I'm the guy who wrote the letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly in September suggesting that people supporting a Costco in Orange County should consider moving to Cary. Those who chose to respond rightly condemned me for the arrogant tone of my writing, but if I read the terms of Orange Politics correctly, we should strive to deal in ideas, not personal attacks. I care a lot about this place, so sometimes my rhetoric gets away from me. I apologize for my tone, but not my ideas. One may argue that it is obnoxious to be anti-growth since I was once a new person here myself some forty years ago. (And I know something of struggling here as a state employee. I lived in a house with three room mates for some sixteen years before I was able to buy a home in Carrboro.)
Orange County is proposing to create a new Unified Development Ordinance which would combine and replace all of their existing laws about zoning and property development. At the some time some changes are being proposed to several long-range planning tools. This document was posted on the County Web page in November and is pretty massive in size, close to 800 pages.
Currently, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the County have a rural buffer which limits sprawl at the edges of our towns. I'm concerned about how the UDO might affect the buffer, so I've taken a few steps to prompt some discussion of the matter.
I just received the following memo from the Town of Chapel Hill email list. It shares some info on a proposal to move the town library permanently to University Mall. You can find it
here on the Town of Chapel Hill website too.
TO: Council
FROM: Mark Kleinschmidt, Mayor
SUBJECT: University Mall Library Proposal
DATE: November 22, 2010
During discussions regarding the temporary relocation of Chapel Hill library to University Mall, Madison-Marquette, the mall's owners, expressed to our staff their interest in exploring the possibility of permanently locating the library at the Mall. The proposal would be for a mall anchored at one end by A Southern Season, and at the other by the Chapel Hill Public Library, which they propose would occupy the current Dillard's Department Store space.
![[Chris Blue headshot]](http://townofchapelhill.org/Modules/ShowImage.aspx?imageid=6144)
I just heard that longtime Chapel Hill police officer Chris Blue has been selected as the new chief, as of December 1st. I've known Chris for many years as he used to patrol Northside and really got to know the people and issues there. He's very grounded in Chapel Hill, and although he has a long history with the CHPD I think he's also generally open to new ideas. He's even on Twitter!
While it's disappointing to see the Town continuing the longstanding tradition of white male leadership, I think Chris Blue is emminently qualified and will make a great chief.
From the school system today, asking for community input on what we want to see in next superintendent. Survey should be filled out by Dec 15th
As the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Board of Education works to recruit and hire a new superintendent, board members would like direct input from interested members of the community. Please take a moment to access and complete the survey through the attached link. This survey will help shape the search and decision-making processes. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions.
Use the URL to access the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y9MTLJZ
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.
