Economy & Downtown
Chapel Hill's downtown has long benefited from its proximity to a captive audience of University students without cars. While downtowns around the country have been failing, ours has survived fairly well. However, we have seen an increase in the number of chain stores locating downtown, and instability in the Downtown Economic Development Corporation. In the near future, we will see new Town-directed development on two major parking lots have a big impact.
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Carrboro's downtown has also done better than many towns of comparable size, thanks largely to the presence of Weaver Street Market and progressive shoppers from the rest of the county. The Board of Aldermen has been addressing the evolution of the downtown, and have established a number of community resources in the downtown area including free wireless Internet access, and a low-power radio station.
The N&O's recent article questioning the green credentials of the local Chamber of Commerce seemed to signal a departure from their past coverage which generally accepted the Chamber's promotion of the "triple bottom line" without too much skepticism.
I especially liked the following quotation from James Carnahan as it reminds us that the Chamber is not a monolithic entity with only one opinion. In a way, every member is speaking for and demonstrating the organization's values, even if they're not a paid spokesperson.
As printed in the Chapel Hill Herald on Saturday, April 28th:
Last week a number of neighbors of Freedom House, an addiction and mental illness treatment center in northern Chapel Hill, came out to speak against a proposed expansion of the facility.
Most of their concerns centered on safety. One neighbor, Cingai Chen, summed up the rhetoric pretty well by saying, "We are very worried about some day those patients will create a safety concern for our community."
The operative words in that statement are "some day." The reality is that Freedom House has been in our community for more than three decades and there have never been problems. It's a well-run place with tremendous success stories and has never created anything resembling a crime problem. There's no reason to believe expanding the facility would change that.
Do you work at home? Are you a telecommuter? Run a business from your home office? The Town of Carrboro wants to know how it can help you. On May 8 at 10 am in room 100 of the Carrboro Town Hall the Economic Development Department of the Town of Carrboro will be conducting a public forum to discuss this topic. Please share your needs and wants in the comments. If you know other people that work at home who might be interested in participating in the conversation, please invite them. If you can't make it let me know and we'll work on a second meeting.
One point that caught my attention in last Saturday's meeting to discuss Carrboro's Northern Study Area was the idea of "metro-farming". The current plan includes:
ENCOURAGE “METRO-FARMINGâ€Â: Encourage the conservation of active farmland within new conservation subdivisions and elsewhere in the Study Area, with emphasis on nontraditional crops or uses (high-value vegetables, pick-your-own berries, apples, etc.) and community-supported agriculture (community gardening, wholesale nurseries, commercial stables, etc.). Metro-farming should be promoted by a special committee that would look into ways to make Use Value Assessments more common and frequently applied.
Yet this is an idea which has not yet been realized. With changing patterns of food consumption and agriculture, the availability of arable land available for small scale agriculture will become increasingly important in the future.
There is a planning meeting being held tonight at 5:30 PM in the Board Room in the Carrboro Town Hall with Ballentine Associates and Northwest Properties to display their plans for "The Shoppes at Jones Ferry".
It might be a good time to ask them if they plan to put solar panels on the roof. See http://www.sunedison.com
A new Harris Teeter and shopping center have been proposed near downtown Carrboro.
Plans for The Shoppes at Jones Ferry at 405-407 Jones Ferry Road are being reviewed by town staff and advisory boards, Carrboro planner James Thomas said.
The town has a Harris Teeter less than a mile away next to Carr Mill Mall.
Applicant Northwest Property Group, based in Skyland, N.C., is negotiating to buy the land from Calvin and Nora Mellott and Mellott Trucking & Supply Co., Thomas said. The submitting of detailed plans and a permit application shows Northwest is serious about building, he said.
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