Examples Of This Approach

Minimizing The Impact Of Development
We ourselves are committed to this approach. In the past year we have established a small subdivision on a gravel road with land adjacent to National Park Service property. The subdivision requirement in our area is that each new home be on a lot no smaller than one acre. We or some other developer could have put 10 or more houses on our 14 acres, yet we turned down at least a dozen developers who wanted to do exactly that. One was interested in putting condominiums on it. Another potential buyer wanted to log it. Instead, we subdivided it into three, deed-restricted parcels of 3.8 to 5.5 acres. There will never be more than three houses on the one-lane drive. There will be no county-standard, wide-swath road serving numerous houses. The three streams, the woodlands and the wildlife will be far better preserved than in a standard development.

Perhaps, but not necessarily, we could have gotten more money in the short term for ourselves through a more typical development approach. But at what cost to the beautiful, healthy environment, the water table and the ecological balance that draws people to this property in the first place? At what cost in good will to others in the area? We anticipate that the owners in our actual development will see greater appreciation in their property values than they would with the same house on a 1-2 acre lot, while enjoying a higher quality of life.

We are among those who are confident that, over the long haul, this approach is financially better for everyone involved, directly or indirectly.

Creating A Good Investment
Last year we helped a retired couple purchase a pretty 22-acre parcel that lies at the confluence of two mountain streams. They had asked us to find some land where they could simply enjoy the woods and water and where they might eventually build a small retreat house. They wanted something that would represent a good investment to pass on and stated their intention to help the land return to a more beautiful, ecologically-healthy state. When the purchase was accomplished, they razed an abandoned house and cleaned up an abandoned trailer site, planted wildflowers and built a small wooden bridge across the larger stream for access to the interior of the property. They use it now for fishing, walking, meditating and relating to the rich flora and fauna there.

This parcel is in a rapidly developing area, yet they walk to their own drum beat. They are engaging in private land preservation and furthering ecological harmony. We have great respect for what they are doing.

In Ten Years
In ten years, would you want this magnificent, ecologically-sound mountain area of Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties to resemble Myrtle Beach/Pigeon Forge/Charlotte, or would you rather it resemble something much closer to what it is now?

There are, of course, many other examples we could give of this New Approach. One we have personally experienced and hope to widely promote is to purchase undeveloped land and to sell it later, with or without deed restrictions or conservation easements, to someone else who shares similar values of ecological consciousness. We welcome the opportunity to share these possibilities with you.