Haw River Assembly files lawsuit seeking transparency and proper oversight for NC’s Largest Development

Jan 14

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2026

PITTSBORO, NC — The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Haw River Assembly,

Chatham Climate Action Network, and 7 Directions of Service, is challenging the Town of Pittsboro's

November 10, 2025 approval of the South Village Small Area Plan (SAP) for Chatham Park. The goals

are to restore proper public oversight and accountability in the development approval process and to

make sure the Town of Pittsboro follows the law when approving major development plans. Pittsboro

has approved a “Small Area Plan” that isn’t small - it is a single, 5,000-acre conceptual plan for the

largest development in North Carolina history.

Chatham Park was to move its development forward in small pieces, ensuring that public hearings

and legislative decisions were carried out as impacts became clear. However, the Town of Pittsboro

approved everything at once and pushed the real decisions - about land use, roads, flooding and

public facilities - into later administrative or quasi-judicial approvals.

Where buildings go, how dense development will be, how roads and stormwater are handled, and how

the environment is protected should be policy decisions made by elected officials in public meetings.

Instead, the Town approved a plan that limits the governing body's discretionary power, public input

and accountability. This standards-based approval lacks adequate public scrutiny and locks in the

development framework for decades, affecting traffic, flooding, infrastructure, sacred land and the

Haw River watershed.

We are asking that Pittsboro follow the processes already on the books – phased planning, real

analysis, and legislative decisions at the right time. This is not about anti-growth or about stopping

Chatham Park. This lawsuit is about transparency, accountability and getting this important and

massively impactful process right.

For media inquiries: please contact Emily Sutton, Haw Riverkeeper and Executive Director at Haw

River Assembly: emily@hawriver.org

Haw River Assembly