I’ll miss the trees: towering green pines and poplars lining the backroads and highways. I’ll miss the rural serenity of Chatham County is what I fell in love with.
I have lived in Chatham County for my entire childhood, more specifically in Pittsboro. I have grown up with the long stretches of land, trees and rivers in our county, as well as some of my favorite spots in downtown Pittsboro. But the whole area I have grown up with is about to change.
Chatham Park is a development planned to encompass over 7,000 acres in Chatham County. When I first heard about Chatham Park, I immediately became afraid that Pittsboro would become a boring, cookie cutter town with no picturesque scenery or artisanship.
Construction for the development began last year, right across from Northwood. Going to school in the morning, the new Chatham Park building and UNC Medical Office are in plain sight, right across the highway from the school. When these buildings first went up, I wasn’t really sure what to think. As soon as I saw the words ‘Chatham Park,’ I started to worry. I wondered what this would mean for Pittsboro and the surrounding area. I worried that the natural beauty of our local environment would disappear and that the historical aspects of Pittsboro would be diminished.
As it turns out, these two buildings are just the initial phase of Chatham Park’s commercial developments. Chatham Park plans to zone for 22,000 homes in late fall of 2017, and developers will also donate up to 10 new school sites, as well as private school opportunities.
All of last year, I really couldn’t get over how much this area would change, and how different it would become. I felt opposed to all of the new additions and developments, and I felt a strong dislike for anything labelled “Chatham Park.”
Along with all of the zoning and construction, there will be a loss of trees. There won’t be as many trees lining the highway on my long drives, and not all of the scenery in the county will look the same anymore. But I guess it’s kind of selfish to dislike something new because I’ll miss some trees. I have to take a step back and look at the big picture. Twenty or 30 years in the future, Chatham County will probably be completely different, but there will be so many amazing opportunities for generations to come. There will be new schools, homes, more sustainable energy and water sources, better business and more career opportunities. Things will be different, and change will come, but that’s just the price of progress. I can only hope that some of the unique charm and beauty of Pittsboro will remain, and so will the trees.
– By Leah Kallam
