Today's Herald-Sun and Chapel Hill News have articles on the fight against the Starpoint development. Both articles are focussed exclusively on Walmart. Unfortunately, if this becomes a fight only about Walmart, we could find ourselves having to accept another big box retail on the site. To me the traffic and environmental problems of building a large new retail space on the site is the REAL problem–regardless of whether its Walmart or Target or Costco that moves in.
The size of the proposed development clearly extends beyond the 20 (out of ~69) acres zoned for business. And even if they scaled plans back some, the facility's wastewater treatment spray field would still have to be located in sensitive watershed.
Since Chatham County doesn't have a centralized wastewater treatment facility, every new development going in outside of Pittsboro is building their own (smaller developments are using septic fields). The technology for spray systems is relatively safe if the field is properly sited (soil/drainage). However, over time, the systems must be well managed by experienced managers who constantly monitor performance and ensure regular maintenance. Since the Division of Water Quality doesn't have adequate staff to constantly monitor all the new facilities supporting Chatham's rapid development, I can't imagine why they continue to approve their construction.
This particular site drains into the Upper New Hope Arm of the Jordan Lake where there is a proposed federal mandate to reduce nutrient loads by 35%. While this center will not be adding point source discharge (if their system is properly sited and maintained), they will undoubtedly be contributing to nonpoint source (stormwater) runoff. For a facility this large, the probability of error in the siting, sizing, and construction of retention ponds is significant and if such an error occured, it would be Chapel Hill that has to deal with it (Morgan Creek).
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