The Town of Summerfield has been through a whole lot lately, including a fierce political battle that ended with about 990 acres of the town being sliced off by the NC state legislature, a move that developer David Couch requested in order to develop the property into a new residential and mixed-use community with a density higher than many Summerfield residents want to see.
Currently, the town is still recovering from that highly impactful decision, but some Summerfield residents are also making plans to continue to fight the de-annexation and contest Couch’s proposed development.
Town leaders didn’t specify a reason for a special Summerfield Town Council meeting that has been called for Thursday, Aug. 1 at 4:30 p.m.; however, some in the town speculate that the topic of discussion at the special meeting will be what the town can do to fight, in the court system, the state’s de-annexation of the property.
The Summerfield Town Council could sue the North Carolina General Assembly over the de-annexation decision. The act by the General Assembly was highly unusual and some opponents of the move argue that it violated the state’s constitution.
The town will be fighting the battle while hobbled.
Like in the poem Humpty Dumpty, the Summerfield Town Council has been trying to put the pieces of its government back together again after, in an unprecedented move a couple of months ago, the entire town staff of Summerfield resigned over the way the majority of the Town Council treated longtime Town Manager Scott Whitaker, including the refusal of the council to renew his employment contract.
Summerfield now has a new interterm manager and the town is filling other vacant positions as well. It has, for instance, hired two new employees who are running the Parks and Recreation Department. That means Town Council members and citizen volunteers no longer have to clean Summerfield’s public restrooms and empty the trash cans at the town’s dog park.
As for the division in town politics, longtime resident Don Wendelken, who runs the Summerfield News website and publishes a local newspaper, said the recent turmoil hasn’t done much to bridge the long-standing divide of the people in Summerfield. The key point of division is the future of development in the town of 11,000 just of Greensboro. Some favor more development; some favor less.
“I believe Summerfield still has a divided mindset,” Wendelken said this week. “The people who were against the development are still against it and those who were for it are still for it.”
According to Wendelken, despite the de-annexation, there are still big questions as to how water and sewer service will be provided to the large development now on the horizon. Some possibilities that have been discussed are pulling municipal water from Greensboro, Rockingham County or Winston-Salem.
Wendelken said he’d heard that those water line projects could take seven to eight years to complete.
Wendelken also said it was his understanding that there could be a substantial amount of granite under the land Couch plans to develop, which could make building in that area problematic.
“They may have that worked out,” Wendelken said of potential granite issues, adding that he still believes it could lead to unforeseen problems.
Wendelken also said the town has secured the money needed to build a water tower for fighting fires; however, if city water is coming to the area, that might change those water tower plans.
Summerfield has $5.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money on hand that passed through Guilford County government for the water tower project, and the town has secured an additional $1.1 million from the State of North Carolina for that purpose.
If the de-annexation decision by the state withstands legal scrutiny, there are still other avenues for the town’s residents to pursue a fight against Couch’s development.
Later this month, the Guilford County Planning Board is scheduled to officially accept the land into unincorporated Guilford County and establish a preliminary zoning for it.
A controversial case such as this one will almost certainly eventually reach the Guilford County Board of Commissioners on an appeal – whatever the Planning Board decides – and the future of Couch’s proposed residential and mixed-use development will be decided by a majority of the commissioners.
Alston, when asked about his initial impression of what the Board of Commissioners will decide, said he doesn’t think it’s predetermined. Alston said that, in regard to his own decision, he will be listening to both sides and studying the facts.
“One thing I look at is the decision of the Planning Board,” Alston said. “Was it close – or was it a unanimous decision? If it was unanimous, that carries a lot of weight.”
That’s certainly something most of the commissioners consider, but there have been cases in the past where the Board of Commissioners has overturned a unanimous decision by the Planning Board.
The inevitable urban sprawl continues, but the people of Summerfield fought like lions, to preserve their community.
As per usual, money and greed prevail.
“Alston, when asked about his initial impression of what the Board of Commissioners will decide, said he doesn’t think it’s predetermined. Alston said that, in regard to his own decision, he will be listening to both sides and studying the facts.”
This is Skippy-Speak for “I want to try to BS everyone into thinking that I’m really trying to be fair but in actually I’m waiting to see what he offers me.”
Leave the Man alone, he has alot of land and Summerfield just lost some really good tax revenue, sounds like Summerfield is being run by a bunch of spoiled people who moved out of Greensboro because of high taxes on property, now they want to keep property in the city limits just incase they can get any tax revenue from development, but only if they like the development, hey what do you want Summerfield, don’t beat around the bush, tell them that you want to control everything.
It’s annoying to see this!
Nothing keeps one happier and content than prolonged conflict. FIGHT ON!
“If the de-annexation decision by the state withstands legal scrutiny,…” What a joke. With Berger Sr. as the bill’s sponsor and Berger Jr. on the Supreme Court, Summerfield will just be wasting their money.
I think the people should focus on saving the rest of the Town. When will they realize how much. Only they continue to waste. It will take a lot of cash to fight a decision that likely will not be changed. Why not admit they screwed up and move forward with positive. Summerfield is known for constant divide and negativity. They certainly have shown it this year. Go ahead and continue to be bull headed, lose all of your town dollars and potentially your Charter, or chose to be better and move forward. You have done this to yourselves. It’s over. Further divide your people or buck up and move on. It is constant insanity. The few loud brash idiots have caused the problems. Let them pay for attorneys. Let the rest move on.
It is hard to imagine what the town has to recover from as it relates to losing the Couch property. The town provides no real services. Apparently the Parks and Rec “Dept’ mostly just keeps a couple of parks tidy. Volunteers have been doing that. The other dept “Planning” exists to merely veto development. That takes little effort or budget.
Summerfield isn’t a real town. The residents created the myth of a town for the sole purpose of keeping Greensboro away. And, they still have the same problem as Wendelken stated: a deep division between residents who strongly disagree with one another to the point of dysfunction. The real “recovery” needed is between the residents. Since the anti-development folks have taken over they refused to deal honestly with Couch and now will be spending resources trying to fight the de-annexation, it appears nothing much will change soon. But, it has been entertaining!
In the modified words of Tom Petty, Summerfield should not back down. Take the legal steps necessary to show that the NC GA acted for the benefit (tax advantage, personal desire without conditions, and the weight of state government against a small town) of ONE individual. It seems to me that this is the first time in NC history where so much effort by the state government came to bear on a small town for the benefit of ONE individual. As far as can be determined, no conditions were mandated by the NC legislature as a condition for de-annexation of Couch’s land for the benefit of ONE individual. This de-annexation was a combined effort by state and local government political players, sleazy lawyers looking to make big bucks, and real estate players and developers who had dollar signs in their eyes. Let courts decide if the action of the NC GA was within the law, if the de-annexation was clearly meant to satisfy a request of ONE individual especially at the expense of a small town; especially considering there were no conditions for voting for de-annexation.
Well, Couch only asked that HIS land be de-annexed. Essentially, the current leaders think it is perfectly OK to mandate more of the same: houses on large lots with well and septic. The leadership would never deal honestly with Couch. He made amended proposals, but there was never a real attempt to compromise. Well, only after Couch began to consider de-annexation, but, too late. Unlike most of the residents, Couch actually has the resources and expertise to fight back. For those of us who would like to downsize to a planned community with some shops, restaurants and other convenient amenities, or younger folks moving to the area for the expanding jobs and needing to rent something until they can find a home, well…….the message from Summerfield is: you aren’t the kind of people we want. I am cheering Couch. As for Hamilton and the other leaders who got in over their heads? It has been really fun to watch you guys getting schooled!! Keep up the fun and be sure to spend millions of tax money fighting this.
This de-annexation is not about Summerfield’s leadership. This is about a large state legislature bringing to bear de-annexation and extraction of a large portion of a small town for the benefit of ONE individual. One might argue that Couch will build houses, apartments, retail stores and such. But as far as is known, there were NO conditions for de-annexation. Couch can now do whatever with his land that the county, planning, and code restrictions allow. There may have been a lot of talk among those who will benefit from de-annexation, but without written conditions, Couch is free to develop within the beforementioned hurdles. If all the stars were aligned for the benefit of the environment, Couch’s land would be considered an “environmental zone” and left as is. The land provides the environment with needed ecosystem services that include oxygen, pollination, and help with runoff. These ecosystem services benefit everyone, not just the residents in Summerfield. He could sell the land as is with the buyer’s understanding that it will remain intact, he can improve the land, he can work the land, he can hunt the land, but he cannot subdivide the land. Couch amassed his land for the purpose of developing it. While he was adding to his fiefdom, did he tell the sellers his plan? I would guess not. But back to all the vile players in the de-annexation effort, the NC state legislature did not de-annex Couch’s land for the common good because there were no known written conditions. Therefore, the de-annexation passed to benefit ONE individual’s desire, not the common good. The NC legislature set a bad precedent. Government in principle serves the common good. I would hope that the courts would agree.
Regrets anyone,for those of you who voted consistently for Phil Berger ? Check yourselves for tread marks from him running all over local government.
David Couch was aware of Summerfield incorporating, and the reasons behind it (Greensboro was annexing land at exponential speeds, and Summerfield wished to protect itself). David Couch bought land with plans to build, exactly what Summerfield was incorporating to protect against. Couch couldn’t shove his plans down the throats of Summerfield, so he ran to a shady Phil Berger Sr with donations in order to buy his “help”. Now Couch wants the land to be Greensboro’s ? David Couch’s conniving greed is apparent to anyone who can see.
You are correct. Three poxes on Couch. No one should get this type of preferential treatment. It goes against the common good and equal treatment. Of course, I extend the three poxes to every politician who voted in favor of de-annexation as well as those who worked in the background to make certain that de-annexation was passed, including Skip Alston who received a donation from David Couch.
Watching the Town of Summerfield implode is like watching WWE or The Jerry Springer Show; every episode has more and more drama. It’s not like Berger Sr. just unilaterally decided to de-annex the land. It takes a 3/5 vote in both chambers to pass the ordinance.
Bobross, with enough money and influence, it is much easier to get something passed. Remember, the vote was not unanimous.