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After reading The Times' March 13 article, I decided to take a closer look at my neighbor, The Mundy Mill development.
I often drive through the area and have been pleased at what I have seen in small isolated areas. There are approximately 50 attractive homes built to original specifications. The small areas that have been developed are beautifully landscaped and would be an asset to any community.
What I saw when taking a look at undeveloped portions is a disgrace to the surrounding area and to homeowners who bought into the development with a reasonable belief that it would be developed as described during the initial rezoning requests.
Isolated areas are developing into something that could be better described as the "Mundy Mill Landfill." The swimming pool is filling with stagnant water that accumulates with each rainfall. This has created a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes that will be a health threat to residents during the summer months.
The pool house has been covered in gang-related graffiti by individuals taking advantage of the isolate areas. The fabric erosion barriers are falling down and a majority of them are being covered by massive amounts of soil they were supposed to prevent from washing into the drains, streams and eventually Lake Lanier.
A visit to the once-beautiful home site that in initial zoning was to be used as a clubhouse best describes my frustration with the current conditions. Broken windows, gutters hanging and blowing loose in the wind, more graffiti and a decaying deer carcass in the driveway. All of these are painful reminders that I was once convinced that this development would be good for our community.
I drove out into most of the empty, dead-end streets. At the end of almost every street were piles of trash and garbage dumped by people obviously from outside the area. I dozens of old tires collecting water, additional breeding grounds for mosquitoes. There were old televisions, computers, mattresses and just about any item that was deemed no longer usable.
In The Times article, an individual with the Norton Agency stated that Mundy Mill was promised to be a crown jewel development. He further stated that today, the picture of Mundy Mill is far from that and the project is in a steady state of decline with extensive vandalism, dumping and overall neglect.
I visited the REL Properties, Inc. Web site, which advertises the Mundy Mill development with an impressive package of tennis courts, clubhouses, a new elementary school and extensive walking trails. I realize the Web site was developed when economic conditions made those promises feasible, but obviously they are not realistic now.
In the meantime, until some of the problems are taken are of, I will stock up on insect repellent for the summer months. Even better, maybe the Gainesville City Planning and Zoning departments in a show of remorse will furnish mosquito netting and insect repellent to those of us affected by their decision on this development.
Francis L. Cato
Gainesville