
{"id":19115,"date":"2011-06-23T09:30:47","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T13:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=19115"},"modified":"2011-06-23T09:30:47","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T13:30:47","slug":"council-rejects-aydan-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/06\/23\/council-rejects-aydan-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Council rejects Aydan Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nCHAPEL HILL  \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Citing concerns about impacts on a nearby waterfowl impoundment, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5-4 on Monday to reject a rezoning request for Aydan Court, a proposed 90-unit residential project on 5.8 acres on the north side of N.C. 54.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I still have deep concerns because this is an environmentally sensitive area,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d council member Penny Rich said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To me, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too risky.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>But in rejecting the large-scale proposal, dissenting council members argued, the town has left open the door to single-family home development on the property that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t any better for the area or the town.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The single-family-home option to me is just a nightmare,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said, adding that the proposed project would provide \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a great deal of protection that would address the issues that are being brought up by opponents of the project.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Council members Matt Czajkowski, Laurin Easthom and Gene Pease and Kleinschmidt voted in favor of the rezoning, which would have required six votes for approval. Council members Donna Bell, Sally Greene, Ed Harrison, Rich and Jim Ward voted against it. <\/p>\n<p>The council has seen the project evolve over the last few years as developer Carol Ann Zinn has brought it back several times for review. The site of the project \u00e2\u20ac\u201c east of Meadowmont at 2476 N.C. 54 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is adjacent to the Upper Little Creek waterfowl impoundment and Jordan Lake game lands, which has drawn concern from both council members and residents. <\/p>\n<p>The project plan proposed a state-of-the-art stormwater retention system and an erosion-management plan to mitigate impacts on the nearby waterfowl impoundment. <\/p>\n<p>Ward said he had struggled with the decision, but that ultimately he could not support the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failing, in my eyes, because of the adage that you hear time and time again \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s location, location, location. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter how much you do to the project \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it still has the same location,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ward said. <\/p>\n<p>Zinn told the council that if they did not approve the rezoning for the project she would develop the property into a tradition single-family home subdivision with 12 homes, allowed under current zoning. Several council members said they would prefer the proposed development to the subdivision, because it allowed them more control over the features of the project. <\/p>\n<p>Czajkowski said that given the shortage of developable land in Chapel Hill, the development of the property is inevitable. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to face more of these in Chapel Hill,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Others said they did not feel like it was an either\/or choice. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like feeling like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m being nickeled and dimed and bargained into a spot,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bell said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It would be the developer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choice to build the single-family [subdivision] and it would be up to her,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Rich said. <\/p>\n<p>Residents spoke both for and against the project on Monday. <\/p>\n<p>Mark Pons, owner of Chapel Hill Tire, said he felt the project supported the triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social sustainability. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This project is a significant investment in our community at a time when I think significant investments are needed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Aaron Nelson, president and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said the project would bring additional residents that would support local businesses in East 54 and Meadowmont. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This project will continue to add needed density along the 54 corridor to support current and future transit, specifically the regional rail plan,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>The Neighbors for Responsible Growth, who have opposed the project, gave a presentation citing environmental and other concerns regarding the development. <\/p>\n<p>Robin Cutson said erosion from the steep slopes of the property could further impair Jordan Lake drinking water, given that the property lies in the lake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s watershed.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is not the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job to ensure that those who buy problematic property can make a profit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5-4 on Monday to reject a rezoning request for Aydan Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19115","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19115"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19246,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19115\/revisions\/19246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}