March 2004
For those of you old-timers, maybe this should be entitled "What's up with Old Well". Many of us remember that apartment complex as the cheapest option for student housing when we attended UNC. The apartment complex has shifted to being condos and has experienced a demographic shift so that most of the residents are Spanish-speaking immigrants trying to make ends meet on a less than desirable income.
I just got this by e-mail from the Town Clerk:
You are invited to attend a Town Council Work Session on Thursday, April 1, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at Town Hall, 306 N. Columbia Street. The Council will hear a presentation by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the University’s Development Plan Modification No. 2.
Because this is a "work session" public comment won't be allowed. But it should be a great way to find out what changes UNC is asking for in their main campus Development Plan. It could also be a good way to signal to the Council with our presence that we are paying attention.
Here's a little background of the politics around this modification request.
Guest Post by Matt Robinson
Two weeks ago, a student at Chapel Hill High School reported that she had been raped by two fellow students in the woods across the street from her school. Later that same week, an employee at Britthaven nursing home was sexually attacked by a coworker while she was at work. In the background of these attacks looms an unsolved series of rapes and sexual assaults in Carrboro last month, assaults likely the work of one man.
All of this occurred in less than one month, within 4 miles of Chapel Hill’s downtown post office. Five reported attacks on five women in one small part of one small county of one state, in what most would describe as a pretty peaceful town.
But peaceful for whom? Not for the police, who are now investigating five attacks. Not for stunned students, nursing home employees, and women who live alone, fearful for their safety. And the area is certainly not peaceful for the victims and those who love them. For these people, the myth of a peaceful hometown has been shattered, replaced by tears, fears, and horrible memories.
On Monday night, the Chapel Hill Town Council discussed the idea of beginning to place conservation easements on some town owned property to prevent that property from being developed in the future. Sally Greene pointed out that she felt the council should consider this since the council has been advocating for the university to do the same thing with much of their land along Bolin Creek. If the town council can't consider conservation easements on their own land, how can they expect the university to do the same thing?
Of course, on the more practical side of things, maybe each tract should be examined for its relative ecological/recreation work before placing restrictions on future development. And just because we want a conservation easement on the land doesn't mean we can find anyone willing to carry the responsibility of holding that easement for us.
So now that Councilman Kleinschmidt has managed to one-up the edgier, more liberal West End of Chapel Hill (otherwise known as Carrboro) on his resolutions to make Chapel Hill a more accepting place for gay folk, what's next? For the past 10 years of my existence around here, I've noticed Carrboro has generally taken the lead as the trailblazer. I think the Burma resolution was first passed in Carrboro and I KNOW the "eat France first" resolution was first in Carrboro. So what do we think Carrboro can do to forward the gay marriage debate and continue in its prominent role as liberal bastion of the South?
Much of the most exciting grassroots environmental work in Orange County over the past few decades has been done by the Eno River Association. Although many Chapel Hill/Carrboro folk identify the organization with Durham, this amazing and very effective group has helped protect thousands of acres of land in Orange County just this year. And they couldn't have done it without a capable executive director, Lori Olson. Unfortunately, Lori is leaving for Athens and there is currently a search process for the new leader of the organization. In the meantime, three cheers for Lori and her successes.
And thank goodness we have the Eno River Association.
Anyone have any stories they want to share about the ERA and how it has affected the local environmental scene?
So let's make some assumptions up front for this discussion. Let's assume that the TTA builds according to plans it's rail system (big assumption at this point due to the Bush administration's witholding of dollars). And let's assume this area continues to grow and becomes what we many folks really want it to be - a drawing point for the creative class and a great place to continue living. Well, while folks in Durham and Raleigh and even, gasp, Cary will be taking advantage of the rail line and touting themselves as a pseudo-urban mecca, we'll be over here with our wonderful but less than glamorous bus system trying to compete. So far, south Orange has the best planned development and the best public transit, but what happens when that isn't true anymore? Do all the cool single artists and video clerks move to Durham? Doesn't this put us at a competitive disadvantage in terms of attracting some of the people that add color and diversity to our towns?
The Herald reports that the Carrboro Board of Alermen discussed whether to allow a payment option for developers to meet their affordable housing obligation. We have debated this issue on the Chapel Hill Planning Board as well. So far we have come out against it every time, but there are also some compelling arguments for it.
Developers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro are currently required to include either a certain number of small (< 1,350 & 1,100 square feet) or affordable (<80% of area median income) homes in all residential developments over a certain size. Payment-in-lieu of housing would allow developers to make a financial contribution instead.
What do you all think? Are we missing a chance to support municipal housing efforts, or would we be letting them off the hook too easily and allowing further economic segregation of housing?
The Independent Weekly ran a story by Fiona Morgan last week about the Orange County Democratic Party. They are experiencing an influx of Dean supporters which is giving the overall party a boost in organization and momentum.
As for Dean's mantra of "taking back the party," [Orange County Democratic Party Chair Barry] Katz says he would like to see it happen. "On a local level, re-establishing a party that exists independent of its candidates but exists to support its candidates, that's taking back the party. And that's what's happening in Orange County." - Independent Weekly, 3/17/04
I've always been perplexed that people think of the media as liberal, especially after the coverage of the war, local gay civil rights issues, and free trade have all been decidedly right of center over the past few years. That's why it's refreshing to hear that there is a new unabashedly progressive voice on the radio: Air America. This radio community includes shows with Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, two faves among progressives. It will debut at noon today, so be sure to log on and be one of the first to hear.
The question is, when will we get this programming on local stations? WCHL apparently thought about including these shows, but then bailed. Who will step up to the plate to make sure that we have progressive voices in with the mix of right wing and centrist voices on our airwaves locally?
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