Welcome to the FC Concerned Citizens / FC Stop the Rock website!

By the time the hearing began, so many community-members had filed into the room that the fire marshal had to enforce occupancy limits and move the meeting to a larger venue.

What almost certainly appeared to be a most-organized effort was, in fact, a complete surprise to most of the folks in attendance. Speeches and comments that different area residents had intended to make were, in large part, set aside as soon as the matter of the Special Use Permit was opened up to comment by the community because, from the first speaker to the last, individual efforts by a few folks who were comfortable speaking in public began to mesh together into a symphony of strong, well-made and illustrated points of agreement that drew hearty applause from nearly everyone in attendance.

It wasn't until late in the hearing that someone finally had the presence of mind to start a sign-in sheet. Many names and contact numbers were gathered, but many were missed because of the late hour because some folks had to work in the morning, had children to attend to, or simply couldn't stay awake. The speakers gathered loosely after the meeting (which didn't end until after midnight) and everyone who stayed to the victorious end made a point of congratulating each other and thanking the few who had, by happy coincidence, largely represented the thoughts and concerns of the much larger group.

The following morning, a blog called "FC4me" was created to keep the community informed about the group's efforts and schedule. Soon after, an organizational meeting was held and everything started to come together as neighbors worked together to ensure that all of the work still needing to be done was spread across committees that were formed on the basis of the strengths and knowledge of the individual members. A vote of the organizing members determined the name of the group: "FC Stop the Rock". The only agenda of the group at the time of its' formation was to prevent the quarry from being built in a rural residential community.

The group immediately focused on preparing for the County Commissioners hearing which would determine whether or not the project would be given the green light to proceed. Committees were formed and research efforts began. The existing zoning at the proposed project site already favored the group's position, so the committees focused their efforts on finding facts to support the contention that the project was wholly incompatible with the surrounding rural residential and agricultural lifestyle. The ground rules were simple:

Approximately three weeks prior to the scheduled hearing date, Carolina Sunrock shocked everyone by requesting a 5+ month postponement on the basis of a "personal matter" that needed the attention of their primary witness (a geologist) as well as a scheduled relocation of the company's corporate headquarters during the month in which the hearing was to be held, and "other pending business matters". The overtly vague nature of the request drew the suspicion of everyone concerned and the community-at-large was generally convinced that the company simply hoped to wait until after November elections, when the personnel on the Commissioners Board would lkely change, to present their case. The county response was a determination that they would allow a postponement of no more than a week or two and even this was on the consition that the nature of the "personal matter" mentioned in the postponement request was disclosed to them and found to be reasonable. Roughly 24-hours after making the postponement request, Carolina Sunrock notified the County that it had decided to withdraw its Special Use Permit application entirely and without further explanation.

The community greeted the news with cautious joy. Few believed that Sunrock was gone for good and consensus was that they'd likely return in the new year with a revised proposal. Word on the grapevine from those that knew the owner of Carolina Sunrock was that they company had no idea that opposition would be so strong. They still haven't publicly explained their decision to withdraw.

The organizational committee of FC Stop the Rock split soon after Sunrock's withdrawal, though the bulk of the committee members are continuing to prepare for Sunrock's presumed-likely return.

Some committee members have determined that there is also work to be done in their community on other matters of concern such as budgetary woes, gang and drug problems, educational issues, and planning and zoning issues and have turned their attentions towards working with local government officials and the community to address those concerns. That is the group now working under the "FC Concerned Citizens" bannerhead.

The small-but-growing group remains mindful of the fact that Sunrock may return and is fully prepared for that possibility. The new mission of the group is to ensure that the rural lifestyles that are so highly-prized by the residents of northern Franklin County, NC are not compromised in the name of economic development and that our community works together to make Frankln County a better place to live, work, and go to school. We want to ensure that anyone caring to watch our progress sees the very best of Franklin County and her residents. We are intelligent, well-informed, respectful, and proud members of Franklin County's community and we'll do our best to avoid stooping to name-calling or underhanded tactics. With that said, we will still defend our rights as local taxpayers and we will demand that our voices and concerns be heard by those who govern our county. The efforts of the group will continue for as long as necessary to ensure that quality of life remains a major feature of Franklin County.