Page 2
November 2013
189 Acre Natural Area Open To Public Near Belews Lake By PLC, Reprinted By The Star BELEWS LAKE – The Knight Brown Nature Preserve, located in southwestern Rockingham County near the Carolina Marina, is now open to the public. “This beautiful property will offer visitors a peaceful opportunity to enjoy the quiet beauty of nature,” says the Piedmont Land Conservancy, which overlooks the preserve. With almost three miles of walking trails, the Knight Brown Nature Preserve showcases a wooded valley, two gently rippling streams, many different types of ferns, spring wildflowers and the rare eastern leatherwood shrub. The Preserve has an informational kiosk at the trail head, handmade benches at various places, two bridges and picnic tables. The two large streams on the property feed into Belews Creek just before it flows into the Dan River. There is at least one vernal pool that is prime
breeding habitat for spotted salamanders and other amphibians. The main part of the Knight-Brown Nature Preserve was donated to PLC in 2008 by Cecilia Brown who lives in Santa Barbara, California. She inherited the property from her partner, Paul Knight, who was from Stokesdale, and did not want to see the beautiful piece of property developed. She found Piedmont Land Conservancy’s website on the internet and donated the land to be used as a nature preserve. Cecilia Brown has donated additional tracts to add to the preserve. Many volunteers donated their time building the Knight Brown trails, said the land conservancy. The 189 acre preserve is open to the public from sunrise to sunset. It is located near Carolina Marina at the end of Waterfield Road, off of Campsite Road, which is off of Shelton Road. Shelton Road connects to Ellisboro Road in Rockingham County. ::
Guilford County Sheriff’s Dept. Website Attacked By Hackers GREENSBORO - The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department website was recently hacked in the last month or so before being repaired. When the website was searched on Google, the search engine warned users that “this website may be hacked.” A search of the Sheriff’s Department website address of “guilfordcountysheriff.com” on the Securi.net website said that the sheriff’s website contained “malicious java script” and other items. Rick Melton of the Sheriff’s Department who works on the website said that the site was hosted by GoDaddy.com, which has reputedly been the target of “backdoor” hacks into websites through the server side instead of attacking websites directly. Melton said the department was
looking at other hosting providers. The website was cleaned up shortly after this newspaper talked with Melton, who said that he was going to wipe the site clean and reinstall the website from a backup. Melton said that the database servers which include such information as the crime statistics and jail inmate information were unaffected as they were hosted separately. Although the website is now clean according to Melton, the Google warning is still in place when searching. However a scan through Securi.net shows that the site is not blacklisted and the malicious javascript and other items that may have been placed there by hackers have been removed.
Summerfield Council Approves Shopping Zoning On Hwy 150 By The Star SUMMERFIELD - At a special meeting on October 8th, the Summerfield Town Council in a close vote approved a zoning request for a commercial development on Highway 150, the road that connects Summerfield to Oak Ridge. The owners were listed as Paul G. and Virginia W. Milam and Henson Village LLC. The zoning approval by the council changed the zoning for the land from RS40 (Residential Homes) to CU-GB (Conditional Use General Business). Part of the planned development area was already approved for CU-GB and the recent zoning decision on October 8th added to that total. The previous zoning request that was previously approved was for 45 acres and the new request was for an additional 34.28 acres. Although part of the combined 80 acres can be seen from Highway 150, much of the land will front the future Interstate 73 which will be cutting through the middle of Summerfield from Highway 220 west across to Highway 68. According to minutes of the meeting, project engineer Chuck Truby said that due to the topography of the site there, around 45 acres of the 80 acre development may be best developed as a strip mall and that the rest of the property may be better suited to a “village” design which could have a mixed use. An example of a village development is the Southern Village near
Around 45 acres of the property were already zoned commercial. Photo: Star.
Chapel Hill which has offices, restaurants, a theater, churches and other businesses around a common center area, similar to a small village. During the discussion it was noted that David Couch, CEO of Blue Ridge Companies, was selected as developer for the site by the Milam family. Couch has ties to the area through Summerfield Farms and other projects. Discussion and debate by residents in Summerfield on both sides of the issue was lively. Several local homeowners spoke for and against the zoning. Speaking for the zoning change, some residents said they welcomed new places to shop in the area without having to drive to Greensboro. One resident said if it were like Friendly Center, it would be welcome. Others said that with the interstate going through, people would need services along the highway. There was a proposal to exclude gas stations from the property, but in the end, that exclusion was not made. Opponents said they were concerned with traffic in the area, as well as an impact on the water supply as the water for the development would come from wells. There is no city water in the area. In addition, opponents said they did not feel the plan adhered to the long range plan for Summerfield, which stated that commercial zoning should not be placed next to residential areas. Proponents said that since the property is next to the proposed I-73, it would not be appropriate for residential use anyway due to highway noise. The council voted to approve the rezoning with conditions that said the entire 80 acre site plan would have to be submitted and approved by the town, although the property could be developed in phases. Voting in favor of the zoning were council members Dena Barnes, John Wray, and Diane Laughlin. Voting against it were council members Alicia Flowers and Elizabeth McClellan. Other conditions were placed on the zoning approval including the increase of the setback from the road from 15 feet to 30 feet. In addition, some strange and usual types of uses will not be allowed on the site including astrologists, fortune tellers, homeless shelters, boat repair, ice manufacturing, taxi or bus terminals, mausoleums, university fraternities, psychiatric hospitals, utility trailer leasing, adult bookstores or adult massage. Uses like storage units, auto repair or auto sales are also banned. ::
INTERIOR SHUTTER SALE Save $50 + Free Installation Hurry! Offer Ends Dec. 23rd
Perfection Comes With All The Right Options
Save $50 on a Hunter Douglas purchase of $500 or more! Save Time. Save Money. Come in and visit us at our Hunter Douglas Gallery and take advantage of our current promotions, money-saving rebates, and special offers. Let our highly trained professionals find the right look for your home at a great price!
282-8880
THE BI-RITE
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD GROCERY
8632 Highway 158, Stokesdale 336-643-5249
Best Meat Dept. In The Area
Whether you are looking for personal service in our excellent meat dept. or if you’d like to peruse our expanded wine selection, be sure to visit your neighborhood grocery, Bi-Rite.