful that the Commonwealth might give
them financial assistance or that the sites would be located on state
property.” Also, it was acknowledged that “ States such as West
Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have
state-supported golf courses… have never recovered their initial
construction costs, and operate with state subsidies.”
It is obvious the Snead’s concept does 10.
This golf course project is not primarily about new jobs or
attracting additional tourists to Clarksville.
It is mostly about setting a precedent for golf in more VA State
Parks in the future. The
Sneads hope to get more public land from VA to open additional golf
courses in more VA State Parks. The
Snead folks, along with various officials and others, attempted to locate
a golf course in Douthat State Park, in Allegheny County.
That effort failed. They
also tried the “land swap” scheme.
That failed too. They provided sketchy and incomplete information,
and data that was refuted in subsequent studies, and which did not meet
the requirements of even a basic good business plan.
We have the same situation facing us now,
from those who are trying to force this project through in
Occoneechee. The Sneads also
tried to locate golf in Pocahontas State Park and Sky Meadows State
Park…and who knows which other State Parks tomorrow?
Given Clarksville’s economic difficulties, Occoneechee has become
the golf proponents’ best chance (where others have failed) to take
control of VA State Park and public lands for private development. 11. As evidence of the precedent setting intent and nature of
this effort to locate golf in Occoneechee State Park, I refer you to the
comments below, which appeared in one of our local newspapers earlier this
year. FYI, Charlie Simmons is
the Chairman of the Clarksville Industrial Development Authority, operates
a local real estate business, and has been the primary person responsible
for pushing this issue along. 12.
On Feb 27 2002
in the News Progress and talking about the golf course and
Senate Bill 249 (Ruff) Charlie Simmons was quoted as saying
" such projects would
improve recreational aspects of state parks at no additional cost to
taxpayers. This legislation (SB249) is an important tool for many
municipalities to use to further improve recreational activities at nearby
state parks." 13.
In the April 10,
2002 News Progress
and talking about the fact the Governor had recently signed SB249, the
article contained the following statements: “The state park leases
property from the federal government,” said Clarksville Industrial
Development Authority Chairman Charlie Simmons. “What we wanted to
do was lease approximately 23 acres from the state to allow for the three
waterfront golf holes.” Up until this time, no law
was in place to allow municipalities to utilize portions of state park
property for specific recreational development projects, officials said.
To help Clarksville and
other municipalities improve development opportunities, Senator Frank Ruff
drafted Senate Bill 249, which would allow the state to lease park
property for specific approved projects such as the planned golf course.
According to Simmons, that bill was signed into law
Monday by Governor Warner, and now the town can move forward to seek
federal approval. “We have the support of many state officials concerning
this project,” Simmons said. “Now we have to convince the
federal government to support the state's efforts.”
Simmons explained that the bill involved a lot more than
just Clarksville's project, and that many municipalities could improve
recreational aspects of parks with projects designed to increase tourism
without major construction projects. 14.
There is a statewide network of real-estate developers who want
this precedent to be set. The
realtors want golf in State Parks to lower the golf course construction
costs, and as amenities to promote the building and sale of houses around
the golf courses. This is
much more about housing developments, than recreation or tourism.
The primary beneficiaries of this golf course, and the housing
development would be the Sneads and a few local real-estate
developers…at the expense of our public resources.
Over 80% of Virginians are opposed to having their State Park lands
contaminated this way. Occoneechee
State Park belongs to all the citizens of the Commonwealth. 15.
The proposed golf course is not the “job engine” proponents
portray it to be. No one has produced definitive information indicating this
golf course will provide net additional new jobs for Clarksville, and no
feasibility studies have been released to the public which identify the
potential financial benefits or risks associated with this project. The project will employ only 12-15 people.
5 will be management and supervisory positions, mostly filled by
people from outside of Clarksville. The
remaining 7-10 jobs will be seasonal full and part-time, with earnings
only slightly above minimum wage, and in most instances no benefits. 16.
Sub-leasing or swapping land at Occoneechee State Park and locating
a golf course in a VA State Park contradicts the underlying purpose and
goal of the 2002 Parks Bond Referendum. The expectation of the 948,000
voters who supported this referendum was to expand the Virginia State Park
system with acquisition of land, developing traditional park facilities
and services, improving existing facilities and ensuring the protection of
all resources for future generations of Virginian’s. The Town of
Clarksville does not own any land that is comparable to the 23 acres of
State Park land in question. This
23 acres of park land is lake front property and entirely bisects
the State Park. The Town of
Clarksville does not own lake front property that could be swapped for the
23 acres of State Park property. Losing
the 23 acres of State Park property would also completely cut the park in
half. Presently the park is
made up of a continuous forest. Amendment
#381 would put a golf course right in the middle of the park, thereby
requiring traditional park users to cross the golf course when traveling
from one part of the State Park to the other.
There is not another piece of property that can make the park whole
again once the 23 acres are clear-cut for a golf course. 17.
Developing a commercial golf course at Occoneechee State Park would
require additional state taxpayer dollars to fund the effective and
appropriate management of such a facility on state park land.
It would be unavoidable that time and effort from current DCR and
state park employees would be diverted to issues involving the oversight
and interaction of the relationship between Occoneechee State Park and a
golf course which would be located in the middle of the park.
This diversion of personnel time and effort would ultimately
require additional park and DCR staffing in order to effectively manage
current traditional park services and the relationship and affects of a
golf course mingled with a state park.
18.
Due to the extensive land clearing and topography alterations that
will be necessary to construct this course and the proximity to the
largest fresh water lake in the Commonwealth, many sensitive environmental
issues are at stake with this project, such as the pollution from the tons
of herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer that would run-off from the golf
course directly into Kerr Lake. 19.
A second golf course
in Clarksville makes absolutely no sense. From an economic standpoint the
Kinderton Country Club course has had difficulty attracting enough use to
justify keeping it open. Another golf course would only magnify the
operational difficulties for both facilities. Anyone who lives more than
25 miles from Clarksville can play this course without being a member, and
the cost to play is less than the projected cost for playing at the
proposed Snead course. Kinderton
is located within sight of Occoneechee State Park and the proposed Snead
course. Therefore, any
tourists visiting Clarksville already have a first-class golf course
available to them. Many
of the folks who belong to Kinderton, including some of the people who
work there, are becoming increasingly concerned that another golf course
will do nothing more than compound the financial financial difficulties
already faced by Kinderton. This doesn’t mean “new” jobs for Clarksville…it’s
just swapping jobs from one business to another.
There is no proven overall net gain in jobs from this. There
is no economic reason for another golf course at Clarksville
The golf business nationwide has been declining for the past 2 ½
years, according to a New York Times article last year. 20. Clarksville’s
own golf course feasibility study conducted in February 2001 by the
National Golf Foundation concluded; “Overall, it appears that given the
projected cost of this project, the level of play needed for the proposed
golf facility to be self-sufficient would be considerably greater than the
average rounds played in this market.”
The proponents do not have a viable business plan. 21.
The only reason this project made it into the Occoneechee Master
Plan proposal was the political and real estate developer pressure
received during the initial planning process. Due to staged support by
local officials in Clarksville, 2 politicians and a few other individuals
in a position to benefit financially, DCR was forced to make concessions
to include the golf proposal in the Master Plan. This was against their
better judgment and experience in developing Master Plans for Virginia
State Parks. 22.
The effort to include golf in the Occoneechee Master Plan would
have failed this past November at the Board of Conservation and Recreation
meeting, had it not been for the vote by the Mayor of Clarksville, who
sits on the board, and who had abstained from all previous votes on this
issue, publicly citing his inability to be impartial on this issue.
However, when he realized the golf issue was going to fail, he
changed his mind and decided to cast the tie-breaking vote.
The motion to include golf in the Master Plan passed by a 4-3 vote. The motion would have failed with a tie vote. The
Chairman of the Board of Conservation and Recreation, Bruce Wingo voted
against the golf, as did board members Alan Albert and Sherrie Swinson.
23.
Since 1968, Occoneechee State Park has been a major factor in
bringing visitors to the Clarksville area.
Guests are attracted to the park because it provides an opportunity
to escape the national obsession to commercially develop open space. 24.
Locating a golf course in Occoneechee State Park will directly and
negatively impact the quality of the traditional park visitor’s
experience. The officials of
Clarksville and the proponents of this Sam Snead golf course should
realize that their proposal to cut 100-plus year-old trees and change the
landscape on 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park land destroys the very
treasures people find so attractive about Occoneechee State Park and the
Clarksville community. 25.
If Clarksville would expend the same effort to assist VA. State
Parks with the development of the traditional programs and services
identified in the Occoneechee Master Plan as they have with trying to
develop a golf course, many of the same economic and tourism goals could
be accomplished without the destruction of our natural resources.
26.
Most all other small communities of the Commonwealth fully support
the State Park mission to preserve and protect the cultural and historical
resources of their local state park.
Mecklenburg County and Clarksville should be outraged that a
private developer such as the Sam Snead group, and a small number of
politicians and real-estate developers are using their state park for
near-sighted short-term financial gain. 27. Virginia State Parks were
established to protect resources now and for the future.
Clarksville should be very protective of the economic benefit
Occoneechee State Park currently provides to their local economy.
In 2001 alone, Occoneechee State Park had a total economic impact
of $3,581,700 in the local economy. This
impact was accomplished without jeopardizing the conservation and
protection of the resources. Commercialization of public land is a dead end street.
There is no turning back once the trees are cut, the plant
communities are destroyed, and the wildlife is displaced.
Visitors are attracted to state parks because they protect the
natural beauty and integrity of the land.
They visit parks and natural areas to escape the commercialization
and development occurring all across our country. 28.
Occoneechee State Park represents one of the most valuable assets
in Mecklenburg County. In
terms of funds expended and revenue generated, this facility is actually
one of the bright spots in the bleak economic environment around
Clarksville. Visitors are
attracted to Occoneechee year after year because of the opportunity it
provides for a quality outdoors and recreational experience.
Why should we think commercialization of park land with a golf
course, adjacent residential housing and other non-park related facilities
is what the public really expects when they visit Occoneechee State Park?
The fact is most people want exactly the opposite, a protected area
to escape just this type of activity. 29. Open space, natural resources and agricultural lands are disappearing every day. Preservation and protection of State and Federal public land is our only chance that special areas such as our State and Federal parks will be available for future generations. 30.
Certainly we should not allow the taking of our State Park land and
public natural resources for the benefit of a few, at the expense of all
the rest of us. Allowing golf
in Occoneechee would be a radical departure from the decades of good
stewardship that led to Virginia’s State Parks receiving the National
Gold Medal and State Park Award for having the best state parks in the
nation…..and that was all without bulldozing the equivalent of 21
football fields of Occoneechee State Park forests. |