
{"id":22288,"date":"2011-12-08T11:54:19","date_gmt":"2011-12-08T16:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=22288"},"modified":"2011-12-08T11:54:19","modified_gmt":"2011-12-08T16:54:19","slug":"human-rights-center-must-find-new-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/12\/08\/human-rights-center-must-find-new-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Rights Center must find new home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><br \/>\nFollowing a decision last week by the Abbey Court Condominiums homeowners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 association to force the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Human Rights Center (HRC) to leave the complex, the HRC is searching for a new home.  <\/p>\n<p>Bart White, an attorney for Ken Lucas, owner of the majority of the property, said the association voted to give the HRC 90 days to leave Abbey Court because its presence as a commercial establishment in the residential complex was a violation of HOA covenants. Lucas also serves as president and CEO of the Tar Heel Companies, which manages the complex. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There seems to have been a belief that this was some kind of quick decision blindsiding the Human Rights Center,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d White said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The homeowners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 association has been trying to get the owner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attention for over a year that this was a violation of the covenants.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit center has been located in two Abbey Court apartments since 2009. Though the complex is zoned residential, the center received a zoning variance from the town because someone lives in one of the two apartments. <\/p>\n<p>White said the complex is intended to be residential, and commercial properties aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t permitted under HOA covenants because of associated noise and traffic. <\/p>\n<p>The removal of the center from Abbey Court is the latest in a string of controversy at the complex, which in recent years has been riddled with conflict ranging from numerous calls to police regarding disturbances at the apartments to parking issues and towed cars. <\/p>\n<p>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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many of whom are residents of the complex \u00e2\u20ac\u201c wait to be picked up for construction work. <\/p>\n<p>Judith Blau, director of the HRC, said she believes that the decision stemmed from the HRC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recent plans to buy a larger unit at Abbey Court to create 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. <\/p>\n<p>The apartment complex has a diverse population, with large numbers of Latino and Karen residents, many whom are served by programs offered by the HRC. Some have argued that the decision by the homeowners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 association was rooted in racism, and on Saturday, Occupy Chapel Hill led a peaceful march of more than 100 people to the complex in protest of the association\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an immense pleasure \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that the town is supporting Abbey Court residents,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Blau said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think the residents are surprised and totally delighted about that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The HRC has until March 1 to vacate Abbey Court and find another home, and Blau said she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s working to find a new location in the same area as Abbey Court. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There may be a very good outcome if I can find a house in Carrboro near Abbey Court, a larger place where we could serve more, provide more programs, and day laborers could come in the mornings,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, adding that the HRC needs to find a home quickly. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, we would have to bridge our programs doing somersaults,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Mayor Mark Chilton said he was disappointed by the decision of the Abbey Court HOA and that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been helping Blau and others at the HRC find a new location for the center.  He attended the HOA board meeting last week, and said members cited in their decision liability issues surrounding the center. <\/p>\n<p>Chilton said he told board members that the children who visit the HRC for services are also tenants of Abbey Court.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be at Abbey Court whether you have an HRC or not, and with the HRC they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting a good level of adult supervision, and we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what level of adult supervision they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting when the HRC isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d adding that many Abbey Court parents work long hours at multiple jobs. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That argument fell on deaf ears, frankly,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chilton said. <\/p>\n<p>Once the center moves, those residents who use the services it provides won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the same kind of access, he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Clearly, the Human Rights Center has been a very positive influence on the neighborhood.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following a decision last week by the Abbey Court Condominiums homeowners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 association to force the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Human Rights Center (HRC) to leave the complex, the HRC is searching for a new home.  <\/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-22288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288","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=22288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22289,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288\/revisions\/22289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}