The first meeting of the Veterans Memorial Advisory Committee proved more than a little confusing to members of the newly-formed panel.
Instead of agreeing to protect land adjacent to the Memorial from commercial development, the Committee, holding its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, September 20, under the leadership of Commissioner Jimmy Melton, wound up talking about the ownership and landscaping of the Memorial site itself.
The shift in emphasis was clearly confusing to a number of Committee members, particularly those appointed by the original Veterans Memorial Committee. Committee member Carolyn Mealing told The Times: “I don’t want to lose sight of why we are here. I don’t want something like Bojangles' next to the Memorial.”
Moore County's Board of Commissioners formed the Veterans Memorial Advisory Committee in the wake of continued protests from veterans and others over a proposal to place a Bojangles' restaurant on County-owned property near the Memorial, which is located near County offices in the former Carriage Oaks Shopping Center at the intersection of NC Highway 24-27 and NC Highway 15-501 in Carthage.
The Memorial fronts onto a 3.5 acre grassy lawn: undeveloped property owned by the county. On the other end of that lawn, roughly 150 yards from the Memorial, is a Hardee's restaurant. The proposed Bojangles' would be located beside Hardee's, approximately 60 yards from the Memorial. Veterans have objected that the classic fast-food drive-thru chant of "May I take your order" would disturb those pausing for reflection at the Memorial, which both veterans and Commissioners have called "sacred ground."
Veterans' groups -- including the original committee that raised money for the monument -- have asked the Commissioners to protect the entire 3.5 acre grassy area from commercial development. But instead of focusing on that issue, the Advisory Committee's initial meeting dealt largely with the Memorial site itself, and at least one committee member -- Planning Board Chairman Robert Hayter -- suggested that it would not be necessary to protect the entire 3.5 acre tract.
Panel Agrees on Landscaping Plan
Members of the Advisory Committee did unanimously agree, during Wednesday's meeting, to create a professional landscaping and site plan for the current Memorial site, as well as any additional land that may be needed to create a park-like setting.
The idea of creating a landscaping plan was presented by Department of Social Services Director John Benton, whose office is adjacent to the Memorial. Benton, a retired Marine, told the Veterans: “As a Veteran, I would love nothing better” than to create a park around the Memorial.
Benton said additional landscaping around the Memorial, incorporating trees and benches, would create an environment in which veterans and their families could come and spend time together. He also mentioned adding a parking area closer to the Memorial to make the site easier to access.
Benton said he had spoken with landscaping nurseries throughout the County who would be willing to donate some of the plants for the project, adding that Sandhills Community College landscaping students would be willing to develop a design for a small $25 donation.
A site plan subcommittee will include Advisory Committee members Benton, Ruby Hendrick, Raymond Doby, and Planning Board Director Robert Hayter, as well as a land planner recommended by members of the original Memorial Committee.
Hayter, a professional land architect, will determine how much of the three acres of land adjacent to the current Memorial will be needed for the site plan.
“If the Committee desires to have the whole property, I, for one, don’t think that is optimizing the asset,” said Hayter.
Hendrick disagreed, saying, “I don’t think three acres is too much to ask for our Veterans.”
The site plan will reflect both the current needs of the Memorial and its users, as well as taking into consideration its potential growth over the next fifty years.
Commissioner Nick Picerno told the Veterans Committee that, in developing a site plan, “You really have a chance to dream. To dream what it will look like in a hundred years. And the only responsibility we have as Commissioners, is we have to represent the taxpayers and the Veterans.”
Once the Committee agrees on a site plan, it will have to be approved by the Moore County Board of Commissioners, and, possibly, the Town of Carthage's Planning Board and Commissioners.
No due date was set for the site plan to be presented to the Advisory Committee.
Joint Ownership Approved
During Wednesday's meeting, the Committee also agreed that the property on which the Veterans Memorial currently sits should be jointly owned by the County and the Veterans Memorial Committee. Prior to the formation of the Committee, the Board of Commissioners had discussed placing the adjacent 3.5 acre grassy lawn under such a joint ownership. Ownership of the actual Memorial site had not come up in previous debate.
Commissioner Nick Picerno questioned the wisdom of dealing only with the Memorial site and not the adjacent property.
Chairman Jimmy Melton explained that the first step is to focus on the Veteran’s Memorial itself -- and and then the adjacent land could be discussed.
“Once we come up with some type of design,” said Melton, “then we can address the property beside it.”
Picerno told The Times, “I had no idea the County owned that land the Memorial sits on.”
The legal framework for joint ownership will be drawn up by County Attorney Misty Leland and will designate the County as responsible for insurance on and maintenance of the property. Leland told The Times that she will prepare a deed that contains every element but the description of the property to be protected; that will be added once the Committee has concluded its work.
“As long as it stays a Veteran’s Memorial, it will remain in joint ownership,” said Leland.
Whether that ownership will extend over the entire 3.5 acre grassy lawn -- including the proposed site of a Bojangles' restaurant -- was not decided during Thursday’s meeting. However, the Commissioners recently passed a resolution that took the property surrounding the Veterans Memorial off the market until the Veterans Memorial Advisory Committee comes to an agreement about that property.
“We can’t just do this and do that,” said Melton, when discussing the land adjacent to the Memorial. “We have got the taxpayers to keep in mind.”
“You keep saying this is about the taxpayers,” Mealing responded. “Veterans are taxpayers too.”
Melton agreed that both taxpayers and veterans must be taken into consideration on any decision that is made.
When it comes to protecting the land the Memorial sits on -- and that around it -- Picerno told the Committee: “There doesn’t have to a loser. Everybody can win.”
Taking it a step further, Picerno asked that the County Attorney research the possibility of coming up with a referendum to allow voters to decide what to do with the land surrounding the Memorial.
Although the Committee did not set a date for its next meeting, or a due date for the Memorial site plan, Picerno told The Times that he believed the entire process could be finished before the end of the year.
