As residents of Haddon Hall, we are deeply concerned about how the proposed development at 1201 North Salem Street will affect our thriving neighborhood of more than 800 homes. We are not opposed to growth, but there is a difference between what has been proposed and smart development that respects its context and adds long-term value for all. It is incumbent upon the town council to protect existing neighborhoods from the downsides of proposed adjacent development and, if necessary, refuse to grant approval for projects don’t make our entire community better. We see several key concerns with the current proposal at 1201 North Salem Street that should be addressed:

·       The proposed road connections at Charlion Downs Lane and Frenchurch Way create a shortcut through Haddon Hall for people traveling between the new development and Apex Peakway or West Williams Street. Charlion Downs is not able to accommodate an increase in traffic from hundreds of housing units and various retail enterprises. There are very real safety concerns with many young children living on the street and several blind turns. Increased traffic along Brittley Way and Haddon Hall Drive will be problematic on roads where rush hour congestion, speeding, and people running stop signs are already daily issues. The heavy traffic through Haddon Hall related to Peak Charter is a well-known local example of how adjacent development can lead to traffic and safety issues on our small neighborhood streets. We ask that the proposed street connections to Haddon Hall be eliminated or materially redesigned to prevent traffic cutting through our neighborhood.

·       The latest plan pushes high-density housing up to the boundary with areas of Haddon Hall that are comprised entirely of single-family homes. This version of the plan eliminates more green space and entirely disregards the context of the surrounding neighborhood. This is the opposite of smart growth that preserves as much green space as possible and integrates respectfully with adjacent communities. We ask that a wider buffer be established with more preservation of mature trees to soften the transition between neighborhoods. We also ask for a meaningful transition in development style with an area of reduced density along the margin with Haddon Hall.

·       The vast hard surface area of the proposed development will increase stormwater runoff through Haddon Hall. The increase in runoff from paved surfaces compared to a meadow area is significant. While the developers claim that there will be no net increase in the rate of flow, there will be an increase in the total amount of flow, which will strain our creeks and infrastructure on a daily basis, and overwhelm them during the type of extreme rain events that have become increasingly common. Meeting the minimum standards for engineering stormwater retention does not address these issues. We ask for further downstream stormwater analysis that includes studies of increased runoff volume and modeling the impact of major storm events to see how Haddon Hall will be affected and to prevent any issues.

·       Adjacent to Haddon Hall, there is the clear issue of how this new development will affect traffic on North Salem Street, which is already chaotic during busy times of day and currently requires routine police presence to manage traffic coming in and out of Thales Academy – and that is before hundreds of housing units and new retail space is added right across the street. With no additional stop light planned on North Salem, this situation will only become more chaotic and congested, raising legitimate concerns about vehicular and pedestrian safety and overall traffic flow.

We ask the town council to review the proposed development with a critical eye toward the impacts listed above. You don’t need to look far in Apex to find examples of poorly planned development that our community already regrets. Just because the town plan opens the door to higher density development at 1201 North Salem Street doesn’t mean that the space must be filled with hundreds of units and should ignore what is happening around the site in terms of traffic, stormwater flow, and development style. The signees of this petition ask the town council to refuse approval for this project until the developer solves the significant issues we have raised.