Kevin Redding didn’t set out to get caught in the middle of a political food fight that erupted Monday between members of the Winston-Salem City Council.
It just happened, and he barely had time to duck.
Redding, you see, is the executive director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy, an environmental preservation group behind a plan that would keep 92 acres of prime, open land at the Crossnore School and Children’s Home from being overrun by developers.
He thought he’ d come to the regularly scheduled Monday meeting to discuss, advocate for and answer questions about a proposed contribution from the city toward a plan to raise $6.5 million to purchase a conservation easement.
Before Redding got the chance, infighting over what looked to be a done deal devolved into a turf war that threatens to blow the whole thing up. And there Redding sat, likely looking for cover.
“We were right smack in the middle of it,” he said. “And we don’t want to be there.”
Big picture, details
The land at the heart of the easement deal is spectacular — more than 90 acres of rolling pasture land along the northwestern edges of the Children’s Home that feature unspoiled views of downtown.
And what’s being worked out to keep the land from sprouting $1 million homes it is pretty special, too.
By year’s end, the Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to have commitments for $6.5 million that would allow them to buy that easement. Crossnore would still own the land, so development would be effectively parried.
The deal works out to be about $71,000 per acre, a fraction of what the land could fetch in an unfettered market. The land conservancy says it has about $4.5 million of the total in hand.
“No other city in North Carolina has anything like it,” Redding said Tuesday. “It’s very unique to Winston-Salem, part of the city’s history for 100 years. With this easement, we can make sure it’s part of the city for the next 100 years.”
Before that can happen, Council members have to work out our part of the deal. Maybe you know the details, maybe not.
Just in case, here’s the water cooler version:
The finance committee recommended last week chipping in $100,000; the conservancy had requested $500,000. Monday night, Council Member Bob Clark of the West Ward talked up a deal to double that to $200,000.
That set off Council Member D.D. Adams, in whose North Ward the Children’s Home sits. She used a slick parliamentary move to stop the vote. “As the ward representative, I find this disrespectful,” she said.
Before anyone could say “Pork Barrel Spending,” a war of words was on.
Ladies and gentleman, in the west corner, wearing a Brooks Brothers suit and shiny loafers, the Well Off. And in the east corner, wearing boots and a uniform shirt with a name on the pocket, the Working Poor. Let’s get ready to Rrrruuuummmmbbbble.
“It’s amazing how we can find some money for some things and not for other things,” said Council Member Vivian Burke, who proceeded to inform the city manager that she’d be presenting a list for needs in her Northeast Ward.
Debate over slices of the city’s $496.4 million budget all you like. The professional number crunchers in City Hall work hard to spread spending equally across wards. Pull up a list of big ticket projects built (and paid for) in bond packages passed since 2000 if you have any lingering doubts.
Still, “Where’s mine?” is a question as old as the Republic. Pushing the plate out for a bigger slice of the public pie is old-school for elected officials at all levels.
Line of demarcation
The subtext — and it’s not hard to find — is that the Crossnore School and Children’s Home property sits along an economic fault line roughly demarcated by Pilgrim Court.
Pilgrim runs into the main gate of the Arbor Acres retirement community. To its east sits the Boston-Thurmond neighborhood, where working-class residents are leery of encroaching gentrification. To its west lies Buena Vista and the elegant, stately homes along East Kent Drive.
So it’s natural that neighbors — and, by extension, their elected representatives — on both sides of the Children’s Home would be keenly interested in the easement.
At the end of Boston-Thurmond closest to the land in question are a series of streets and avenues named for dead presidents. Taft and Roosevelt end at heavy metal gates marked by No Trespassing signs.
That part of the neighborhood also sits on high ground. The tallest buildings downtown are visible over the top of Paisley IB Magnet School.
A government employee sitting behind the wheel of a new pickup — his ID lanyard and the logo painted on the truck’s door gave it away — spoke for neighbors when discussing the proposed easement.
With or without a city contribution, if that deal doesn’t get done, he said, developers would line up to shower cash on Crossnore if the land is allowed to hit the open market.
“Development would go against the history of what the Children’s Home is about,” the man said. “What happens to the neighborhood? I imagine it’d be high-dollar homes that get built. And how long before people over here would start getting pushed out?”
Lacking a firm deal, with or without city money, not long. And council members wouldn’t get to set conditions about affordable housing units in any subsequent private development deals.
It’s likely that disputes over the city’s contribution will be worked out soon. The guess here is that they’ve already started. Most times, council members work and play well together.
Still, when squabbles and turf wars boil over, the middle is no place to be. Ask the executive director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy.
“We heard that substitute motion made and we thought everything was fine,” Redding said. “It took a few minutes to figure out what happened.
“We don’t see this as being controversial. It’s a win for everybody.”
Unless you’re caught in the crossfire of a political food fight.
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The Children's Home farm as seen from the MetLife Blimp, Snoopy 1, on Thursday, August 20, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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The Children's Home farm as seen from the MetLife Blimp, Snoopy 1, on Thursday, August 20, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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The Children's Home farm's sorghum maze as seen from the MetLife Blimp, Snoopy 1, on Thursday, August 20, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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he barn, silos, and other farm buildings of the Children's Home off Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem, N.C., seen Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014.
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The barn, silos, and other farm buildings of the Children's Home off Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem, seen Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014.
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Melvin Argueta, 16, of Pfafftown, feeds "Annie", during The Children's Home Alumni Weekend at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem on May 3, 2014.
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Alumni Weekend at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem on May 3, 2014.
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(From left) Emerson Fields, 9, and Hayden Austin, 8, check out a cow during The Children's Home Alumni Weekend at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem on May 3, 2104.
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A carriage ride passes rows of strawberries during The Children's Home Alumni Weekend at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem on May 3, 2014.
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Mark Spicer, the farm director at the Children's Home, helps herd cows to the pasture along Reynolda Road to eat Kudzu on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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The Winston-Salem skyline is visible beyond the farm at the Children's Home on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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Children's Home cows are herded to the front pasture to help eat Kudzu on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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Leon Crisp , a member of the Children's Home maintenance staff, helps herd cows on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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A donkey stands in a field at the Children's Home on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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The freshly cut Sorghum Maze at the Children's Home Farm on Thursday, August 13, 2015 in Winston-Salem.
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The campus of the Children's Home on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 in Winston-Salem.
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Woosley Chapel on the campus of the Children's Home on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 in Winston-Salem.
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The campus of the Children's Home on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 in Winston-Salem.
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A view of the easement the Piedmont Land Conservancy wants to buy from The Children's Home as seen on Friday, May 11, 2018 in Winston-Salem.
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The Piedmont Land Conservancy wants to buy an easement from The Children's Home. The property would include this property with spectacular views of downtown, as seen on Friday, May 11, 2018 in Winston-Salem.
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The Piedmont Land Conservancy is pursuing an easement from The Children's Home that would include this land seen on Friday, May 11, 2018 in Winston-Salem.
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Peters Creek runs through the land the Piedmont Land Conservancy wants to buy as an easement from The Children's Home. The photo is from Friday, May 11, 2018.
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Strawberry plants grow Friday, May 11, 2018 on the land the Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to buy as an easement from The Children's Home on in Winston-Salem.
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A view of land the Piedmont Land Conservancy wants to buy from The Children's Home, seen here on Friday, May 11, 2018 in Winston-Salem.
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A view of the land the Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to buy as an easement from The Children's Home, seen Friday, May 11, 2018 in Winston-Salem.
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The Piedmont Land Conservancy wants to preserve this land, seen May 11, 2018, in Winston-Salem by buying an easement from The Children's Home.
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The Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to buy an easement from The Children's Home to protect undeveloped property in Winston-Salem.
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Kevin Redding, the Executive Director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy, stands for a portrait May 11, 2018 on land the Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to preserve by buying an easement from the Children's Home in Winston-Salem.
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On May 11, 2018, a strawberry field stretches across land the Piedmont Land Conservancy wants to buy as an easement from The Children's Home in Winston-Salem.
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Cows graze May 22, 2018 on Children's Home land the Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to preserve in Winston-Salem.
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Strawberries grow May 11, 2018 on The Children's Home land that Piedmont Land Conservancy hopes to preserve by buying an easement.
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Professional seasonal pickers begin the first day of strawberry picking at the Children's Home strawberry field, Friday, April 15, 2016. Children from the home would get into the fields as the season progresses, according to spokesperson Kim MacPherson, to supply berries for customers who preferred to not pick their own.
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(3) comments
It is tough to choose where to spend taxpayer dollars. DD Adams makes a valid case to use those dollars elsewhere in her district. At the same time, one might argue that by investing in green space next to the Boston-Thurmond neighborhood, residents there will have access to safe outdoor space in which to exercise, socialize and relax as well as a nearby resource for mental health, educational or foster care services as needed.
Preserving this space offers another, less obvious, benefit to Winston Salem, including Boston Thurmond neighborhood. This kind of urban space is a community selling point that attracts talent and investors, along with new employers.
How does this connect with Crossnore's mission? Crossnore has become a leader in the nationally acclaimed trauma-informed Sanctuary model. This therapeutic approach helps children both heal, and protect themselves, from trauma, enabling them to become better learners. Better student outcomes, a better trained workforce and expanded work opportunities--what's not to like about that.
WS Citizens, it's time to pony up. Let's do whatever it takes to protect this ground. DD, please expand your thinking. You're on the wrong side of this issue. See, there's no way to make anymore land. Once this is gone, it's gone for good. The overall health and well-being of every single person who lives in WS is better with this land intact.
I want to see the phone call text,and email logs of dd Adams to see just how many citizens of that ward begged her pleased with her to stop that deal .. I wonder just how many were just as disrespected as she magically was
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