Wednesday, December 4, 2002

Recently I've read some of the letters that people have been writing about the possibility of overcrowding in Fayetteville. It would seem that some residents are concerned about the development taking place around us.

Well, at first I myself was concerned; I even went so far as to attend some of the city planning and council meetings with my neighbors. We had the misconception in our minds that maybe the development in our own neighborhood was too much. We were pretty much enlightened by the mayor and City Council and they told us how it was going to be (like it or not).

So relax for a moment and I'll clarify things for the rest of you who may find yourselves wondering what's going on. I understand it all so much better now after having seen the mayor and council in action.

You see, people, there's change taking place in our sleepy little Southern town. We are about to wake up to the realization that Fayetteville will no longer be able to remain the small town we know and love. We don't need that anymore. We just need to go about our daily lives and let the mayor and council do what they think is best for all of us.

For example, we'll have plenty of reason to wake up later. We'll need to plan some extra time in the morning for the traffic to get through town and getting the kids off to school. We should, however, be OK with getting to the grocery store on time: We'll have plenty of stores.

We'll need them because of all the new townhomes and apartments and cluster homes. Keep in mind, though, if you need police, fire or rescue services, you'll need to plan some extra time in them getting to you. With all the additional cars and no upgrades to the infrastructure, except for the new traffic lights, they're going to be busy and their response time will be increased.

Some of us will wake up and say, What happened to our comfy little town? Do we really need all these new stores and restaurants? What happened to the little Mom and Pop places? What happened to all the trees? Where did all these cars come from? Why are my kids going to school in trailers?

I'm sure this all sounds frightening to anyone who has lived in Riverdale Oh, I'm sorry. I meant Fayetteville anyone who has lived in Fayetteville for any amount of time. (My apology, I must have been asleep.) But you must look at what the mayor and council have so painstakingly planned for our town.

We'll have chain stores to weed out the small struggling merchants. Example: Does anyone go to Travis Hardware in town anymore? What about the A & T market? Of course not, people only did that before the big stores came to town. Now we have Home Depot and Lowe's and we'll have another Publix. It'll be just what we need, and we'll get rid of all those small family restaurants, too. I'm surprised Melear's is still hanging on. No one will miss that old stuff; think of all the franchises that we'll have.

On the matter of schools, look, let's not kid each other. With all the new children in town, it won't be so bad having trailers. Just think, the brisk walk out to the trailer, and then the draft inside, will keep the children wide awake and alert. (Oh, someone make a note, we'll need to get some more pediatricians. Just make sure the council has planned that.)

Let's all stop being so concerned about the traffic, too. Just think how much more time you'll have to plan your day. Once the accidents start to increase, that will be a good shot in the arm for the body shops. Who knows, maybe we'll get some car dealerships, like the ones in Union City.

We also don't need to worry about all the old folks that can't drive. Certainly the mayor and council are planning assisted living centers so we can conveniently get them off the roads. That will be great because then we can put up new homes where their old ones were taking up space.

On the topic some people have voiced about parks and green space, are you serious? You're missing the point of all this. All those trees are a terrible fire hazard. We won't have to worry about the deer and all those other animals getting in our roads anymore. It's not like we need any parks either. Can we really afford to waste valuable space on a park?

Apparently not, we don't have parks now, and obviously if we needed them, the mayor and council would have planned for them. Just take some pictures and that way you'll remember the trees you liked best.

Yes, Fayetteville, there is a plan; can you see it more clearly now? You and I, we just need to go on about our daily lives and the mayor and council will take care of the rest. Why, right now, I'm sure that Mayor Steele is out on a golf course with his developer friends, figuring out what we need next.

It'll all be done by the time we wake up. Sleep tight, Fayetteville.

Sheila Bergen

Fayetteville