Mount Holly voters want to keep our small town charm and character. That is undeniably documented in our Strategic Vision Plan and most surveys/polls show the margin is more than 10 to 1 in favor of keeping Mount Holly a small town.
Voters should then start thinking that our town government's membership in a lobbyist group "Alliance for Growth" is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST! How can our government lobby against the town voters' wishes to remain small?
From the lobbyist group's website:
First, we need to acknowledge that growth does create challenges (more demand on public services such as schools, police, fire as well as environmental pressures) and because of that some would argue that growth is neither good nor desirable. We believe this is a very limited view of the potential of a community and its ability to grow in a positive and productive manner.
Stimulating demand for land through increasing development and higher, more productive use of land will increase the value of land and thus the tax base. This can be accomplished by expanding existing businesses and attracting new businesses, including new residential, commercial, industrial, retail and office users.
Growth is a valid strategy for a city that wants to be bigger. But for a town that decidedly wants to remain small, a town that is valued precisely because it is small, growing a small town would destroy it and turn it into something else.
http://www.gastondevcorp.com/Developmen ... nt-NC.html
Perhaps we need to tell our City Council that the Alliance for Growth is not appropriate for Mount Holly and we should not allow our government to lobby against us with these growth ambitions.
Alliance for Growth Lobbyist Group
Re: Alliance for Growth Lobbyist Group
The "Alliance for Growth" lobbying group has started a marketing campaign: Gaston Outside (GO). Ask yourself why an alliance of groups that are not voters want to influence local elected officials and the citizens that they are supposed to represent?