During the elections last fall, part of suburban north Chapel Hill was up in arms about a proposal from Habitat For Humanity to build some homes off of Sunrise Road. Habitat managed to quell the unrest for a few months by establishing a public process including a charette (community planning meeting) and proposals from 4 different designers.
The designers who participated are Josh Gurlitz, Gary Giles, Scott Radway, and James Carnahan. Theirs ideas range from 42 to 56 total units, with various mixes of single-family and townhouse units. No matter what Habitat does, I doubt that it will be few enough for the neighbors. It seems they will be happy with nothing more than zero townhouses and one or two detached houses on the 17-acre tract.
Members of the Sunrise Coalition, which includes residents of the nearby Chandler's Green subdivision and neighborhoods in the area, remain concerned about Habitat's plans.
"We're going to continue to stay on the course of a low-density project, and our preference is single-family units, consistent with what Habitat normally builds," Chandler's Green resident Doug Schworer said earlier on Thursday, before seeing the four concept plans. "We'll see what happens ... and where it goes from there.- Chapel Hill Herald, 3/11/04
More details on the proposals at the News & Observer.
Issues:
Comments
I meant, of course--for the
I meant, of course--for the development, NOT "per acre."
yeesh. One of these days I'll remember to proof BEFORE I hit "post."
Melanie
What was/is this land zoned
What was/is this land zoned ? Has Habitat asked for a zoning change?
melanie
Hey I just did a Google
Hey I just did a Google search on this. I found this article from a year ago (!) in the DTH which indicates that the current zoning allows for up to 68 units.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/03/07/3e689d6c751b4
"Levy said zoning laws for that area of the town permit no more than four family housing units per allotted acre, so the number of homes built cannot exceed 68."
Thanks Ruby--I didn't have
Thanks Ruby--I didn't have such good luck with Google. If they are allowed that many per/acre then the people in the neighborhood should be grateful they are only talking about putting up 42-56. I have 10 acres of undeveloped land behind MY house, and when we bought the place, I went and found out what it was zoned. (One house/acre...) now if someone bought THAT and wanted to put a bunch of units on it, and tried to get a variance, I'd complain. Loud and LONG--no matter who they were. But don't whine because you didn't do your zoning homework.
Melanie