By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
CARRBORO — The Carrboro Board of Aldermen on Tuesday agreed to hold a public hearing on a request by Orange County to rezone a 2.69-acre parcel next to Carrboro Elementary School for use as a library site.
The site, located adjacent to the school’s front parking lot and baseball field, has been under contract with the county since October 2010, after commissioners agreed in a closed-door session on an option to purchase the land for $610,000. The purchase is contingent on gaining a rezoning, according to an application filed Feb. 4 by the county with the Town of Carrboro.
The zoning change would be required before the county could apply for a permit to construct a new southwest branch library at the site, which has already drawn concern from its potential neighbors.
At their meeting at Town Hall, the board received a petition signed by 50 residents of the areas adjacent to the site expressing concerns about the impact of a new public building in the area and asking that they delay the public hearing.
Board member Jacquie Gist said she also thought the site was “problematic.â€
“Most of the people around the site are not in favor of it,†she said.
Other board members said it was too early to form an opinion on the project and wanted to move ahead on the public-hearing process to gather more information.
Board member Sammy Slade said that while hearing the concerns about the site are important, he thought not moving ahead with the hearing would send the wrong message to the county commissioners.
“It may be seen as ‘Carrboro is not serious about a library,’†he said.
According to its application, the county seeks to build a 20,000-square-foot single-story library on the site. Staff and collections at the Cybrary at the Carrboro Century Center and the branch library at McDougle School would be moved to the new facility, which would include rooms and collections for children, young adults and adults; a reference department; computer services; and public meeting rooms.
The hearing is scheduled for March 22 at Carrboro Town Hall.
In other action, the board received updates on the town’s Safe Routes to School action plan, including a series of spring events at Carrboro Elementary aimed at encouraging more students and parents to bike and walk to the school.
The board also reviewed a draft plan for a proposed Campus to Campus connector bike and pedestrian route from UNC’s Carolina North Property to the school’s main campus.
A proposed route approved by the Town of Chapel Hill last fall would run down Estes Drive, then shift along the rail line and Lloyd Street as it passed through downtown Carrboro, where it would connect with the Libba Cotten Bikeway.
The board also authorized $154,000 for the purchase of a knuckleboom truck for Public Works and reappointed Heidi Perry to the town’s Transportation Advisory Board.