By Beth Mechum, Staff Writer
The Carrboro Citizen went to press a day early so that staff could spend Thanksgiving with family. The happenings of Tuesday night’s Board of Aldermen meeting will be updated in next week’s edition.
First on the agenda for the meeting that took place at Town Hall was a resolution supporting Buy Carrboro Week 2009, as recommended by the local business network known as LocalMotive.
The week would be Dec. 5-12, and will encourage all Carrboro residents to do as much of their holiday shopping in Carrboro as possible.
Four public hearings were scheduled to take place at the meeting. The first had to do with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro 2035 long-range transit plan. The board was anticipated to receive public input and advisory board recommendations for the final draft of the plan.
Next, a public hearing for a land-use ordinance amendment was scheduled. Sara Macko
submitted a request to allow elementary and secondary schools as a permissible use in the B-4
Zoning District.
Macko’s family owns property that is B-4 zoned and is under consideration as the new site for Pace Academy, a charter school that provides secondary education to children in Chatham, Orange and Wake counties. Vocational schools and many other uses are allowed, but elementary and secondary schools are not permitted in this district. Macko prepared the amendment to make that permissible.
A public hearing discussing rezoning notices also was
scheduled.
Lastly, a public hearing was scheduled about a draft ordinance that would make changes to the income limit and proportion of affordable units needed to determine other regulatory requirements.
Robert Dowling of the Community Home Trust prepared a letter addressing these issues. The letter requests two changes: lowering the income limit for buyers of affordable homes to 65 percent of the median income and that the percentage of affordable units provided be reduced to less than
15 percent.
The outcome of these public hearings will be reported in next week’s edition.