Half page ads in September?

By building advanced technology infrastructure, like fiber, the Town could greatly improve its reputation of being business friendly. I know technology firms that might consider not buying that building in Cary if they could get REAL high speed Internet access in Chapel Hill.

Imagine if Chapel Hill became the first community in the Triangle to have such a service. Publicly owned fiber *can* be profitable and significantly contribute to holding property taxes at their present levels. With new sources of real INCOME like this the Town could do a lot.

What is Mr. Czajkowski position on increasing technology infrastructure for local business and citizens?

(We know how you feel WillR. Thanks for caring so much about it dude.)

Is Chapel Hill really unfriendly to commercial enterprises? This has been a chorus that we've heard for years, repeated so often it has become conventional wisdom for some.

The confusing part is that there are so many communities which make little or no demands on business and thus Chapel Hill - to them - seems like a tough place to go.

Most candidates and CoC leaders who make this charge, don't address the bigger issue of how a "business-friendly" approach might alter the character of the town.

Tricky issues with no silver bullet in sight I know, but I've heard this anti-business rhetoric for so long now without much nuance from those who wield it as a seemingly incontrovertible truth.

I am constantly amazed by people who think if they just step into office and be "business friendly", businesses will leap to locate here or will stop leaving.

The Town Council and the BOA have little influence over the property owners in this area who think commercial enterprises are their cash cows to be milked. I cannot tell you how many successful businesses, some small but some national - like Sephorra, have left Chapel Hill and Carrboro over rent and moved on to Raleigh or Wilmington or Durham where there are just many consumers and the rents are lower.

I'm with you on the "privilege" tax - it's just a silly, time-wasting thing that just makes you feel that yet another entity is taking a bite out of you.

On perceptions - candidates should not take advantage of flawed perceptions, rather they should show leadership and advance the debate beyond perceptions. The Chapel Hill anti-business perception is old & tired - unless somebody can give us a good analysis of what is gained and what is lost with a different set of policies. This is where it gets tricky and we are then faced with the reality that phrases like "anti-business" and "pro-business" are basically meaningless when faced with the complexities of meeting the various needs and goals of the town.

"Does it offend you that Chapel Hill's reputation for being unfriendly to commercial enterprise keeps business from even trying to open here?"

I run a small business from an office in Durham in RTP, but live in Chapel Hill. The reason I'm there and not in Chapel Hill is the price for commercial office space is higher in Chapel Hill, but that has nothing to do with the town council, its strictly supply and demand. What in the world could the town council possibly do to reduce rents? The high rents are caused by supply and demand, which in turn is affected by the proximity of the university and the scarcity of land.

At least for my technology business, there's nothing a town council could possibly do that would effect me, so I have no idea what the heck he's talking about.

"Are you mystified that after years of debate and discussion, Franklin Street is still nowhere close to what it should and can be?"

Maybe he's talking about getting the police to round up panhandlers?

So much for solidarity among people whose last names begin with Cz.

"There was a couple that presented their grievance at the last Council meeting of the Spring (here's the video) It appears that they've had the run-around on some zoning issue having to do with their personal property."

There's 15 items on the agenda, and I couldn't tell which one you were talking about, but zoning is a complicated issue.

"I know a few professionals who would like to host a modest (4-5 client) business out of their homes."

For every person who wants to run a business out of their house there's a few neighbors who wouldn't appreciate having the extra traffic, noise, hazardous materials, etc, in a residential area. That's why we, the community, sets aside some areas are for business and other areas are for homes.

Now if you're just talking about a self-employed individual, as far as I know there's no permission needed for that-- there's a huge number of people working out of their homes in Chapel Hill.

WillR,

I know where several of the OP'rs were during the ceremonies for the TOC. We were at the Special Transit Advisory Commission meeting working on developing a Regional Transit Vision Plan for the area. Sorry to have missed the dedication.

WillR,

We haven't gotten to the point of the "how" yet - we're still working on the "where". But I think given the size of the group and the diversity of the membership we're all happy with the way things are starting to come together.

"Self-employed, 4-5 individuals visiting her home once a week (4-5 visits total per week) with all her current neighbors signed off on it."

Is your point that you want the default zoning rules for residential neighborhoods to be changed to allow small businesses up to a certain size? Or is your point the zoning laws should be changed so that businesses should be allowed if all property owners within a certain range sign off on it? Or is your point there is already a law and procedure in place to handling this type of zoning variance and the town council is not handling the requests properly?

I'm not opposed to that type of zoning variance, but it begs lots of questions like:

* What about people who purchase property after the business is established? Do they get a say, or once a business is established its there forever?

* How big a range of neighbors do you need to get permission from?

* What happens if the business changes its business model? Do they have to re-ask their neighbors, or are they there forever?

"One of her problems is that adequate commercial space at a price point to support a handful of clients doesn't exist."

At one point the lot 5 proposal included a section for live/work space, where a small business owner could purchase one unit, which included commercial space on the ground floor and living space on the second floor, but I think that was cut out at some point along the line.

I've seen one commercial proposal for providing inexpensive small office space:

http://www.carrborocoworking.com/

"Maybe it can't be done but I'd like to know we at least explored the possibility."

I'm not sure exactly what you're proposing, but I'm sure the town council and planning board would be happy to hear any proposals you would like to make regarding changing zoning laws. As a community, it takes a while to have zoning laws changed, as there's lots of citizens who want to have input before the community, through our local government, decide to change the rules.

Ads like Czajkowski's do make it easier to sort through candidates, although the words "business friendly"aren't exactly a new code for the orientation of someone's platform.

It does seem, though, that there's a difference between calling for fiscal responsibility and asking us if we're "offended" by businesses that have allegedly declined to consider opening here -- ostensibly because they are subject to standards and regulations they dislike (despite the economic demographics Chapel Hill offers). The odd word choice carries a contentious tone that could indeed make the campaign livelier if less clear on the actual issues (unlike most other campaigns.... [insert irony icon here]).

Next question: What actually does offend Chapel Hill voters?

Will, the practise you describe - 4 or 5 folks a week parking at a house - sounds a lot like the home office psychotherapy or massage therapy practises that many people operate in this area - in particular after they have children and scale back their practises - and an office becomes financially prohibitive but also unnecessary. So forbidding that is not only not business friendly, in my opinion it's not family friendly either.

I looked up the zoning laws pertaining to home businesses, and the regulations seem reasonable to me. Its a good balance between protecting people's home values and the character of neighborhoods while at the same time giving people leeway to run home businesses.

So how can Chapel Hill be unfriendly to home businesses, when as far as I can tell all you need to do is fill out a form that never even goes before the town council?

For this idea to be even remotely true you'd either have to make the case that the current zoning laws regarding home businesses were unfair, or that the city wasn't applying the laws as written or that the city was applying them unfairly. Furthermore, to make the case that the entire town was unfriendly to home businesses, and not just in one particular case, you'd have to show a wide-spread pattern, so far the sake of argument lets narrow that the three.

So, whom-ever would like to make the case, please go ahead.

Here's the existing ordinance so save you some time:

Home Occupation of the Land Use Management Ordinance

a) Home occupations shall have a limit of one full-time equivalent employee who is not a member of the family residing in the home with the home occupation; “Full-time equivalent employee” refers to one or
more employees who work a total of no more than 40 combined hours on-site per week;

b) The use of the dwelling unit or accessory buildings for the home occupation shall be clearly incidental and subordinate to the use of the property for residential purposes, and not more than thirty-five
percent (35%) nor more than 750 square feet of the floor area of the dwelling unit and any accessory buildings combined shall be used in the conduct of the home occupation; provided, that the floor area defined as used in the home occupation is the area dedicated to or primarily used for the home occupation, and does not include areas incidentally used for the home occupation

c) No external evidence of the conduct of the home occupation, including commercial signs, shall be visible;

d) Traffic and Parking Regulations

(1) The home occupation shall not generate traffic volumes or parking area needs greater than would normally be expected in the residential neighborhood;

(2) In addition, normally there shall be no more than 3 vehicles parked at a given time on- or off-street for non-residential purposes including but not limited to parking by non-resident employees, customers, delivery services, etc.; but excluding drop-offs and pick-ups. Home occupations for arts education or similar educational purposes are exempt from any parking restrictions.

(3) There shall be no regular pick-up and delivery by vehicles other than those of a size normally used for household deliveries.
e) No equipment or process shall be employed that will cause noise, vibration, odor, glare, or electrical or communication interference detectable to the normal senses off the lot; in the case of detached
dwelling units, or outside the dwelling unit, in the case of attached dwelling units;

f) The on-premises sale and delivery of goods which are not the products of the home occupation are prohibited, except that the sale of goods which are incidental to a service of the home occupation is
permitted;

For the whole document just Google "chapel hill home occupations permit".

I think Will was just saying that there was no customer satisfaction. I dunno the details of the case he's talking about, but I think the point is just that the Council is supposed to help citizens make their lives better. I can see how the people involved would have come away from their proposal thinking the Council valued the town ordinances more than the people they are designed to look after.

Will, I'm 38 (for another 6 days). I know far more people who would like to change how they work and how they interact/raise their families than are able to actually do so. I grew up with a tradition of family run businesses and in a town that was dominated by them - both as storefronts and in people's homes, so I find the current system where the kids go to one building for the day and the parents go to another a little baffling. Is this really what we all wanted?

But my knowledge of health-oriented home businesses comes from 5 years being the admin of a local holistic health practise. We referred often to people who worked out of home offices.

Also there are many models for office coops in Carrboro. There's one that's been around forever in different incarnations over Phydeux on the corner of Weaver and Greensboro. And the Wellness Alliance on Weaver also became a coop about 7 years ago.

Carrboro Board of Aldermen Candidates' Forum
Monday, September 17, 7-9 p.m.
Carrboro Town Hall

The forum, organized by the Orange Chatham Sierra Club Group, will focus on local environmental issues. The forum will be broadcast on public access television.

When/where are the other candidate forums this year?

Is "driving privileges in Anderson Park" an environmental issue? :)

"I can see how the people involved would have come away from their proposal thinking the Council valued the town ordinances more than the people they are designed to look after."

I don't understand the specifics of the one case that was mentioned here, probably because few specifics were given, because you just fill out a form, and if you meet the requirements for a home business you get a license. The town council doesn't personally review each and every license application in Chapel Hill!

My guess is someone didn't meet the requirements, and was petitioning the council to make an exception, but that's just a guess since this single complaint, such as it is, is on the level of rumor until the facts are known.

Reacting to the statement in a general way I want the town staff and town council to implement the laws as written, evenly and fairly to everyone. If there's a law that's not working, then the community needs to decide to change it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but no one is even pushing to change the statue for home based businesses.

There are two forums scheduled in October on back-to-back evenings. The Chapel Hill town candidates forum is Oct. 9 at Hargraves center and the Carrboro candidates forum is Oct. 10 at town hall. Both are sponsored by the Chamber and WCHL and CAN.

Kevin Schwartz
Gov't Relations Chairman
Ch-Carr Chamber of Commerce

I still think that one "fiscal responsibility" issue that we deserve an answer is the public art at the new Operations Center. We were told that it was to honor the employees, but from all of the media reports and the editorial in today's CHH, the employees do not seemed that impressed with the $420,000 spent to honor them. Go and see it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. And yes, I realize that some of the funds were Federal dollars, but where does that money come from?

Candidates for office who think the process and the amount spent on this project is a model of good government and fiscal responsibility, then we need new definitions. If they want to defend this, then they should do so boldly and without qualification.

And those who criticized me when I wrote a column back in February, including that "art loving" lady who called my house that Sunday screaming and hollering and using the English language in such a very artful way, I hope you will be able to see that criticism of the process is not criticism of public art.