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Council talks Carolina North

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Staff

By Rich Fowler
Staff Writer

The Chapel Hill Town Council started its business meeting last Wednesday night by honoring Council Member Bill Thorpe, who passed away last month. Mayor Kevin Foy read a proclamation honoring his lifelong contributions to the town, and then everyone observed a moment of silence in his memory.

“It was our honor to serve with Bill, and we thank his family for sharing him with us, and with this community,” Foy said.

The council decided to go ahead with plans to negotiate a development agreement with the university and set aside a special development zone as the preferred way of handling the development of Carolina North.

“A development agreement is the proposed plan that we would flesh out over the next few months … to come up with the overall architecture of Carolina North,” Foy said. He said it would cover things like stormwater management, traffic management, open space, roadways and public transportation.

Foy said he wanted the process to be as transparent and inclusive as possible. “We want everybody in the community to know that we are moving to this new stage and we want to have as much opportunity for input as possible.”

A development agreement gives the town the greatest latitude in negotiating how it wants the university to develop Carolina North so that it has the least amount of impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. But the town has to figure out what it wants the university to do ahead of time. The town won’t be able to ask the university to take steps about light pollution down the road if there’s nothing in the agreement about it.

Cindy Henshaw presented a petition with over 180 signatures from other Piney Mountain Road-area residents to the council asking that questions about traffic and pollution issues involving the development of Carolina North be addressed before the town enters into a development agreement with the university.

According to the resolution, the town will work to reach an agreement with the university by June 2009.

The council also approved changes to the master land-use plan and special-use permit for St. Thomas More Catholic Church’s renovation and expansion. The expansion will add a new multi-purpose building, a new art and music building, a new gymnasium and new athletic fields. The plan also calls for 158 more parking spaces, which will reduce the number of parked cars on the side of Carmichael Street during church services.

As part of the development plan, there will also be a redirection of traffic flow at the Carmichael Street intersection with Fordham Boulevard and a lengthening of the left turn lane from northbound Fordham Boulevard on to Carmichael Street.
The council also set up a process to fill Bill Thorpe’s seat on the council. Interested residents have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31 to apply for the vacant seat.

Applicants will be required to attend a special council meeting on Nov. 3 to make brief remarks about their interest in serving on the council. The council will appoint a new member at its Nov. 10 meeting.

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