Last week, we wrote about the proposed community development near West Point on the Eno that’s drawing a lot of opposition from some residents, including the children of Margaret Nygard, often called the ‘Mother of the Eno,’ but also some support from members of a nearby, predominantly Black church. First, a correction—we misstated the date of the Board of Adjustments public hearing that could decide the fate of this development; it is in late May, not in February. Some readers who oppose the proposed project said we overstated the amount of support it is receiving.

“[This] article completely distorts the degree of support for the West Point Development by the community at large. At the January hearing, around fifty people testified and only ten of those people (all members of the church down the road) supported the development,” wrote Laura Jaramillo on Twitter, and continued:

“Article makes it sound as if the neighborhoods around the river that oppose the development are all white when that is far from the case. what about all the black and latino homeowners whose properties will be flooded beyond recognition in a few years in the development goes thru

“The church down the road draws from a large community some who live in the area and many who don’t are in some astro-turfed agreement with the developer who is a fundamentalist christian. these people will be the least affected by the ecological crisis the development will cause

“Further, the idea that those who oppose the development are selfish nimby’s who don’t want affordable housing near them considering that the west point development includes no affordable housing, it is a plan for 400 LUXURY UNITS—on the banks of a river

“Ten people following orders from their pastor does not a ‘groundswell’ of Black support for the development make. ask the many Black families who live here who will actually be affected by the development and stop distorting the narrative.”

Also on Twitter, Jessie Bo Bessi writes: “We need to find a solution that protects the water quality of the watershed, and the health of those who depend on the living waters of the Eno.”

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