Interested in having a beautiful town park along North Salem Street in Apex?
Save the North Salem Street corridor - build a community park instead of packing 80 townhomes into the area and adding some 500 cars a day to the street...
Tell the Town Council and Planning Board and Planning Director (see below to send email to the Town Council, Planning Board and Planning Director) to acquire the Dr. J K Pearson estate at 1015 N Salem Street and establish a new park for the community and fund it in the new budget.
A builder has currently placed the property under contract (March-April 2013) and plans to tear down the 1945 family home of John Amos Pearson and build a sea of 80 town-homes on the property. This will destroy forever one of the largest parcels of wooded land along North Salem Street in Apex. This land was built by John Amos Pearson in 1945 to be his homeplace and was later passed down to his son, Dr J K Pearson. Dr Pearson passed away in January, 2010, and ownership passed to his wife and his three grown children. After his wife, the last family resident, moved out it was listed for sale. John Amos Pearson was one of five siblings born and raised in the Maynard-Pearson House on Olive Chapel road. After growing up in a home built in 1870 Amos built the home shown above on North Salem Street and lived there with his wife. This was his second and final home on North Salem.
Unfortunately the 1015 N Salem Street property was never listed as a historic site and the Town has taken the view that it will not stop the builder from destroying the home and building on the property as long as the construction meets the Town's building code. An ironic twist to this dilemma is that two homes adjacent to this property at the corner of Salem and Peakway ARE registered as historic homes and are also under contract by the builder. The town will not stop destruction of those two historic homes but can require the builder to wait four years to build on those two sites just next to this one because they were listed as historic sites. One of those homes (The old Hunt house on North Salem) is a historic site dating back to 1910.
The Pearson property is surrounded by new and old homes and making it into a neighborhood park would preserve a part of that area for the community and the town. Allowing it to be developed as a large townhome project will destroy the beauty of the property and forever alter the character of the Salem Street corridor.
The Town of Apex has previously declared the Salem Street corridor as a protected area in order to preserve the "look and feel" of the early days of Apex. Ask the Council to continue to preserve that area and purchase the property and add it to the Town park system. This is the last chance to save the beautiful property and prevent construction of mass housing and addition of hundreds of cars a day to the already overloaded neighborhood.
In a 2013 planning survey by Town of Apex, area residents have made it clearly known they want more neighborhood parks and want the Town to preserve dwindling parcels of undeveloped land in the area. This is one of the last intact parcels along Salem Street large enough to make into a community park. The home could also be preserved for community activities.
In a 2013 planning survey by Town of Apex, area residents have made it clearly known they want more neighborhood parks and want the Town to preserve dwindling parcels of undeveloped land in the area. This is one of the last intact parcels along Salem Street large enough to make into a community park. The home could also be preserved for community activities.
Tell the Town of Apex you want this property saved
Contact the Town Council and the Planning Board today (send email to Apex Town Council and the Apex Planning Board and Planning Director) and tell them you want the Town to acquire the land and create a park for the Salem Street area.
Your input will make a difference in saving this beautiful property in Apex!
Contact the Town Council and the Planning Board today (send email to Apex Town Council and the Apex Planning Board and Planning Director) and tell them you want the Town to acquire the land and create a park for the Salem Street area.
Your input will make a difference in saving this beautiful property in Apex!
1 comment:
Hello -- thank you for the lovely article. I did act and wrote to all three of the addresses provided. Below is the content of the response I received:
" From: Scott Lassiter
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 5:49 AM
Subject: RE: Dr. J K Pearson estate at 1015 N Salem Street
Kimberly:
Thanks so much for writing me. I would love to see a park located there. I am the liaison between the parks dept and council. The issue is money.
The town would have to buy the land for a million plus dollars and then pay to have it built. Apex simply doesn't have that kind of money just sitting around. We run a lean operation as to keep taxes very low.
If the community is willing to raise significant funds apex would love another park. I have discussed the idea of discounting the land with the owners to no avail.
Best,
SRL
Post a Comment