As a resident of Fayetteville with a home just a few short miles away from the proposed Camp Southern Ground, I would like to respond to a piece written by LeGay Saul titled, “Brown’s camp will destroy residents’ peace.”
I believe Saul’s gripes may be out of frustration but simply are not grounded in facts and quite simply overlook the larger inherent intention of the proposal and good to the community.
[Her letter] states, “The camp will bring 300 cars or more down our roads daily … Family after family’s peace and quiet is being destroyed by a man with a few bucks to buy whatever he wants with no respect for the people who have lived here for years.”Nothing could be further from the truth. First, the camp’s proposed use is seasonal in nature, therefore the average daily traffic will not, in fact, be greatly increased.
I speak from firsthand experience, currently living in a home directly across the street from the entrance to both Bennett’s Mill Middle School and Cleveland Elementary School, with combined student bodies of over 1,000 students.
Despite these numbers, which, by the way, are daily and are nine months out of the calendar year, traffic flows quite easily in and out of my neighborhood at the bottleneck times of 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Now keep in mind Camp Southern Ground will not be hosting full daily camps year-round and will not have nearly the attendance of my neighbors.
The article goes on to state, “One couple will have a parking lot for 200 cars at their back door.” Again, this is simply not the case. Just from a purely logical standpoint, those who do oppose the camp are completely overlooking the larger picture.
First, this is Camp Southern Ground’s land. It was for sale and the camp, or founders of the camp, purchased it for their use. Anyone could have purchased the land.
Secondly, this is not being rezoned “commercial” land. It is being zoned the same as a recreational park. If there was an owner who was going to keep this land as rural and intact as possible, who better than a camp?
Keep in mind, a developer could just have just as easily purchased this land and built dozens of required 5-acre lots that would have made the traffic bloated to the levels of Saul’s original argument. To assume the hundreds of acres on which Camp Southern Ground sits would just stay vacant for dozens of years is naive.
Now, to steer the conversation away from the topic of traffic (no pun intended), I would like to offer some comments regarding the mission of Camp Southern Ground and the apparent intention of the founders in the context of our community.
We currently live in an increasingly bureaucratic world where conformity, not leadership, is rewarded. Where the value of giving back to our communities is often lost on more selfish acts.
Here we have an artist who has successfully built a brand and a business around his craft, music. He has become a commercial and monetary success. Now with that success he is becoming a leader in the community.
Instead of idly sitting by counting his good fortune, he is using his success as a catalyst to deepen purpose; in this case helping children with neurobehavioral and learning difficulties. He is making an impact in the lives of our youth and demonstrating to us all the good that can come from those who succeed.
I think we should be grateful that entrepreneurs like the Brown family care to give back in a meaningful way.
David Large
Fayetteville, Ga.
