
{"id":704,"date":"2007-08-02T09:02:30","date_gmt":"2007-08-02T17:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/08\/02\/fighting-for-greenspace\/"},"modified":"2007-08-03T08:43:27","modified_gmt":"2007-08-03T16:43:27","slug":"fighting-for-greenspace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/08\/02\/fighting-for-greenspace\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting for Greenspace"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/p7312795.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/p7312795.jpg\" height=\"212\" width=\"283\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>Members of Carrboro Greenspace on the porch of Casa Grande. Photo by Kirk Ross<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Taylor Sisk<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Granted, even in a community as substantially liberal in spirit as Carrboro, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usufruct\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is hardly a word around which the general citizenry will likely clamor to rally.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Usufruct\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (according to Webster): \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; from the Latin usus et fructus, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to use and enjoy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Building community, both physical and conceptual, has been the modus operandi at Carrboro Greenspace, a little piece of paradise at 116 Old Pittsboro Road, which now may soon be sold. And as unaccommodating in enunciation and obscure in definition as this word, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usufruct,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d may be, the Carrboro Greenspace Collective finds it perfectly appropriate in describing the nature of their work to date. (Back to etymology in a moment.)<\/p>\n<p>Anchored by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Casa Grande\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c home for the past year and a half to several members of the Carrboro Greenspace Collective  \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Carrboro Greenspace is 10.5 acres of mostly densely wooded, dramatically sloped refuge, just a five-minute walk from downtown Carrboro. Casa Grande, says denizen and organizer Sammy Slade, was envisioned as functioning like the Horace Williams House with green sensibilities. Carrboro Greenspace has been host to weddings, art exhibits and a puppeteers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 convention. The property is also home to the ReCYCLEry, a nonprofit community bike workshop (see last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Carrboro Citizen), and the Walk-in Tributary Theater, where movies are screened in a swimming pool.<\/p>\n<p>Trouble is, the owners of this property have determined that a change in plans is in order. And so while planning what may be the last event at Carrboro Greenspace, on August 4, the residents of Casa Grande are today packing boxes. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been asked to vacate by the owners, Carolann Stoney and April Morris of Pomona, California.<\/p>\n<p>According to Slade, the owners have said they want to make renovations to the house, which has been on the market now for about a year. The ReCYLCLEry remains for now in operation. But sale of the property seems imminent.<\/p>\n<p>Blame it on usufruct, and its absence of readily apparent commercial viability: There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way the Carrboro Greenspace Collective could have raised the funds to purchase the property \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not on their own, not with what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collected via free bike-repair classes and donation-only flicks. Or just blame it on commercial viability: Ten and a half acres pretty much smack in the middle of downtown Carrboro is, obviously, a prime piece of property.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Localizing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d forces<\/strong><br \/>\nBut this property, says Slade, is most particularly prime as a community resource.<\/p>\n<p>That was the inspiration when he and some like-minded folks moved in.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had a friend who lived in the house,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Slade says, seated on the  edge of Sparrow Pool\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, a community swimming pool last used (aside from as a walk-in theater) in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc60s. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had come to a few parties here, and felt that it was just such a special, amazing place, and we were amazed at how few people know about it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Interested in preserving the space, and with a concern for global warming, peak oil and global social justice, Slade says the group set its collective mind on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153recognizing the need to deal with these issues on a local scale, because all these other scales have been failing us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Greenspace, says Slade, seemed perfect for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reacquainting ourselves with knowledges and practices we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not so in touch with anymore\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c thus the screening of movies (on Thursday nights through the summer) that document community-based, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153localizing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d movements from around the world \u00e2\u20ac\u201c meanwhile \u00e2\u20ac\u0153preserving a magical, special space, very close to town.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to engage the community,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Slade continues; \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we want to share our vision for the space.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The concept is two-fold, he explains: to provide a service to the community through the programs it hosts and the events it sponsors, while also attempting to energize the community around the effort to preserve the space and to make optimal use of it.<\/p>\n<p>Local government has been supportive. When Slade and his colleagues attempted to gather earnest money in order to be considered as legitimate potential buyers, Mayor Mark Chilton offered to contribute $5,000 of his own money. (The owners, says Slade, ultimately indicated no interest in the effort.) Purchasing the property \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which has been on the market for $1.4 million \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was never a viable option for the town.<\/p>\n<p>Board of Alderman Dan Coleman has advised the Greenspace organizers in their endeavor to save the space \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an endeavor he acknowledges as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a pretty daunting task for young people without access to capital.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Coleman calls Greenspace a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fantastic property \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so close to downtown, with historic significance.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He praises the organizers for their vision and says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The longer it remains unsold, the more word is spread, the greater the possibility a connection might be made with someone, or some parties,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with a similar vision and the finances to back it.<\/p>\n<p>The Carrboro Greenspace Collective is urging the community to show its support by signing a petition demanding that the property be kept publicly accessible, by helping identify potential buyers who would want to keep it as such and by attending a Save the Greenspace gathering this Saturday, August 4, that begins with a local-foods potluck at Casa Grande, continues with a carnival parade to downtown and reconvenes at the house with a fashion show and performances.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Connections<\/strong><br \/>\nThe creek that runs through these 10.5 acres has a 60-foot stream buffer and is a tributary to Morgan Creek. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a natural spring. Hardwoods cover much of the land. The land is home to deer and owls and to the white-breasted nuthatch, the hairy woodpecker and the towhee. And a plant was recently discovered on the property that hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been seen in Orange County in at least 20 years \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the Scentless Mock Orange (<em>Philadelphus inodorus)<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The property also is positioned to potentially interconnect the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greenways for unbroken biking and hiking. Primary constraints over 80 percent of the property would limit the number of homes that could be built on it.<\/p>\n<p>Each of these are arguments made for preserving the Carrboro Greenspace \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and, in the minds of the Carrboro Greenspace Collective, constitute a legitimate basis for a usufruct privilege.<\/p>\n<p>Collective member Michal Osterweil says that the term has been used by similar movements \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to suggest that other people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s land can be used for benefit or profit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in this case, benefit to the community in both ecological and social terms \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as long as it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not damaged,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and that such use adds value to the land.<\/p>\n<p>In general terms, what the Carrboro Greenspace Collective is suggesting, says Osterweil, is that in certain cases the value of private property, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as allotted by a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcreal estate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 market, does not sufficiently consider other forms of value \u00e2\u20ac\u201c such as green, social and cultural.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We believe that in cases such as this, and considering the importance and value of this space in non-monetary terms, it would be fair to allot a certain privileging of our efforts over those of another buyer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of Carrboro Greenspace on the porch of Casa Grande. Photo by Kirk Ross By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer Granted, even in a community as substantially liberal in spirit as Carrboro, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usufruct\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is hardly a word around which the general citizenry will likely clamor to rally. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Usufruct\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (according to Webster): \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the legal right of using&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}