Planning & Transportation

On May 5, the potential developer of 201 N Greensboro Street in Carrboro presented a concept plan to several of the town's advisory boards. As discussed in previous threads (1, 2, 3), the plan includes a two-story building with 11,800 sq ft of CVS retail space on the first floor and 11,800 sq ft of storage and office space on the second floor. Surface parking would dominate the northern half of the block along Short Street.

Presentation of a concept plan to the advisory boards is the required first step before submitting a conditional use permit application to the town. The developer has reportedly already submitted a permit application. The applicant will be required to respond in writing to the advisory boards' comments when they come back to the boards during the permit application review process.

Copied below are the comments on the concept plan from the Planning Board, the Appearance Commission, and the Transportation Advisory Board. Comments from the Environmental Advisory Board are forthcoming also included [added August 23, 2011].

The news this week that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners has voted to charge a new tipping fee at the landfill to raise money for remediation in the Rogers Road neighborhood - a move that seemed somewhat ham-fisted to municipal governments (see below about that) - reminded me of a very interesting conversation I had last month. I attended oral history performances by a UNC class that conducted interviews with civil rights activists. Two students had worked closely with David Caldwell and Gertrude Nunn and learned about their neighborhood's 3-decade challenge of trying to get justice for living with the landfill that serves all of Orange County.

One grad student who is very familiar with local politics turned to me afterward and asked the same question that was in my mind: our County Commissioners have to be one of the most liberal boards in the state. How is it that the Rogers Road neighborhood has been stymied by them repeatedly, instead of being championed by the environmental and social justice advocates on the Board?