Planning & Transportation

What an interesting week for UNC-watchers! On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees (BOT) came out firing against the Chancellor's Leadership Advisory Committee, specifically the local elected officials who were invited to be members.

Seems the BOT does not share the Chancellor's faith in Chair Ken Broun's leadership, as they are complaining that too much time is being spent on process and not enough on developing plans. That's funny because according to UNC's own press release, plans were never a part of the committee's, um, plan:

The committee's purpose is to get community input on Carolina North from as broad a range of interests as possible. The committee is being asked to develop principles that will guide the university in preparing plans for submission to the local governing bodies as part of the regulatory process.
- OP: Broun Committee on TV, 2/28/06

Chapel Hill is missing an excellent opportunity to deploy up to a hundred Internet hotspots along our transit corridors. Last week, the town signed a contract with NextBus, Inc. to provide, at a cost of $949,030, digital signs at 14 bus stops to inform riders of expected bus ETAs. NextBus, unlike competitors Motorola and Cityspace, uses last-gen cell technology over next-gen WiFi-MESH.

Instead of purchasing an open standards system utilizing WiFi/WiMAX wireless technology - technology allowing Chapel Hill to provide ubiquitous communication services to police, fire, public works and the general public from as many as 100 bus stops along the 26 bus transit routes - the town's transit department recently endorsed NextBus' proprietary cellphone-based bus-tracking system.

Specifically, NextBus is providing 14 digital signs, tracking of 83 vehicles and web-reporting on 26 routes for $949,030.

I have become increasingly disillusioned with Neighborhood Conservation Districts, Chapel Hill's attempt to manage change in our delicate, older neighborhoods. I have always seen them as way to protect the character of neighborhoods as they evolve over time. I'm afraid they are being used more as a tool to stop any change or growth in the areas entirely. In my opinion, this is neither healthy nor fair.

So I was intrigued to learn that Carrboro has taken a different approach to this problem:

The Board of Aldermen sat down Tuesday in another bid to hash out its architectural standards. But there was little agreement other than the idea that they must preserve the town's individual character without allowing in mega-developments with McMansions.
- heraldsun.com: Carrboro building standards elusive