Persimmon Hollow community stood firm against a proposed RV Park and got a big W
The passion with which residents of Persimmon Hollow spoke about the importance of home, family and security within their tight knit community was enough to convince even would-be developer Chris Brigham that his proposed RV Park would not fit in well in the middle of their neighborhood.
The Santa Rosa County Zoning Board voted without objection Thursday against a rezoning that would have allowed Brigham to locate an RV Park at the intersection of Persimmon Hollow Road and Delta Drive, in the heart of a community founded more than 100 years ago by Harvey Rich, and still home to his descendants.
Brigham, the owner of Tow Heros LLC, arrived at a Thursday Santa Rosa County Zoning Board meeting with a warning for the many living along Persimmon Hollow Road who had signed a petition in opposition to his plans for a 2-acre lot at the road's intersection with Delta Drive.
He said that under the current zoning he could locate 20 mobile homes there, and he would be doing local residents, and the environment, a favor by bringing in RVs.
"As of now, this property could presumptually become a mobile home park. I can do 10 units an acre. I'm trying to avoid that and do something a little more elegant with an RV Park that would be not so much of an eye sore in five years," he said.
Brigham also warned those standing against his plans that along with 20 mobile home sites would come 20 septic tanks, whereas at his RV Park he could get by with installing a single septic tank for every eight RV parking slots.
It was apparent that Brigham had not associated himself ahead of the Zoning Board meeting with members of the the Rich, Smith and Allen family, proud heirs of Harvey Rich.
Rich had arrived in East Milton in 1910 and established himself as a pillar of the community through his work ethic and generosity. His family has carried on his traditions of taking great pride in working hard, giving back to the community and sticking together. For many who spoke against the RV Park, Persimmon Hollow has been home for all of their lives.
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Gus Rich, Harvey's grandson, at one time coached football, track and weight lifting at Milton High School and taught brick masonry at the Locklin Vocational Center, all while working a full-time job. He was the first family member, but not the last, to testify before the Zoning Board that a mobile home park, for as detrimental as its presence could be, would be preferable for local residents to the RV Park.
"To bring an RV Park to our area is to bring all kind of people in there that we don't know ... we are a community that takes care of each other," Rich said. "If I had a choice I would go with the mobile homes. Those people will be there. We will get a chance to see them and know who they are. If you're going to be there, we want to know who you are."
Evelyn Garrison Smith, daughter of Bessie Mae Garrison, a woman who worked two jobs to raise four children as a single mom and managed to leave 10 acres in Persimmon Hollow to each, told the Zoning Board that she wanted to see her grandchildren grow up in the same safe environment she, and later her children, had known.
"We're concerned about our kids, our neighbors, each other," she said. "You would not want this RV Park right at your front door.
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About 10 people from the Persimmon Hollow Road area stood to speak before the board. They brought up concerns about heavy vehicle traffic on the two lane road, safety, family pride and heritage and the low crime rate the neighborhood had always enjoyed.
Brigham, in his initial address to the board had questioned why so many petitions and comments against his plans had come from far flung locales like New York, Missouri, New Orleans or Georgia.
A Rich family member pointed out to him that those from out of state who had contacted the board to protest were relatives who, while no longer living in the area, come back to vacation or attend an annual family reunion, held each year at a Rich family reunion site on the southern end of Persimmon Hollow Road.
Before Brigham had his opportunity to rebut the arguments made against his desired development, Zoning Board member Alan Isakson defended the developer as a reasonable man who he thought would be willing to work with the community, but he told Brigham he intended to vote against the RV Park.
Brigham then stood to tell the board he had heard enough to reconsider his plans, addressing the Rich family specifically.
"I appreciate the heart and soul they have and the environment and the community," he said. "I can see how much they care about this close community, their tight-knit group, their children, everything in that aspect," he said.
He offered to meet with community members to discuss "any future property ideas."
Board member Aaron Williams, who made the motion to reject the zoning as "totally not a fit for this community" advised Brigham the evening's discussion might have gone more smoothly if he had engaged his Persimmon Hollow neighbors ahead of Thursday's meeting and been less confrontational in his original statement to the board.
"You seemed to be un-neighborly, and now we see your true colors and you are neighborly," he said.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Zoning Board says no to Persimmon Hollow RV Park
