By James Carnahan
The Carrboro Citizen March 24 editorial characterizing the opposition to the proposed Hillsborough Road site for a library as NIMBYism does a big disservice to the community. People living closest to proposed land-use changes are always the most attentive and often make the most cogent and objective arguments not to make changes – as was the case at the March 22 hearing.
I’m a near neighbor and I strongly oppose the site for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with neighborhood impacts. We’re talking about spending $6 million-plus of hard-earned taxpayer money for the land and facilities; we need to take whatever time it takes to get this right.
Nor is this just a narrow legislative issue about whether a lot zoned residential can support more intensive use. This is about where a library will be located in Carrboro. There are broad issues of public health and welfare the board of aldermen must consider, as their decision bears greatly on the evolution of key town infrastructure and how public facilities will serve us and future residents.
The concerns about traffic are not just convenient buttons for opponents to push. Most folks living in Carrboro’s northern parts and in southwest Orange County will have to drive here. Access to the Hillsborough Road site is awkward and adds traffic in front of a public school and a day-care center. This traffic will have real impacts not only on immediate neighbors but on the narrow streets throughout the mill village, currently the most pleasurably walkable part of Carrboro.
It is not clear from looking at the numerous agenda packets, minutes and attachments what a “walkable site in or near the downtown†actually means. And nowhere in the paper trail of committee activity does there seem to have been a public-input process advertised specifically to elicit site-selection criteria that would have clearly defined “downtown†and addressed as well some of the many other issues that arose at the public hearing. The burden was on the most diligent stakeholder to keep apprised of issues on the commissioners’ agenda to know when one could voice an opinion. But – with all due respect to the hard work of task force members – when was there an event dedicated to finding out what residents thought about this complex issue?
I agree wholeheartedly with speaker Bethany Chaney, who asked the aldermen to include social-justice criteria in deciding where to site a library. Many of Carrboro’s less affluent residents live in the highest density areas in Carrboro along N.C. 54 bypass and Jones Ferry Road. Consider the Mellott property at the corner of Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street; the owners are actively trying to redevelop it. It is on key pedestrian, transit and transportation corridors; the area is already in fairly intense mixed use and is very close to many who are greatly challenged to achieve their aspirations.
Similarly, the Parker Lane/North Greensboro Street site mentioned by speaker David Jesse is truly “downtown,†very close to all three of Carrboro’s bus lines and close to higher-density, lower-income neighborhoods. Jesse said at the hearing that the county declined the property he and his wife had offered at a competitive price. Why was Jesse’s generous offer of a more suitable site declined?
There are creative ways to have a more central downtown library and one more accessible to our most underserved constituencies, but an obstacle here seems to be that the county does not have “public-private partnership†in its tool kit. Why not work with the Mellott owners or CVS or The ArtsCenter? What about the sadly underutilized parking lot Carrboro owns across the street from the Century Center?
There was talk of masking the library on the Hillsborough Rd site to minimize its visual impact. Historically, libraries have been highly visible, functioning as landmarks and sources of community pride, not hidden away. (Chas Gaertner mentioned the beautiful libraries built with Carnegie endowments.) Do we really want our library to be invisible?
I think we lack a clear idea of what and where we want this library to be, and I join other opponents in asking the aldermen to serve Carrboro’s long-term health and welfare by rejecting the Hillsborough Road rezoning. I ask as well that they insist the county escrow the funds intended for this purchase and convene an inclusive participatory process that develops site-selection criteria that truly serve all of our stakeholders.
James Carnahan is a Carrboro resident with a longtime interest in planning issues.
I could not agree with Mr. Carnahan ‘s letter more. For four years, I have had the privilege of living in an apartment that butts up against the site of the proposed Carrboro library. Like many citizens who live on the properties around the perimeter of this land, I am only now learning about the proposed changes. A few months ago, a small sign appeared in one of my neighbor’s lawns regarding an upcoming rezoning meeting. Since he is in the construction business, I assumed it was a matter of personal interest. The date kept changing, the time kept changing, and the sign kept falling down; nowhere was there any indication of what the meeting foreshadowed.
The property at 210 Hillsborough Road is likely enjoyed by a minimum of 100 families—including homes, garage apartments and condominiums—that partake daily of the peace and beauty this spot offers. It is home to deer, rabbits, a family of red-shouldered hawks, countless songbirds, and a range of other flora and fauna. As I write this, I hear songbirds calling to each other and, further out, the faint sounds of the town, slowly waking up. For these families, and hundreds more in the surrounding homes, those sounds may soon be replaced by hammers and car alarms.
One only need drive through downtown Carrboro around 5 p.m. or catch a glimpse of the Greenbridge building to recognize that our town is growing. In my view, this growth must be handled carefully. Change is necessary and inevitable but, as we change, it is no less essential to keep in mind the things that drew us or kept us here in the first place. Carrboro is a community that values its land—whether in the bounty of its local farmers or in the peace it imbues as we walk, run, or bike through Bolin Forest.
If there are a few core lessons in life, one of them is surely this: Just because someone offers you money to do something, doesn’t make it a good idea. Yet, much of the haste in pushing through the rezoning of the Hillsborough site seems to stem from a fear of losing funding. Call me a skeptic, but I think a few questions are worth investigating: Why the rush? And who stands to profit from such a decision? To be sure, we all have an agenda, and here is mine: I moved here from Florida, the archetypal cautionary tale about what happens when you pave over everything of any natural beauty and plant it with billboards.
There are many sites in or near the center of Carrboro that are already paved, already constructed, and are sitting empty. Better yet, as others have suggested, why aren’t we considering a site near Jones Ferry and 54, embracing a marginalized part of our town that is also accessible to public transportation?
To this citizen, it seems that the re-zoning of Hillsborough Road and the proposed construction of a library on that forested site bespeaks an agenda that is not in the best interest of the people who live here. While I would support developing trails or some other means of making the land more accessible to foot traffic, I do not support turning this small oasis into another parking lot. Before long, I suspect, Carrboro will be more populous and more sprawling than any of us can now imagine. When that time arrives, will we look back and say that we planned well, or will we regret that we built ourselves into a corner?