UNC
This is my attempt to blog the University's presentation to the Chapel Hill Town Council about their plans for Carolina North. It may be a little rough, I want to get the ideas up here as close to real-time as possible so I am writing things as they happen while I watch this meeting on cable.
It's 9:30pm and I just got home from a meeting to flip on the Town Council Meeting where they are listening to a presentation from UNC about plans for Carolina North. I was encouraged to see they were talking about how to forge a better relationship and work together to go forward. But this meeting does not look terribly friendly.
Now at the podium is Doug from UNC who is going over the same old crap we've heard about CN for a year.
OK, ViceChancellorforR&D Tony Waldroup is up. He is presenting 8 changes to the previous version of the CN plan:
1. He has good news about the school site: The CHCSS picked out a site for an elementary, and UNC is giving it to them.
Guest Post by Matt Compton
With all the trouble between the Town and the University lately, it seems funny that storm-water runoff would be the controversy that puts the two entities in court, facing off against each other, but that seems as if it will be precisely what happens unless either University Administrators or the Town Council decide to back down from a fight over the issue.
As for me, while I think the University is being unduly stubborn about this, the layman in me believes that Carolina has a case for going it alone. If UNC has a separate pipe system and a separate permit from the town, then it would not seem reasonable to ask the University to make a significant contribution to the Town's plan. And it is certainly wrongheaded for the Town to pursue Councilman Ward's plan to include projections including a University contribution into a budget for the Town's storm-water plan before any sort of agreement is reached.
But the question I'm really interested in getting answers to is this: How does this current dispute fit into the greater context of Town-Gown relations?
Many of it's neighbors have wanted state-owned Horace Williams Airport closed for a long time. It appeared that they had a powerful ally in the plan for Carolina North which took advantage of the airport's flat, already-cleared land to begin it's own march westward from Airport Road.
The N.C. General Assembly has had other ideas and continues to resist closing the airport. One of the best arguments on their side is UNC Hospital's AHEC program which uses the airport to fly doctors to more remote (and less affulent) parts of the state.
The Chapel Hill Town Council is getting pressure from UNC to move more quickly toward their presumably inevitable approval of Carolina North. But the Council has some pretty important concerns that will need to be addressed before the Town can invest more in this huge development effort.
Earlier this month, the Council unanimously passed this resolution drafted by Councilmember Cam Hill:
UNC has been promising for years now to build more student dormitories. Until recently, there had been no new dorms built since the 70's even though enrollment grows every year. The result of this has been more and more students living off-campus, which has lead increasing housing prices as groups of students push working families out of affordable in-town neighborhoods.
With the new Campus Master Plan, UNC has finally begun to construct more housing for students. But lest we breathe a sigh of relief, some members of the UNC Board of Trustees are now proposing to demolish the biggest dorms on campus!
UNC-Chapel Hill's four high-rise dormitories have long been derided as the ugly ducklings of the picturesque campus.
I just got this by e-mail from the Town Clerk:
You are invited to attend a Town Council Work Session on Thursday, April 1, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at Town Hall, 306 N. Columbia Street. The Council will hear a presentation by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the University’s Development Plan Modification No. 2.
Because this is a "work session" public comment won't be allowed. But it should be a great way to find out what changes UNC is asking for in their main campus Development Plan. It could also be a good way to signal to the Council with our presence that we are paying attention.
Here's a little background of the politics around this modification request.
Pages
About Us
OrangePolitics is a not-for-profit website for discussing progressive perspectives on politics, planning, and public policy in Orange County, NC. Opinions are those of their authors. Learn more.
Community Guidelines
By using this site, you agree to our community guidelines. Inappropriate or disruptive behavior will result in moderation or eviction.
Zircon - This is a contributing Drupal Theme
Design by
WeebPal.
