As a citizen of Carrboro, I’m concerned about the plans to build grocery and retail stores on what is now the Roy Lloyd farm – the swath of land directly across Carrboro Plaza on N.C. 54. (Most Carrboro dwellers will know it as that plot of land near the post office where cows graze the green hill.)
My concern is as follows: I truly don’t believe that a retail/grocery complex is a viable use for that land. My evidence is as follows: I can count pretty high before I run out of retail/residential spots in Carrboro and Chapel Hill that now lie fallow or at most, suffer from under-tenancy. Let’s try it!
• East 54 (brand-new, high-end, poorly tenanted; right next to the Fresh Market shopping center which isn’t doing so well itself);
• University Mall (plenty of parking; “anchor stores†like what they’re touting for the Lloyd complex, but still not enough shoppers to keep it healthy);
• that semi-hidden piece of retail space right on Franklin Street across from the Siena Hotel (with its rotating restaurants);
• University Square (a slow death, but mortal, nonetheless);
• Greenbridge (still at only 40 percent occupancy);
• 605 W. Main in Carrboro (which hasn’t been full since it’s completion).
So my point: The old line that goes “build it and they will come†isn’t exactly accurate. My personal eyeball market research tells me that a “high end†(read: complicated rooflines and cheeseball lampposts) shopping center on the way out of Carrboro on 54 is a folly. I see, in the future, another big parking lot with a bunch of weeds growing from the asphalt. This, folks, is what they mean when they say, “urban blight.â€
Erica Eisdorfer
Carrboro
I have to echo the concerns raised by Erica Eisdorfer’s letter. I haven’t seen any evidence whatsoever that the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community is in need of new retail or housing development. In fact, all indicators seem to point to the opposite conclusion, and existing businesses, already vulnerable in our struggling economy, would become further stressed by any new development.
For several years, the town has been working on updating our plans for north Carrboro. However no changes have as yet been incorporated into the ordinance. Still, it is our hope that developers will reflect on the direction we intend to take. With that in mind, I recently sent the following to the town planning director:
“I have heard from a number of citizens who are concerned about the proposed project on the Lloyd property at NC-54 and Old Fayetteville Rd. Although most of the NSAPRC [Northern Study Area Committee] recommendations have not yet been incorporated into the LUO [Land Use Ordinance], it seems important for the developer to be aware of the items under consideration as laid out in the 3/4/2008 agenda item and in several follow up staff reports. In particular, concepts like ‘mixed-use, new urbanist, form-based projects’, ‘community gathering places’, and ‘low impact development and green building standards’ (to name a few) could be important considerations for this project.”