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Council OKs long-range planning effort

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Staff

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL — The last time the Chapel Hill Town Council authorized an extensive rewrite of the town’s comprehensive plan, the president was Bill Clinton, the federal budget was showing a surplus, the local economy was booming and the population of Chapel Hill was around 48,000.

Now, with a much different fiscal landscape, 6,000 more people and thousands of additional homes and acreage under its purview, the council on Monday night was in agreement that it’s time to put a new set of values and priorities to paper.

At its meeting at Chapel Hill Town Hall, the board heard from planning board Chair Michael Collins and former chair George Cianciolo about the effort to create a new plan. Collins said it will be a long effort and that it must result in “a living document” that is representative of the community’s vision for its immediate future.

The council and Town Manager Roger Stancil have set a June 2012 target for completing a new plan, which serves as the guiding document for development of town ordinances, particularly as they pertain to land-use planning, construction standards and town infrastructure.

Prior to the council’s discussion on the process for the plan, residents Madeline Jefferson and Will Raymond cautioned the council to make sure the process for drafting the plan drew in the views of the citizens.

Raymond said he was concerned that there might be too heavy a reliance on consultants and town staff.

“The community must play a dominant part,” Raymond said. [They] must be front and center in this effort.”

Council member Sally Greene said she wants to make sure that in shaping the plan, discussions include a wide variety of community members.

“I don’t want it to be the usual policy wonks,” she said.

Council member Jim Ward said he wants to see the concept of sustainability woven through the plan. He said the council shouldn’t expect more than a 10-year shelf life for the plan and that to try to plan much further out than that would be a waste of time.

Ward asked Stancil to look into how the town would handle planning reviews during the time it takes to put the plan in place, including the possibility of a development moratorium.

Council members were also in agreement that the plan should have a more formal schedule for re-evaluation.

In other action Monday night, the council:

• agreed to hold a joint public hearing in the fall with Orange County to discuss the Rogers Road Small Area Plan and to forward the plan to the county and Carrboro for review and discussion;

• set a Feb. 28 public hearing to discuss changes to the town’s ordinances to permit food trucks to operate in the town;

• authorized a residential energy-efficiency program to provide funds for energy-saving improvements to residences; and

• rejected a proposed increase in parking fees and authorized the purchase of new meters that would be assigned to a cluster of parking spots.

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