Carolina North

UNC announced plans yesterday for a community and university steering committee for planning Carolina North.

I am pretty skeptical about the university's motivations here.

First, why was the Chamber's Community Leadership Council told this before the Town Council? I think it's a real slap in the face not to make the members of Council the first to know. The Chamber may be easier for UNC to work with but it doesn't need the Chamber's approval of its plans, it needs the Town Council's.

Second, why is the university creating a new committee when it still has yet to respond to the report of the Horace Williams Citizens Committee? This group made a lot of very meaningful recommendations, and several Council candidates and progressive groups have formally asked the university to make a response- we have been met with nothing but silence.

Guest Post by James Carnahan

A Concept Plan for Carolina North, the June 29 presentation by the Village project, will be re-broadcast Monday, August 1, 7 to 9pm on local cable channel 18 in Carrboro & Chapel Hill. This concept plan represents a year-long, unfunded effort by the local non-profit walkable community advocacy group to offer an alternative view of how UNC's Horace Williams property might be developed.

Not meant to be definitive, the presentation is primarily intended to answer the question, "what would Carolina North look like if citizen input were incorporated?" and to encourage the University to utilize a facilitated collaborative process to further develop its plans for the new campus. Key differences are a multi-modal transportation approach making possible greatly reduced parking and dependence on the automobile, 4 times the housing proposed in the Ayers/Saint/Gross plan, and a half-mile long reservoir for holding rainfall harvested from rooftops, that doubles as a outdoor recreation space.

James Carnahan is the Chair of The Village Project.

Guest Post by Linda Convissor

Friends and Neighbors,
A you know, we are in the midst of a major building program on campus. The campus master plan, which was completed in 2001, guides this campus development.

Midway through our historic building program, we recognize that it is a good time to evaluate and update the plan for main campus. The update process began with a number of initial planning workshops held this past winter to assess current conditions and identify the scope of the update. Issues of pedestrian connections, green space, transportation and parking are some of the issues being looked at.

Next week we will hold a meeting to solicit additional input from the community and invite you to attend. The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 19, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. in 116 Murphey Hall.

If you are unfamiliar with the 2001 master plan, it is posted at http://www.fpc.unc.edu/CampusMasterPlan. It is also available at the Chapel Hill Public Library.