BY MAGGIE BEAMGUARD
Insider Editor
The Greater Seven Lakes Council continues to prioritize the shared interests of the three main gated communities of West End and the Seven Lakes Business Guild. It was reinstated earlier this year according to the original 2009 bylaws of the organization.
The council includes representatives from the Seven Lakes Landowners’ Association, the West Side Landowners’ Association, the McLendon Hills Property Owners’ Association and the Seven Lakes Business Guild. The newly reorganized council has also amended the bylaws to include the Moore County Commissioner representing District 2, in this case Nick Picerno.
The president of each member association serves as a council director and each community board also appoints an “alternate” director.
Heather Guild, president of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association, currently serves as the president of the council, which is a one year term.
The council meets monthly. “We are up and running stronger than ever,” Guild said.
N.C. 211
The focal point of the council continues to be the upcoming widening of N.C. 211. “We still continue to monitor that situation,” said Guild.
The council was able to share communication regarding the initial burn piles during the clearing and grubbing phase. Now they are looking down the road to when the construction begins, particularly in regards to stormwater runoff.
“Right now they’ve got really good catch basins and whatnot in place all along 211,” she said, “and we want to make sure that we understand what the plan is once there are impervious surfaces. Where is all this water going to go?”
Development
A second issue that has surfaced this year concerns development. Council members were able to organize even with short notice to appear at the Moore County Board of Commissioners meeting this May when the commissioners were considering an ordinance amendment that would allow freight terminals in B-2 zoning districts with a special-use permit.
At the May meeting, they expressed opposition to a freight terminal reopening at a location across from West End Elementary School and near the Seven Lakes West Gate.
The council members also expressed opposition at a Moore County Planning Board meeting this fall to a proposal to rezone land to permit a group home in Seven Lakes.
“We were all pretty much agreed that, no, we did not want to have that,” said Guild “It wasn’t that we were against group homes, they are wonderful things, but to bring one of those in to a community that does not have any police force we just felt was a disservice to the community but also a disservice to the residents of the home.”
The applicant withdrew the rezoning request after the meeting.
Representation
A third matter before the council came in the form of an invitation from District 2 Commissioner Nick Picerno. On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, he invited the Greater Seven Lakes Council to put forward a representative to serve on the board’s steering committee that will assist in updating the county’s land-use plan and ordinance that governs development.
The invitation is an acknowledgement that Seven Lakes and West End, though not incorporated, make up the third largest voting district in the county.
“So that committee will probably start operating sometime in the new year and again, that’s good news for West End and the HOAs and the business district,” said Guild who anticipates this seat will mean the council has a better heads up about future zoning issues.
Council members got an understanding from Picerno about the ideal candidate for the role and then went to their respective talent pools to find someone who could be a good listener and work on behalf of the entire community and not just a particular HOA as well as help facilitate the flow of information.
Guild says three names were put forward. “Two names were really already at the end of their bandwidth in terms of what they felt they could do because they had so many other commitments,” she said. “The third person also has quite a lot of commitments but has a real passion for this.”
The council unanimously voted for Tom LoSapio to serve as its representative.
Communication and Collaboration
The council provides the members to discuss other matters of interest that have bearing on the greater community. During a recent dredging project that utilized a new technology, McLendon Hills invited the other Seven Lakes communities to come observe. Guild sees this kind of communication as the kind of positive steps the council can take to work together.
“The real message is to speak with one voice,” said Guild. “Now we’re in the heat of the battles. And we are speaking with one voice. And we are also working cooperatively on some of these big issues, but also just sharing lessons learned through some of our day-to-day challenges like security or lakes and dams.”
Questions regarding the Greater Seven Lakes Council may be directed to Guild at facilitiesslla@gmail.com.
Current members of the Greater Seven Lakes Council include:
* Heather Guild, Seven Lakes Landowners Association president and current GSLC president;
* Rheo Broulliard, McLendon Hills Property Owners Association president;
* Edward Hill, Seven Lakes Business Guild;
* Jack Roberts, Seven Lakes West Landowners Association president; and
* Nick Picerno, District 2 County Commissioner.
Alternates are Keith Duever for SLWLA; Conrad Meyer for Seven Lakes North and South; and Dave Williams for McLendon Hills
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
