Today is the first official day of spring.
It’s a time of renewal, a time for fresh ideas, and a time to get out and appreciate what makes the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau a great place to live and work.
In the spirit of new ideas, it was encouraging to hear that the Cashiers Marketplace development is being amended in a way that it will no longer require a special use permit.
Sam Lupas, the man behind the plan, noted that his team and the developers of the Kessler Collection property near the crossroads sat down and hammered out a plan that can be mutually beneficial and add to the character of the area while having less of an environmental impact.
It’s refreshing to see progress being made through mutual understanding and compromise.
They say good fences make good neighbors, and there may be no place in America where that adage is more true than on the Plateau. We all value our personal privacy, our want for peace and quiet, and our occasional thirst for solitude.
But in the case of two major developments near the heart of Cashiers, putting up a fence and shutting out the neighbor wasn’t going to work. Kudos to Lupas and his group, as well as the Kessler Collection representatives, for getting on the same page and making decisions like adults.
The first day of spring also reminds us of the many reasons to be thankful of our local first responders, line workers, and public works staff members, who have spent untold hours over the past week dealing with the ever-present impacts of Mother Nature.
Heavy rains and high winds downed several trees over the weekend across the Plateau, closed roads, and knocked out power for thousands of people. The gusts continued all the way through Monday afternoon, but so did the men and women who answer the call any time a weather event comes rolling through.
Spring is off to a fast start, and there’s no stopping now, so let’s all take a moment to refresh ourselves and get ready for a busy season ahead.