Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:05 PM CDT

Cherokee County Commissioners Steve Jordan and Lorraine Meltz bowed to public pressure and turned down a proposal to place 8.45 acres of county property on the Valley River into a permanent conservation easement during a meeting on June 18.

Phillip Moore, representing the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, presented a letter of intent for the county to donate the property with the intent to create the easement by December. The letter, submitted for county commissioners to sign, states that the easement “legally assures that our land will remain in its natural, non-developed state into the future.”

The county property is across from the airport, southeast of U.S. 19/74 in Marble on the northwest bank of the Valley River. The letters state this is a joint effort by and between the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the county in “preserving the unique qualities of this land on a voluntary basis.”

The letter of intent states the land could be used for agriculture, horticulture, forestry and passive recreation. However, there would be a 30-foot-wide undisturbed vegetated buffer on the Valley River and commercial, industrial and residential uses would be restricted. The county would retain the right to a pervious surfaced walking trail no more than 6 feet wide and outside a minimum 15-foot-wide buffer from the river.

All this sounds good. However, the 9-12 Project was on hand to spout conspiracies about the United Nations somehow taking control of our land, and that wild speculation negatively influenced the local vote.

We fail to see how protecting our natural resources is a U.N. conspiracy. Sadly, Jordan and Meltz bowed to pressure and voted against preserving the property. Shame on them.

 

This story was written by the Cherokee Scout http://cherokeescout.com/articles/2012/08/04/opinions/doc501818849676f964017813.txt