
{"id":16907,"date":"2011-03-24T10:32:10","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T14:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=16907"},"modified":"2011-03-24T10:32:10","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T14:32:10","slug":"board-opens-hearing-on-library-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/03\/24\/board-opens-hearing-on-library-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Board opens hearing on library site"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Kirk Ross<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CARRBORO  \u00e2\u20ac\u201d With strong objections from neighbors and a wide array of questions from the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on the table, the continuation of a public hearing on rezoning the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chosen site for a library is only tentatively scheduled for April 19.<\/p>\n<p>At the close of a lengthy public hearing Tuesday night at Carrboro Town Hall, Mayor Mark Chilton qualified the board\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to schedule the next session on the 2.69-acre site on Hillsborough Road.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It depends on how much more information there is,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said before the board closed up shop for the night.<\/p>\n<p>About 30 residents, many who live in neighborhoods near the site, weighed in on the proposal to rezone the property. Last fall, Orange County signed a contract on the parcel, which is adjacent to Carrboro Elementary School. The county wants Carrboro to rezone the property to allow for the construction of a 20,000-square-foot single-story library. Details of the library\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s design and site plan would not come before rezoning and not until the county seeks a conditional-use permit for the project.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the lack of details, there were plenty of strong opinions on the proposed location.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I long for a new library,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gordon Mitchell told the board. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is just not the site.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Pine Street resident Marty Mandell said she was one of many residents who have pushed for many years for a library in Carrboro, but found herself opposing it because of a site she described as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dreadful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think this is the most unusual public hearing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Other longtime library supporters said they thought the location could be made to work.<\/p>\n<p>Nerys Levy presented the board with a petition in support of the rezoning with 330 signatures. She said in gathering the signatures, supporters found a high degree of enthusiasm about a library within walking distance.<\/p>\n<p>Not knowing the plans and how it would impact the neighborhood concerned residents as well as their elected representatives.<\/p>\n<p>Several board members said they did not have enough information to make a decision and asked town planners for a report on traffic impacts and how parking would be provided.<\/p>\n<p>Board member Dan Coleman said he wanted to know how clear an idea of the affect on the area would be possible given the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time and available resources.<\/p>\n<p>Board member Randee Haven O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell cited letters from school officials indicating they were cool to the idea of sharing access or a driveway. She said the school\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cooperation was important and the lack of it added to her hesitancy on the site.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We want a library, but we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be backed into a corner to get one,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It saddens me that a library could divide the community, and I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to see that happen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The county is under time pressure on the site, with the expiration of its contract set for April 21, with a 90-day extension possible if the county is willing to put down additional earnest money. <\/p>\n<p>If the county buys the site, it would come off the tax rolls. A town report estimates that $8,976 in annual property taxes would be lost as a result. The report also notes that the Carrboro  Cybrary, now located in the Carrboro Century Center, would move to the new facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With strong objections from neighbors and a wide array of questions, the continuation of a public hearing on rezoning the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chosen site for a library is only tentatively scheduled for April 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16907"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16924,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16907\/revisions\/16924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}