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BY PAUL B. JOHNSON
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
GREENSBORO – A long-range plan to chart the growth of one of the last, large undeveloped areas in the Triad edged closer to becoming reality Wednesday.
The Heart of the Triad Steering Committee unanimously approved a set of eight recommendations to guide future growth and preservation in the area long the Guilford-Forsyth county line. The recommendations include calling for an unprecedented level of cooperation among Guilford and Forsyth counties and High Point, Greensboro, Kernersville and Winston-Salem.
The developed part of the Heart of the Triad would involve a mix of residences, businesses and industries. Consultants for the Steering Committee estimate the area could have an annual tax revenue fiscal impact of $313 million, draw employers creating 140,000 jobs and lure 117,000 residents. Backers of the Heart of the Triad plan say they want to avoid the development mistakes of the past, which has led to urban sprawl, and foster development that lessens traffic congestion and preserves open space.
The Heart of the Triad proposal calls for about one-third of the 18,000 acres to remain open space. Currently, the area has 8,100 acres of farmland and 1,200 acres of undeveloped space. The 18,000 acres are held in 4,700 separate parcels.
Several residents of the area attended the Steering Committee meeting in Greensboro Wednesday morning to express concerns about unwanted development.
Several committee members assured the residents that they want to take their points of view into account as the long range development plan progresses.
“Let’s find where we have common ground and work together,” said committee co-chairman Robbie Perkins, a former Greensboro City Councilman.
The next step for the Heart of the Triad will involve a meeting later this month between backers of the proposal and area elected officials. The meeting is at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 29 at the Airport Marriott in Greensboro.
One goal is to get the boards of commissioners in Guilford and Forsyth counties and the city councils in High Point, Greensboro, Kernersville and Winston-Salem to endorse the Heart of the Triad development concept.
Heart of the Triad backers also will ap*proach the region’s state legislative delegation to secure $2 million for further work on the proposal. The N.C. General Assembly begins its 2007 session Wednesday in Raleigh.
So far, $400,000 has been spent on the Heart of the Triad effort. Steering Committee members emphasized that if no plan is developed, haphazard growth will create the worst-case scenario for people living in the area and the region’s future as a whole.
“We know growth is coming,” Perkins said. “The question is how we handle it.
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