By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Things are looking up for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Human Rights Center.
Following a decision last month by the Abbey Court Condominiums homeowners’ association to force the HRC to leave the complex, the nonprofit center has likely found a new home – one that the HRC plans to use to offer expanded services, including a long-awaited day-laborer center.
Judith Blau, director of the HRC, said the center is under contract to purchase a house at 107 Barnes St., with closing expected very soon.
“It’s a perfect location for us,†she said, noting the house’s proximity to the center’s previous location, as well as to Carolina Apartments, where a number of Latino and Karen families live.
“Before, [Carolina Apartments residents] would have to go under a fence.â€
The center has been located in two Abbey Court apartments since 2009. Though the complex is zoned residential, the center received a home occupation permit from the town because someone lives in one of the two apartments. However, Abbey Court representatives said the complex is intended to be residential, and commercial properties aren’t permitted under HOA covenants.
Blau said someone from the center would live at the Barnes Street location as well. The house has three bedrooms, and Blau said she believes the center could add another room to the property, which could be necessary with the addition of a day-laborer center.
The HRC already provides a number of services, including an afterschool program in partnership with Scroggs Elementary School, computer classes and a youth soccer program.
“We are going to start a day-laborer center, which all of us have been talking about for years,†Blau said, adding that a day-laborer center could help streamline the unofficial system by which workers find employment.
“This is so close to where the workers wait anyway, and the rate of wage theft is just out of sight right now. We’ll have a supervisor there to register employers and classes for the men who are waiting,†she said. “I’m pretty excited.â€
Last month, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted to rescind its controversial anti-lingering ordinance for the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie roads, adjacent to Abbey Court, where day laborers – many of whom are residents of the complex – wait to be picked up for construction work. Prior to enactment of the ordinance in 2007, neighbors complained of public urination, garbage and drinking in the areas around the intersection.
Blau said the HRC could add a gravel driveway at the Barnes Street house to improve access for employers picking up day laborers. The HRC will need to conduct outreach in order to make sure that both employers and workers use the day-laborer center.
“It’s a process of convincing the day laborers that employers will be coming to the house,†she said. Blau has already contacted the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce to solicit its help in reaching out to workers, and also plans to write letters to known day-laborer employers informing them of the center.
Zoning issues
Before the HRC could offer a day-laborer center at the Barnes Street location, it’s likely it would need to receive approval from the Carrboro Board of Aldermen through a rezoning application.
“From what little I have heard to this point, it seems fairly likely that [the HRC] would want to expand/use the property in a manner that may exceed what is permissible as a Home Occupation,†Carrboro development review administrator Marty Roupe wrote in an email to Mayor Mark Chilton. “Doing so would only be permissible subsequent to some type of Board of Aldermen action allowing such a use on this property.â€
Chilton said the board had not yet discussed the situation.
“We’ll be interested to hear about … potential neighborhood-impact issues,†he said. “We’ll probably have to base our decision, whatever it might be … in part on what we hear.â€
Chilton said he felt the Barnes Street house was a convenient location for the HRC and those who patronize its services.
“It seems like it would be a good spot for them to continue and possibly extend their current offerings,†he said. “We’ll have to see how that situation develops.â€
The HRC has until March 1 to vacate Abbey Court.