Category: Development

  • The Estes Dr./MLK, Jr. Intersection: Crossroads to Chapel Hill’s Future

    The following letter does an excellent job summing up my reasons for delaying the July’s abbreviated community review process for the ciritical Estes Drive/MLK, Jr. intersection, the two congested transit corridors and the surrounding area which includes UNC’s Carolina North campus. The current CH2020 proposal calls for us to plan in haste and repent in […]

  • Density, 2008

    In forming the new Comprehensive Plan initiating committee, the Mayor studiously avoided recruiting members of the Sustainability Visioning Task Force who challenged the narrow approach foisted upon that effort by staff. The concerns raised by those committee members (Sustainability Task Force: The Whole or The Sum of the Parts? ) are unlikely to be addressed […]

  • Northside Memories

    A couple excellent student driven articles on Northside appeared this week. Carrboro Commons’ Megan Gassaway published this article which reviews the history of the Northside community through long time resident Ms. Keith Edwards eyes. Too often local media focuses narrowly on the business of carving up the community rather than providing a broader context – […]

  • Phase I 2011 Affordable Housing Community Outreach Wraps Up

    Today is the final meeting in a several week series of outreach sessions seeking community input to help formulate a new Affordable Housing Strategy for Chapel Hill. Staff sought advice from a broad range of local residents – from current affordable housing residents to professionals managing a wide variety of community programs. Council, after a […]

  • Easthom: Let’s Revisit Lake Jordan

    Tomorrow Council member Laurin Easthom is petitioning her colleagues to sharpen up their decision to allow Orange Water and Sewer (OWASA) tap Lake Jordan for less than dire and near catastrophic need. Several weeks ago Chapel Hill approved an amendment to language of the 2001 Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Agreement (WSMPBA) which gave […]

  • No Green For Greenbridge

    Looks like the rumors I’ve been hearing for the last few months are true, the much touted Greenbridge project is in deep financial trouble. The high-density development (which has saved Downtown according to the local Chamber of Commerce director Aaron Nelson) hasn’t been able to sell units and pay its construction bills according to today’s […]

  • Comprehensive Plan Refresh, A New Toolbox

    Probably the best Council comment during Monday’s Comprehensive Plan discussion came from Ed Harrison. Ed, who often relates how his neighborhood straddles the Orange/Durham county border, explained how Durham has newly integrated a set of tools in its comprehensive plan to guide both developers and staff. The effort was spurred, Ed said, primarily by the […]

  • Comprehensive Plan – Compromise or Consensus?

    Last night Mike Collins and George Cianciolo (current and former heads of the Planning Board) laid out an interesting plan of action to move the Town’s planning process forward. Most importantly, they underlined the need for a more measurable, nuanced plan that works as an adjunct to the current Comprehensive Plan. Their plan also emphasized […]

  • Comprehensive Plan Refresh, Long Overdue

    The former and current Planning Board chairs made a concerted call for a long overdue refresh of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. This refresh and elaboration on the existing plan is long overdue. I started calling for a re-evaluation 6 years ago when the original plan had an already scheduled a review of the underlying assumptions […]

  • Parking Confusion

    Once again an item with significant budget implications appeared on the consent agenda. This evening’s dealt with buying 40 more pay stations to finish covering Downtown’s on-street spots and increasing the cost of parking %25 to $1.25 an hour. The discussion has been rather disturbing because two efforts have been conflated: the staff led Downtown […]

  • Parks Impact Fee: How Many (More) Goodies Do High Density Developers Need?

    I spoke before Council this evening on the proposed changes to Section 5.5 (Recreation) of the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinances (LUMO). The changes, which were discussed over a decade ago, approved by the NC Legislature July 10, 2008, essentially amount to an impact fee paid by developers to support parks and recreation. To quote, […]

  • 140West: RAM Development’s Money Tree, Chapel Hill Taxpayers Moneypit

    Local commentator and involved citizen Fred Black invited me to do a WCHL1360 Who’s Talking segment last week. It airs this evening (Tues. Aug. 3rd, 2010) at 6PM. While the subject was supposed to be the Lot #5/140 West project, which is slated to finally get started later this month, Fred used this opportunity to […]

  • Sustainability Task Force: The Whole or The Sum of the Parts?

    As some readers might recall, I was appointed to serve on Chapel Hill’s Sustainable Community Visioning Task Force early last year. Before we got started there were a few issues to address involving recruitment of a diverse membership to reflect both the concerns of the business community and the community as a whole. After settling […]

  • WCHL Commentary: Library Expansion Next Year or Lot #5 Project, Not Both

    Ron Stutts and WCHL 1360 invited me to do a commentary on a Chapel Hill issue. I chose to speak out on the fiscally imprudent idea that we can “have our cake and eat it too”. Run this and the following four year’s budget numbers, look at anticipated impacts – funding Town retirees’ health-care, fixing […]

  • Library or Bust? Laurin Easthom’s Concerns

    The Council decided to postpone the Library expansion decision pending further data and discussion. Council member Laurin Easthom pointed out on Monday, once again, “We need to make some real serious decisions about citizens who use our library and don’t pay.” Laurin has been on-top of this issue for some time. She has also been […]