Former Mebane planning board member Kurt Pearson announces today his intention to seek a seat on the Mebane city council.
Pearson, who served for about 10 years on the city’s planning board – most recently as its vice chairman – has been an advocate for “slower but smarter growth” for the city. He did not seek reappointment when his term expired June 30.
In particular, Pearson has been a critic of what he considers to be the city council’s approval of too many apartment complexes in the city.
Pearson has repeatedly called for a study to assess the proportion of apartments in Mebane versus other similarly-sized cities.
Pearson points to the increasing proportion of apartments in Mebane over the past decade as evidence that the city is growing too fast with rental units, as compared to owner-occupied dwellings.
“I think it is time to look after the current citizens of Mebane first, and not out-of-town developers and investors. We need to start thinking: what does the current citizen get out of each specific proposed development. I know growth will happen. Let’s just make sure it’s the best we can get. Let’s have good, smart, well-planned growth with limited negative impacts.
“I am sick and tired of hearing [the justification] after the council approves something. . .’it could have been worse.’ How about we take the stance of ‘it can be better.’
‘‘We need to get control of this growth, and the types of growth, along with their impacts.”
Pearson says Mebane has gotten into what he calls a “Growth Pride” cycle, or loop, “that is hard to get out of, but we have to get out of it. We can’t continue to need growth to pay for the last growth, in regards to utilities, infrastructure, police and fire staffing, etc.”
Pearson and his wife, Christina, own and operate Keep the Green Realty, an independent discount real estate firm. The couple has two children, Ava and Mia.
He is a member and currently a deacon at First Baptist Church of Mebane.
Pearson is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in geography with a concentration in planning; and an MA from UNC-Greensboro, also in geography with a concentration in planning.
Before his real estate career, Pearson was a city planner in Burlington, planning director for the town of Zebulon in Wake County, and a project manager in planning for the John R. McAdams Company in Research Triangle Park.
