Growth & Development
The Town of Chapel Hill invites the community to participate in information sessions about zoning opportunities
for the Ephesus Church Road-Fordham Boulevard area.
To reach as many residents as possible, meetings with identical
presentations will be held on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. in
the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and
from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Family, 200 Hayes Road.
Current community discussions about the Ephesus Church Road-Fordham
Boulevard area are being initiated by the Town of Chapel Hill as part of
its work to implement the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan. In a
collaborative community process, residents and Town staff will identify
appropriate form and zoning regulations in and near Ephesus Church Road
and Fordham Boulevard. Technical assistance with the focus area
initiative will be provided through a $20,000 grant to the Town from the
Mayors Innovation Project.
At the Sept. 20 meeting, the Mayors Innovation Project consultant
team, comprising Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood
Technology and Hazel Boyrs of PlaceMakers, will present information
about zoning opportunities for the area. All community members are
invited to participate in the process and share their ideas. It is
anticipated that the consultant team will return to Chapel Hill to
present their initial recommendations for community consideration.
The 123-acre area surrounding the intersection of Ephesus Church
Road and Fordham Boulevard was the subject of an earlier study adopted
by the Town Council on Feb. 28, 2011. The Ephesus Church Road-Fordham
Boulevard Small Area Plan, led by the Town's Economic Development
Division, defines land future land uses and offers solutions to the
transportation network to encourage reinvestment.
The focus area is located near the intersection of Ephesus Church
Road and Fordham Boulevard and extends from South Elliott Road to north
of Ram's Plaza. It was one of six areas included in Future Focus
community discussions that took place in spring 2012 during the
development of the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan. The plan focused
on areas most likely to change in the future due to vacant land,
underdeveloped sites, and their location along transportation and
transit corridors.
Questions and ideas are welcome. For those unable to attend the
information session, there will be opportunities for future involvement.
To be added to the email distribution list for the Ephesus Church
Road-Fordham Boulevard Focus Area, contact compplan@townofchapelhill.org or 919-968-2728. To find more information, visit www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1656
Date:
Thursday, September 20, 2012 - 8:00am to 9:30am
Location:
Council Chamber, Chapel Hill Town Hall
Tonight the County Commissioners abandoned tradition and moved swiftly forward on two issues. Despite opposition from Commissioners Alice Gordon and Barry Jacobs, they approved the unpopular rezoning of the Eno Economic Development District that Mark Marcoplos told us about. And at the urging of Commisioners Valerie Foushee and Pam Hemminger, who will both be leaving the board in December, they unanimously approved a resolution drafted on the spot to endorse and more forward the Rogers Road community center.
Where have these action-oriented Commissioners been for the last ten years? I don't want to hear another commissioner talk about how overdue something is without also mentioning how long they have been on the board of commissioners and why they didn't do something about it 5 years ago.
On the heels of summer, while citizens are getting back from other pursuits, the County is poised to solidify an historic rezoning of a community that had the misfortune to be in an Economic Development District that was conceived of theoretically about twenty years ago. The Eno district, one of three, was generally identified as a place for future business zoning in the early 90's. Nothing was done for a couple of decades. People moved into the area, built community connections, and were unaware of the land-use designation that lay several layers deep in the County's casual planning scheme.
A public information meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10,
to receive comments and feedback on the UNC-Chapel Hill Carolina North
Annual Report to the Town of Chapel Hill. The meeting will be held in
the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Carolina North is envisioned as a mixed-use academic campus on
university-owned property along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, two
miles north of the main campus. University and Town representatives
signed a development agreement in 2009 that covers the first 20 years of
development on the site. The agreement contains guidelines and
standards for the development of the first 3 million square feet of a
mixed-use research and
academic campus on 133 acres.
The annual report lets the Town and public know what development
activities have occurred on the Carolina North site in the past year and
the ways in which the University is complying with the terms of the
development agreement. The report is part of the structure established
by the agreement for providing continued town-gown communication. The
report will be posted online at http://www.townofchapelhill.org/carolinanorth
Town Manager Roger Stancil will review the report and the public
input before reporting on Sept. 24 to the Town Council on his review of
the development agreement and its requirements.
Public input is welcome. Send comments about the annual report or other issues related to Carolina North at any time to
carolinanorth@townofchapelhill.org or write Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department, Carolina North, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
Detailed information is available online at http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=900 and http://carolinanorth.unc.edu/. To be added to a mailing list to receive regular updates about the Carolina North development agreement, please contact info@townofchapelhill.org.
Town of Chapel Hill
contact: Catherine Lazorko, 919-969-5055 or clazorko@townofchapelhill.org or UNC-Chapel Hill contact: Susan Hudson, 919-962-8415, susan_hudson@unc.edu
Date:
Monday, September 10, 2012 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Location:
Council Chamber, Chapel Hill Town Hall
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