Chapel Hill 2020
In the most likely scenario that Charterwood will be approved tonight, Chapel Hill citizens may choose to make some conclusions about the future of citizen input into how OUR town grows.
Despite significant environmental impact (not only to Eastwood Lake and Lake Ellen but to the Booker Creek headwater streams and the old growth trees), the disregard for neighborhood protection, the bastardization of process, the economic shakiness of the proposed plan, the reversal of affordable housing goals, the widespread public objections, the applicant’s frequent “misstatements,” and the precedent setting nature of the approval, Charterwood is virtually assured of passage.
What does this presage for the 2020 Future Focus Areas? Will citizens, once again, be involved in busy work? Will their work, like the work of citizens involved in the original Southern Small Area Plan, the Northern Area Task Force, and 2020 be ignored?
Details:
Chapel Hill Special Topics: "Planning Models and the Future Townscape"
The
Town of Chapel Hill Special Topics sessions return to the community
with "Planning Models and the Future Townscape" to be presented at noon
Wednesday, July 18, in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
The Special Topics series began during the Chapel Hill 2020
comprehensive planning process as a way to share information with
interested residents who want to know more about issues, trends and
studies that affect the future. For past topics, see http://bit.ly/zi4gLo.
Garrett Davis, a long range planner for the Town of Chapel Hill,
will provide an overview of the
various types of planning models the Town uses to analyze and
understand data related to future population and employment growth and
related transportation and land use impacts. Models help planners gather
and analyze information and predict possible future outcomes, based on a
set of assumptions. The presentation, which will provide an overview of
the current use of planning modes in the Triangle region and focus on
the use of CommunityViz, an interactive software platform that
integrates land use mapping and statistical analysis used by the Town
during the development of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan. The presentation
will be followed by a question and answer session.
Garrett develops analysis, Geographic Information System (GIS),
and graphic design projects to aid the Town's planning initiatives. He
also provides professional support to other Town departments and partner
agencies.
The public event will be aired live on Chapel Hill Government TV-18 and streamed on the Town of Chapel Hill website at www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1850. For more information, contact gdavis2@townofchapelhill.org or 919-969-5061.
Date:
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Town Hall Council Chambers (405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.)
Unsurprisingly, the Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously (I think) adopted the
Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive plan earlier tonight. Despite the objections of many citizens on a number of fronts and the reluctance of some of the council members themselves, the process will now exit the extensive community input phase and enter a period of “continued engagement.”
Though it’s unclear at this point what form that community involvement will take—from what the planning staff said tonight it appears it will mostly be small area meetings—it’s clear that if nothing else, the process has stirred people to get involved in ways that may have not been before.
As the June 25 deadline for completion and possible adoption of Chapel Hill’s new comprehensive plan draws near, kudos and congratulatory pats on the back abound. Unfortunately, I am not able to join in the current Chapel Hill 2020 lovefest. While there are many positive points that can be made, the final product is certainly not shaping up to be anything we should celebrate.
CH2020 co-chairs George Cianciolo and Rosemary Waldorf have touted this process of creating a new plan as “our people’s vision” with “a wide-open opportunity to break with the old ways of doing business.” Additionally, at the May 21 Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, there were but a few exceptions to the parade of valentines for the 2020 leadership and town staff.
There is no doubt that a great deal of time and effort on the part of a lot of people went into this thing. I certainly applaud the months of arduous work and self-sacrifice by all of those involved. However, let me suggest an alternative, far less rosy perspective of the 2020 process and its resulting document.
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