My name is James Thurmond. I have recently heard about the proposed motorsports project on Duck Thurmond Road in Dawsonville and I must say that I am very, very concerned and extremely opposed to this idea.

I grew up on Duck Thurmond Road.

My father and aunts and uncles still live there and, in the next couple of months, my fiancé and I are moving back to be closer to my father and to get away from the noise and chaos of the metro-Atlanta area.

I love that road.

It represents everything that wholesome, quiet, peaceful country living can be.

The fact that it lies adjacent to protected areas just makes it that much more the definition of bucolic and wonderful.

There are streams, trails, horse farms and tons of wildlife on that one road alone.

It epitomizes the Dawson County way of life and is a fine and enduring representation of what being a part of this county can truly mean.

To hear that there are others that wish to mar this beauty is heartbreaking.

Whatever well-intentioned interests they claim to have in mind, it is certainly not those of Dawson County, or the residents that are proud to call it home.

I am very much looking forward to moving back to Dawson County and starting a family there.

But, after hearing that my beloved road and my cherished family and neighbors may fall by the wayside to make room for horrid noise and careless greed, I am angered and I am scared.

How could this actually be considered? Where’s the decency? Where’s the “community first” spirit? Why? What? When?

How can this be stopped?

The right to live and raise a family in a peaceful, healthy environment is a right granted to all citizens of this great country — not just those with the money and the power.

It is my belief, that if this proposal comes to pass, that right will be egregiously stomped upon and callously stripped from us.

And all of this will have happened just so a few rich folks from Atlanta can roll on up to the sticks and have some fun in their fancy cars.

We cannot serve Dawson County by allowing its peace to be compromised and its people brushed aside.

James Thurmond

Dawsonville