‘Everything has to be done responsibly’: High Falls residents are fighting back against industrial development
‘Everything has to be done responsibly’: High Falls residents are fighting back against industrial development
It’s been a ten-year fight by neighbors in the area and they’re holding an event on Saturday to raise awareness to their issues.
MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — It’s been ten years since people in High Falls started their fight against industrial development in their neighborhood.
Saturday, the High Falls Towaliga Watershed Alliance is hosting an event to get people to see what they’re fighting for.
“It’s not like people are out there on jet skis running around it’s got all the benefits of living on the lake. It’s a great lake to live on,” Sharon Cloud said.
They want to keep it that way, but Betty Eskew said a 284-acre industrial project by Hillwood South could be coming soon.
“The proposed plan is to build three million square feet of warehouses on that property and there’s creeks and there’s headwaters and there’s a whole lake that all of that impervious surface is going to wash off to,” Eskew said.
With that runoff, Eskew believes it could eventually hurt their access to drinking water.
“So if they’re going to continue to add more and more and more what does that do to someone’s quality of life whose getting water from the ground and we have no other way to get services out here to us,” Eskew questioned.
Cloud said all the development in their surrounding area is already affecting them and people outside of High Falls.
“It’s turning the river into a draining ditch and so our alliance is not only worry about the lake but the whole watershed and it goes into the Ocmulgee, so Macon should be worried about it too,” Cloud said.
Joe Reed said they don’t need any more trucks in their near their neighborhood because they are already a hub for truckers to take a break.
“Truck stop two, three, four, five, six, seven and a dealership eight, nine,” Reed said.
Now, they’re hosting a flotilla event. They’re asking people to get out on the lake on boats, kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards to see what they could be losing.
Reed said his community has been able to stop developments before.
“There have been three previous development attempts that we have convinced to look elsewhere. Hillwood by far have been the most persistent,” Reed said.
Eskew said she understands development is important but there’s more of a risk than a reward doing it at High Falls.
“Everything has to be done responsibly and to throw away a perfectly fine river, and a beautiful lake to do so is very irresponsible,” Eskew said.