Council Candidates are asked about the RDU Quarry

Natalie Lew has been a resident of Wake County since 1979 (including residences in Cary, Raleigh, Apex, and Holly Springs). She has been involved with data gathering, document research,  and medical research since the early 1990’s, including briefly  in the actuarial field and then in the medical/document research field since 1997. She has been researching the RDU-Wake Stone-Umstead State Park and Lake Crabtree County Park issue as a volunteer since about 2020. Natalie sent the following to all candidates for Raleigh City Council and has said she will share the answers she receives with us for publication:

Council Candidates:

As you all know, the City of Raleigh is one of four owners of the Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU).  In addition, based on maps available online, Umstead State Park is considered part of the City of Raleigh.

I have summarized some of the RDU-Umstead history below as it pertains to certain tracts of land.  Once you review this history, can you please respond to the following questions?  I have a very large number of people that are truly interested in your responses.  Focusing on Odd Fellows, my questions for you are:

1. What is your position on allowing Wake Stone Corporation to create a brand-new rock quarry on Odd Fellows, public land that is very remote to the Airport but an intimate part of a valuable and necessary recreation corridor, especially given there are other nearby quarries?

2. Have you received any campaign funds from Wake Stone owners or employees (e.g., Bratton, Oxholm, etc.)?

3. Should RDU be allowed to upzone land at a whim and turn residential land into industrial land without any public process?  If RDU took control of land next to your house, should they be able to put a dump on that land without going through public process?

4. How much power should RDU have?  Should they have all powers of a city?  Or should the representatives of the 4 owners have some sort of accountability to the entities that appoint them? If they have all of the powers of a city, shouldn’t they have to follow all public processes? If they are to have all of the powers of a city, shouldn’t the leaders be publicly elected?

Of note, following the long established plans of the State for Odd Fellows to be a part of Umstead State Park does not cost the City of Raleigh.  But, turning Odd Fellows into a quarry will ultimately require public funds for maintenance of quarried land.

>>>>>>>>>>>> history summary <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

• In the 1960s, RDU hired a surveyor named John Lawrence to map out lands they intended to take control of.  RDU funds paid for these surveys and these surveys included the 286 lands of which they took in 1967.
• In the early 1970s, the State hired this same surveyor, John Lawrence, to map out lands that the State planned to acquire for inclusion into Umstead State Park.  Public money paid for these surveys.  These lands included both Odd Fellows and the current Wake Stone Triangle Quarry site.
• In 1974, the publicly funded Umstead State Park Master Plan was published showing Odd Fellows, the current Triangle Quarry site, and most of 286 East as part of Umstead State Park. Of note, as of 1974, when the Umstead State Park Master Plan was published, RDU only had management control of the 286 lands.  They did not have management control of Odd Fellows.
• Per the 1975 FAA approved Airport Layout Plan (ALP), the land now known as 286 East was to be transferred to Umstead State Park.  If 286 East was not needed for Airport purposes, then Odd Fellows was not needed given it is further East.
• Per the 1975 Environmental Impact Statement for the Crabtree Creek sewer line, the sewer line was to run through Odd Fellows and the current Triangle Quarry site, rendering the land not useful for the Park.
• In 1975 the State asked the EPA to move over 2 ½ miles of the Crabtree Creek sewer line from the Park side of I-40 to the Lake Crabtree side of I-40.
• In June of 1976, the EPA approved moving 2 ½ miles of sewer line from the Park side of I-40 to the Lake Crabtree side of I-40 for the purpose of allowing this land to become part of Umstead State Park (not for the purposes of using this land for industrial endeavors).
• In July of 1976, just one month after the EPA’s decision to preserve Odd Fellows for Park purposes, RDU, using their access to money, took management control of Odd Fellows using threat of condemnation.  This essentially blocked the State’s 1974 Master Plan.  Of note, RDU took advantage of their relationship with John Lawrence and used the public funded survey for their benefit.
• In 1979, Wake Stone Corporation, under the guise of a misleading name “Perfect Land Corporation” and knowing the State’s plans to incorporate the land into the Park, started purchasing this residential land with hidden motives to create a rock quarry.  This further blocked the State’s plans.
• In 1979 and 1980, Wake Stone used false claims to obtain both a rezoning of the Triangle Quarry site from residential to industrial and to obtain a permit.  Wake Stone claimed that the sound of a blast would be muffled by the sound of a plane.  Well, that land is not even in the noise corridor.
• In 1981, the State issued a mining permit to Wake Stone with a 50-year time limit.
• Lots of interesting stuff between 1981 and now, but will skip that detail for now.
• In 2018, without public process, Wake Stone changed one word in their permit that resulted in the permit going from a limited time of 50 years to an unlimited time.  Wake Stone needs to keep the current Triangle Quarry site open in order to mine Odd Fellows as Odd Fellows is too small to house all quarry operations.  Without this, Wake Stone cannot mine Odd Fellows.
• In 2018, RDU “leased” Odd Fellows to Wake Stone for the creation of a new quarry pit.
• A quarry on Odd Fellows is not needed as there are many other quarries, several of which have recently expanded.  These other quarries are in the same proximity to construction.
• Given Odd Fellows is only leased to Wake Stone, the public ultimately assumes all responsibility for the cost of maintaining this land once quarry operations are completed.  This pit cannot become a usable lake given its location.  So, any savings in transport of material from such a quarry will be negated by public funds to maintain the pit.  The only people that win here are Wake Stone owners and developers.

As you can see, this history shows that with much manipulation of the system, RDU and Wake Stone have taken advantage of publicly funded State plans for Odd Fellows, the current Triangle Quarry site, and 286 East to be a part of Umstead State Park.

Thank you for your time and for acting in the best interest of the public, not in the best interest of private corporations.

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