Citizen Will

Tag: Downtown

  • Downtown Development Intiative: Feb. 12th’s Comments

    Tonight’s vote is not about whether Chapel Hill is a town or a city or whether we need to vitalize Downtown or not. We know that Downtown needs help. Tonight’s vote is simply about whether the RAM proposal is a good deal for the town’s citizens – both now and in the future…. After reviewing […]

  • The Sad Story of Council’s Downtown Development Initiative

    They say, the story is buried in the details. After reviewing hundreds of pages of confidential documents and listening to hours of ridiculously poor audio recordings of confidential meetings, I can, sadly, stand by my public assertions that the private-public Lot #5 development Council will most probably be thrusting upon us this evening is a […]

  • Confidential Lot 5 Memorandum and Notes: Update I

    Confidential documentation of Downtown Development Initiative.

  • Confidential Lot 5 Memorandum and Notes

    In preparation for further comments, I’ve scanned in the “confidential” negotiating documents the Town provided Dec. 8th, 2006. Directory listing of current documents here. Table of Contents:

  • Downtown Development: RAM’s VP Cummings’ Smackdown

    Ouch! Obviously stung by Council member Jim Wards comment about “switch-n-baiting”, RAM Development’s VP Casey Cummings delivered a death blow to Council’s request for affordable condo fees for the affordable housing units and a commitment to energy efficiency. [MOVIE] Both requests seem quite reasonable. What use is it for the Land Trust to “sell” a […]

  • The Chickens Have Roosted: Council’s Environmental Credibility Gap

    We lost that argument when we passed parking lot#5 as designed. One of the chief criticisms of the new Downtown Development Initiative (DDI) is that the Lot 5 building is setting a poor precedent for what is yet to come… [MOVIE] Councilmember Jim Ward tried to put the brakes on Council’s pellmell acceptance of “the […]

  • Downtown Development: Steamrolled by Jagannath

    I went to this evening’s Council meeting fully expecting to be steamrolled. Yes, the negotiation team has worked years on “a deal” but not “the deal”. Since Nov. 20th, no real new details have been forthcoming. I’ll be posting the video of tonight’s action tomorrow, so I’ll reserve detailed critiques until then… Just a few […]

  • Out-Foxed Chapel Hill Style

    The Downtown Development Initiative is a steamroller (in more ways then one). Check out this summary of comments from Nov. 20th’s public hearing. A little light and less nuanced than the opposition comments I recall. Good thing there’s a video record on-line. So why introduce the following bias? Potential Advantages of the Project -Mixed use […]

  • Downtown Development: Easthom’s questions, questions, questions…

    More questions about the Town’s and RAM’s Lot 5 development (DDI) plan? Well, there’s been a dearth of specifics, so there should be a wealth of questions. Add to the throng of “those who want to know” Council member Laurin Easthom. With tonight’s pre-vote presentation on DDI looming (not a public forum)), Easthom weighs in […]

  • Downtown Development Initiative: A Few New Perspectives

    Lot #5 Downtown Development RAM building design based on Nov. 20th public hearing proposal . The model is in proportion and the proper height. It wasn’t until I laid out the model that I realized how large a beast we have here… Looking North towards Lot 5 Dec2 Lot 5 Hovering above Baptist Church Steeple […]

  • Downtown Development Initiative: Our Fair City Before Lot #5

    Making some progress on a GoogleEarth visualization of downtown. Here’s some data if you want to either visualize Chapel Hill within GoogleEarth or want to start fresh with a re-import. Small caveat on the GoogleEarth import – don’t turn on the terrain as I still need to tweak the elevations to get the right output. […]

  • Downtown Development Initiative: Search for Wholesome Goodness Continues…

    I believed the Town’s web site covering the Downtown Development Initiative would be updated after Nov. 20th’s public forum. After ten days, I finally sent in a formal request. Here is Town Manager Stancil’s response: Dear Mr. Raymond: Thank you for our email message at 10:49 am on Dec. 1 to the Manager, Mayor and […]

  • Downtown Development Initiative: Where’s the beef?

    [UPDATE] How could the negotiations team done a better job informing the public throughout the process? Here’s two examples from Greensboro’s District 5 Council member Sandy Carmany covering their coliseum issues, this one from a year ago and this one from November. Sure, she wasn’t hampered by reporting on material potentially shielded under NC’s open […]

  • …water fountains, bathrooms and benches….

    WCHL1360 covered yesterday’s Downtown Partnership update. Listen [MP3] to what Director Liz Parham and local “top flight” business guy Scott Maitland had to say. And Dan S., if you’re reading this, thanks for the sly hat tip.

  • Chapel Hill Downtown Development Initiative: The Debate

    Posted these individual citizen comments from the Nov. 20th Public Hearing on the Downtown Development Scott Kovens Robert Dowling Gene Pease Roger Perry Lex Alexander David Godschalk David Hartzell Joyce Brown Janet Kagan Alan Rimer Barnes Burke Laurie Paolicelli Scott Radway Anita Badrock Tom Jensen Josh Gurlitz Liz Parham Philip Duchastel Bill Camp Raymond Bernadette […]