
{"id":26678,"date":"2012-06-28T10:07:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T14:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=26678"},"modified":"2012-06-28T10:07:58","modified_gmt":"2012-06-28T14:07:58","slug":"council-votes-to-approve-ch2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/06\/28\/council-votes-to-approve-ch2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Council votes to approve CH2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0Emphasizing that plan adoption is just the beginning of a larger process, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted unanimously on Monday to approve the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly how the plan will be implemented has not yet been determined, as town staff and others will work over the summer to begin to craft detailed implementation plans and processes. Implementation was a source of concern for some residents, who lined up to offer their criticisms and praise of the plan Monday night. <\/p>\n<p>Chapel Hill 2020 was launched last fall as a process to reexamine the vision for the town and craft a plan for what Chapel Hill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future should look like. From the outset, one of the primary goals of CH2020 leaders was to involve a large, diverse group representing all niches of the community. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This was a great process, and I do believe that the community did what you asked us to do, which is give you a vision of the future,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d CH2020 co-chair Rosemary Waldorf said. <\/p>\n<p>The plan was intended to serve as a planning and visioning document creating a framework for the community to guide the council in managing the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future over the next decade. The document (available at chapelhill2020.org) lays out six themes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c A Place for Everyone; Community Prosperity and Engagement; Getting Around; Good Places, New Spaces; Nurturing Our Community; and Town and Gown Collaboration. For each theme, the plan identifies goals and an action plan.  <\/p>\n<p>At this point, town staff will review and analyze each goal and action item and report back to the council with recommendations by June 2013, when the council will begin determining policy and priorities for implementation. <\/p>\n<p>CH2020 also includes six \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Future Focus\u00e2\u20ac\u009d discussion areas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Estes Drive corridor, Ephesus Church\/Fordham, downtown, north Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, south Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, N.C. 54 and north 15-501 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with key considerations, action steps and community comments for each. <\/p>\n<p>Land-use decisions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the source of concern for many residents \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for these areas are not outlined in CH2020, as those determinations will be made through individual processes as the plan is implemented. <\/p>\n<p>The Estes Drive corridor \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which both council members and residents said they would like renamed for clarity, since the scope won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be limited to a narrow area \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and Ephesus Church\/Fordham areas were both identified as immediate priorities, with work to begin this summer. Some residents were particularly concerned that land-use decisions regarding the Estes Drive area would be made while many residents were out of town over the summer. <\/p>\n<p>Assistant planning director Mary Jane Nirdlinger assured council members and residents that work over the summer would simply be to outline a process for those areas, including developing a timeline and gathering data. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not decision-making time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, adding that staff would report back to council in the fall with information regarding those processes. <\/p>\n<p>Council members emphasized the need to maintain the momentum that the CH2020 process has started in order to make decisions that make the plan a more complete decision-making tool. <\/p>\n<p>Members of the Chapel Hill Planning Board extensively reviewed previous drafts of CH2020 and recommended changes to the plan, including outlining a detailed charrette process \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with an intense series of public discussions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for each future focus area. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Implementation is a critical element,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d planning board member John Ager said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It should be done with plenty of forethought and adequate reflection.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Other residents asked for clarity on how future land-use decisions will be made for the outlined future focus areas, but Nirdlinger said each process will be determined in accordance with the particularities of each area. <\/p>\n<p>Council members emphasized that public involvement would continue as the plan is implemented, noting the high value placed on public input in Chapel Hill. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have a track record \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 of proving that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not just going to invade the neighborhoods privately without public input,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d council member Gene Pease said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Obviously, the way we move forward is by coming up with clarity and definition in regard to the small-area plans,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d council member Matt Czajkowski said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So we have this extraordinary document that came out of the extraordinary effort that clearly defines themes and goals \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and now we have to move forward. And I would say it is absolutely critical that we preserve the good faith and the enthusiasm of our citizens as we move through that process.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chapel Hill Town Council voted unanimously on Monday to approve the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan.<\/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-26678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26678","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=26678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26679,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26678\/revisions\/26679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}