RDU wants to turn Lake Crabtree County Park into an “ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION” ...

…but they are overlooking the 90+ years of publicly funded planning for LCCP to be part of a “FORESTED RECREATION DESTINATION”

As you know RDU is holding a public meeting on 29/Jan/25 regarding the potential development of Lake Crabtree County Park (LCCP), one of the most used Parks in the area. Attendance and public comments are critical. Please attend the meeting or submit a public comment in writing.

https://www.rdu.com/airport-authority/meetings/

This is a more detailed history of LCCP (but definitely does not have all of the history):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k5NyB4E6IvhRbFbDHssW7L3RAONWJ-Mh/view

RDUAA’s meeting post says “The purpose of this meeting is to receive public comments from present, in-person attendees offering proposals to achieve the Authority’s stated goals for the Lake Crabtree Park Development to: a) Create a unique and innovative ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION which will be appealing to the greater Triangle Region and may include community assets such as food and beverage, retail, hospitality/boutique hotel, recreational facilities, etc.; b) Develop in a manner consistent and appropriate with the natural surroundings of the site; c) Ensure recreational users are considered in the development; and d) Increase non-aeronautical revenue to the Authority. But, LCCP is too small for an “ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION” that includes food/beverage, retail, hospitality AND forested recreation (including hiking and biking trails).

Also, it is important to consider that the Lenovo Center, which is just a few miles away from Lake Crabtree County Park, recently posted renderings for a major re-vamp of their campus. The Lenovo Center is to be the Raleigh Sports and Entertainment District. It will be huge! In addition to the sports arena and the North Carolina State Football Stadium, there will be a new small music venue, restaurants, entertainment, parking decks, a plaza for tailgating and a 600-foot promenade lined with tailgating suites, apartment buildings, etc. These development plans are underway. RDU’s plans for a small “ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION” on LCCP puts too much of the same thing in the same area.

https://yorkproperties.com/lenovo-center-set-for-major-upgrades-and-renovations-as-part-of-raleigh-sports-and-entertainment-district/

https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2024/09/24/lenovo-center-future-new-rezoning-downtown-renderings

LCCP is one of the most used forested recreation parks in Wake County and the land is best used as it is now and as it has been planned for since the 1950’s – as a forested recreation park – that is part of a “FORESTED RECREATION DESTINATION” – that was created many years ago via public planning money. This “FORESTED RECREATION DESTINATION” compliments the Lenovo Center “Entertainment District” and includes LCCP, Cary’s Black Creek Greenway, Cary’s ORC Trailhead (located at 2139 Old Reedy Creek Road), Umstead State Park, the Umstead State Park Multi-use Trail, Odd Fellows (the land that Wake Stone / Vulcan Materials is currently deforesting even though it is zone residential), and 286 East.

RDU has already destroyed some of this planned “FORESTED RECREATION DESTINATION” by clear cutting 286 West for their Park Economy 3 expansion project and by allowing Wake Stone Corporation to start clear cutting Odd Fellows, land that has been on the Umstead State Park critical acquisition list since the 1970’s.

Please tell RDU not to stop chipping away at a highly-used, long-planned, and irreplaceable “FORESTED RECREATION DESTINATION”. Please tell RDU to leave Lake Crabtree County Park alone.

What is even worse, RDU did not need the land! That issue is written up separately…