How green was my hillside

Gerald Green, Reynolds Mountain developer’s environmental consultant, must take us for idiots. While he says they have kept 30 acres “pristine” with their cluster-designed development, I suppose he expects us to give a big sigh of relief! Never mind that they have destroyed 220 once-pristine acres in the process! He said Reynolds Mountain will be “a model for sustainable development”? Give us a break! It is only sustainable for those whose pockets are filled with money!

That mountain’s natural environment is forever destroyed. You won’t see wildflowers grow there again. Gone is the habitat for most wildlife. I have been told there are McMansions up there with 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms! How much water does it take to fill that many toilets in one house alone! What outrageous waste of resources will it take to heat and cool all those thousands of square feet of space? (Enter Progress Energy with their “peak use” oil-burning power plant they want to build in Woodfin! Thanks a lot!) I don’t see any solar panels going in to help make it one megawatt more sustainable.

Just throwing around the appealing terminology will not placate those who love these mountains. Bottom line: No high-density development is environmentally sustainable. Period! It is strictly for the pursuit of profit at the expense of the innocent plants, trees and animals and future generations that will ultimately be stuck with all the polluted mess and wacko weather as a result of global warming. Perhaps it is the only way the human population will be brought down to a more environmentally sustainable level!

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