
{"id":19123,"date":"2011-06-23T09:31:17","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T13:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=19123"},"modified":"2011-06-26T22:07:29","modified_gmt":"2011-06-27T02:07:29","slug":"project-could-bring-big-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/06\/23\/project-could-bring-big-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Project could bring big-box"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Joshua Lucas and Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writers <\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL  \u00e2\u20ac\u201c A proposed development could bring hotels, large-scale retail stores and residential development to an area of northern Chapel Hill targeted by the town for that sort of growth.<\/p>\n<p>The EDGE, a proposed 79-acre development at the intersection of I-40, Eubanks Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard, aims to bring commercial development to a part of Orange County that the developers say sorely needs it. The Chapel Hill Town Council on Tuesday reviewed a concept plan for the project. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Currently, there is very little retail and other commercial uses that exist within the town that can serve the existing population,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the developer, D&#038;A Development &#038; Consulting Inc., wrote in its proposal. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Residents are currently leaving the town and crossing into either Durham or Orange County to satisfy their retail and other commercial needs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>D&#038;A is a partner in the plan with commercial developer Daniel \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sonny\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Molloy and Chapel Hill developer John B. Morris.<\/p>\n<p>An initial concept proposal for the mixed-use development presented with the plan includes two sites for large retail stores, several smaller locations for other retail developments, two hotel locations and 400 residences.<\/p>\n<p>Both residents and council members noted the potential traffic effects of the 700,000-square-foot development, given the project\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proximity to I-40. Jeff Pape, of D&#038;A, said the firm would conduct a traffic impact study. <\/p>\n<p>The location would include a replacement for the current Chapel Hill Transit Park and Ride station, which sits on a portion of the land proposed for the development. Developers have said that, in keeping with the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long-range development plans, they have incorporated transit as part of the plans for the development. <\/p>\n<p>In addition to the new bus station, the proposal includes several areas for structured parking, at least some of which will be a parking deck.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our proposal includes just enough density to support the transit use without building excessive density that cannot be supported by the local demographics. Our design includes walkability and integration of uses along with a diversity of residential, office, retail and hospitality uses to support the transit facility,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the developers state in the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Council members also urged the developer to carefully consider the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Main Street\u00e2\u20ac\u009d design in the proposal. The plan calls for a common area laid out to look like a traditional main street, along which shops and some residences are located.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The last thing we want to see is a pretty plan of a pretty Main Street that is dead because its not working,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d council member Sally Greene said. <\/p>\n<p>Council member Jim Ward suggested moving the parking structure closer into the project to encourage those using the park and ride to use the businesses in the development.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153For a development of this magnitude and one that will be novel for Chapel Hill, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to build anything based on theory,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d council member Matt Czajkowski said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We cannot afford to make any mistakes on this one.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The Northern Area Task Force\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a plan the town adopted in 2008 to help guide development in the area in question \u00e2\u20ac\u201c proposes a similar development at the location. The developers made a point in their plan, they said, to address the recommendations of the report.<\/p>\n<p>The plan was presented to the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Committee on Economic Development on May 23. Developers declined to suggest what retailer they are working with for the development, but did say it was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nationally respected retailer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Residents of the adjacent Northwood neighborhood expressed concerns about the development\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s effects on property values in their neighborhood and on the neighborhood\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wells.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our neighborhood gets its water from this piece of land that will be covered with impervious surface,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Northwood resident Suzanne Haff said.<\/p>\n<p>Residents also expressed concerns about possible annexation of the neighborhood by the town once it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s surrounded by Chapel Hill property. The plan does float annexation by the town as a possibility. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A proposed development could bring hotels, large-scale retail stores and residential development to an area of northern Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123","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=19123"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19281,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19123\/revisions\/19281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}