⚠️HWY 31 EXTENSION UPDATE ⚠️
❗️It has been brought to our attention that there will be TWO local public hearing meetings at the end of this month. Below I will have links to the DOT website for that information.
⚠️The purpose of this meeting is to review the Environmental Impact Assessment. UPON READING THE ASSESSMENT, THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE DISPLACING A FARM AT ALL!!!
👉There is a link below to our petition asking the DOT to spare our farm as they plan this Hwy improvement.
✍️PLEASE use the contact and feedback section of their website to let them know that this matters to you! There appear to be new people listed as Project Managers on the website who may not be aware of the support and importance that you saw in the farm during the meetings in 2019. PLEASE LET THEM KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS.
👉What we would like to see happen: That the connection to Highway 57 and Hickman Road at the NC/SC state line be modified or removed to reduce the impact that the highway will have on our farm. There is a connection at Highway 111 just up the road from us. Also, to acknowledge on the Environmental Impact Assessment that a FARM is being affected, as there is currently a 0 listed next to Farms Impacted.
👉According to the current map, it appears that the section that connects Highway 31 to NC Hickman Road and SC Highway 57 will take the farm market where we also press our apple cider and have coolers to store our harvest as we gather it. It appears to also take Sam and Sarah’s home, to take the young blueberry field that we have hoped to one day have for pick-your-own as the bushes get mature enough, to take the field where we grow our strawberries and have strawberry pick-your-own. This field is unique in that the soil is extremely well suited to growing strawberries and also that the soil has been managed for DECADES specifically for growing strawberries. This field is also the best protected from deer, making it valuable for growing other crops all year as we implement crop rotation and grow other produce for our market. This also obstructs the roads that access the farm, making it difficult or impossible to get to the smaller fields or the swamp field. It is hard to tell from the scale of the map but it looks to also take Sallie’s home as well.
👉I believe that the highway 31 itself will impact the farm market in some way. Having our homes and our fields and living on the farm is a large part of what keeps the farm going. If this project could be modified to allow for that it would make quite a difference compared to losing the heart of the farm.
⚠️Here is the link to our website for an overview of this situation. It also has links to the DOT website and to our petition. https://indigofarmsmarket.com/hwy-31-or-local-food%3F
⚠️Here is the link to our petition asking the DOT to spare the farm as they design the highway. https://chng.it/2yJZQcxmNv
👉Here are links to the DOT pages:
https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/carolina-bays-parkway/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/carolina-bays-parkway/Documents/carolina-bays-alternative-map-4.pdf
https://publicinput.com/Carolina-Bays-Pkwy
https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/carolina-bays-parkway/Pages/alternative-maps.aspx The 4A preferred alternative is the one that it seems the DOT likes best.