About the PQLC

The Piedmont Quality of Life Coalition (PQLC) is a non-profit organization of concerned citizens dedicated to protecting the quality of life and the health,safety and well-being of all citizens in the Piedmont Triad area.  General meetings may be held from time to time for the discussion of   events of concern.  The PQLC, as appropriate, will engage speakers who are experts in their field to educate the public about the environmental and socioeconomic impact of proposed development projects.  The PQLC then endeavors to disseminate this information to a wider audience through fact sheets and newsletters.  The PQLC encourages people to voice their concerns on these and other social issues.

The PQLC believes in using legal means to defend the public good and private rights of citizens.  The PQLC believes that government exists by the will of the people, that its wisdom and priorities reside with the citizenry and that it works to serve all, fairly and effectively, utilizing the powers and resources entrusted to it by the voters.
 
 

 November 19, 1998 Resolution

Historical Background:  Not well known to the general public, the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, together with the Piedmont Triad Partnership,  whose focus is a 12-county region, has been planning since 1992 to make Guilford County's PTI Airport the site of North Carolina's Global TransPark, rather than Kinston, NC.  (Millions of North Carolina taxpayer dollars have been sunk into preparing Kinston as the site for the Global TransPark.  An Environmental Impact Study has already been done there, and federal approval given.)  The local public protested PTI Airport's plans in 1992 to put the Global TransPark here in Guilford County, so the deal to lure a nighttime air cargo operation (FedEx) was hatched in secret, with the knowledge of the State Dept. of Commerce officials, the Governor,  the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, and regional economic planners/developers represented by the Piedmont Triad Partnership.  The public had no input in the decision to lure FedEx here.  It was merely announced, with much fanfare, on April 13, 1998. When the Airport continued to ignore the very real concerns of Guilford County residents regarding the threat to their homes and their quality of life, the Piedmont Quality of Life Coalition passed the following resolution:

A   DECLARATION

by  the Piedmont Quality of Life Coalition

In 1992, the North Carolina Air Cargo Airport Authority selected Kinston as the site for the state’s Global TransPark out of thirteen site proposals that included Greensboro.  The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority (PTAA), however, has not given up.  It is clear now that the proposed FedEx project would be only the first step in turning the Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) into a Global TransPark.

A Global TransPark at PTIA would devastate Guilford County and the quality of life we enjoy by creating unnacceptable noise, air pollution, water pollution, highway congestion, and additional overloading of the infrastructure.  A Global TransPark does not belong in a residential area that was zoned residential (not industrial/commercial) by the people through their elected representatives.

The secrecy surrounding this project betrays its nefarious nature.  The PTAA continues to withhold information, deny citizen participation, and rely on brute force (politely referred to as eminent domain) to achieve its ends.  Lacking any moral basis for its actions, it adopts the philosophy of the bully:  might is right.
In all this, FedEx is an eager partner.

We have suffered with patience for too long such abuse of power.  The recent history of the PTIA’s dealing with the community has been one of misinformation, deviousness, and inconsideration.  At every stage, we have requested information, participation, and redress—all to no avail.  Under these circumstances, it is our right, indeed our duty, to throw off all restraint and confront the aggressor with all the remedies available to us under our system of constitutional democracy.  We are, after all, fighting for our homes and for the health and safety of our families.

Specifically, we shall vigorously seek and pursue every legal means to oppose the proposed runway, the proposed FedEx cargo hub, the financial incentives offered to FedEx, the allocation of federal funds to expand the airport, and anything else deemed to further the setting up of a Global TransPark.