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Chapel Hill council gives Glen Lennox residents opportunity to pursue conservation district

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Staff

by Rich Fowler
Staff Writer

At its meeting Monday night at Town Hall, the Chapel Hill Town Council agreed to give Glen Lennox area residents a chance to prove that they want their area turned into a Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD).

Organizers now have to get signatures from 51 percent of the landowners in an area bounded by Rogerson Road, Cleland Road, Hayes Road and NC 54.

The area includes Glen Lennox Apartments and Glen Lennox Shopping Center, against the wishes of Grubb Properties, the owner of Glen Lennox. The push by area residents to form a conservation district came in response to Grubb’s planned massive redevelopment of the apartments and shopping center.

Attorney Mike Brough, representing Grubb at the council meeting, asked that the council not include the apartment complex and shopping center in the proposed district. Brough argued that the apartments and the surrounding single-family homes were separate neighborhoods, based on their zoning and physical properties. He also argued that the current development process would give the public plenty of chances to weigh in on the proposed redevelopment and that the proposed NCD would confuse the development process.

Former town council member and Glen Lennox area resident Dorothy Verkerk disagreed. “We ride the school bus together, we get redistricted together, we ride the city buses together, we vote together. We are a cohesive neighborhood.” Other residents also spoke about the strong sense of community between the apartment residents and the single-family home residents and the need to preserve the area as a place for lower-income support workers to live.

Flemington Road resident Greg Brusseau was very happy with the council’s decision to let residents start gathering signatures.

“I think this is the appropriate first step. It is a long road, but it’s right for the citizens of Chapel Hill and it’s right for the town,” he said.

Council member and former Glen Lennox Apartments resident Mark Kleinschmidt said that the NCD process is designed to preserve special elements of local neighborhoods, but it isn’t always smooth.

“The NCD process can be a long one,” Kleinshmidt told the residents. “It’s a tough one. If you’ve noticed our NCD process in the past, some of them go very smoothly and some are very contentious. And the burden is really on you to demonstrate that Mr. Brough is wrong — that this is a neighborhood that is together and shares interests,” he said.

Brusseau said that the residents were ready for the NCD process to start.

“We’re prepared for the long journey,” he said. “We’ve talked to other people who have made conservation districts, and it can take up to 18 months or two years. And at times it may be a little tumultuous or divisive, as well as cohesive. In the final analysis, I think it will be very beneficial for the town of Chapel Hill.”

The Community Design Commission will meet on Wednesday, May 21 to look at Grubb’s proposed redevelopment plan and offer suggestions. The public will be able to comment on the redevelopment plan at the town council’s meeting on June 16. Public meetings for the NCD process have yet to be scheduled.

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