Chapel Hill 2020

More 2020 Stakeholders Raise Concerns About Process

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on March 26, 2012 - 4:36pm

A group of activists led by Julie McClintock will be submitting the following letter to the Chapel Hill Town Council tonight.  They seem especially concerned about the amount of development in the future, while I am pesonally more concerned about the nature of that growth. Though I don't fully agree with all of their conclusions and I lack their optimism about being able to meaningfully change the process, I applaud their effort to try to keep CH2020 true to the community's values.

March 25, 2012   

An Open Letter to the Chapel Hill Town Council:

The purpose of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan is to hear citizens’ vision for the future and write a vision plan and land use map to make that future a reality. The Town Manager says we are on our way to completing the Comprehensive Plan vision and framework document in June. With utmost respect to the Manager, the Town staff, and the 2020 leadership, many 2020 stakeholders feel that our work to date is far from finished and does not answer the fundamental question the Town Council has asked: How much and in what way do we want to grow? 

Town Council scheduled to receive 2020 Plan on May 21

Submitted by Jeff Miles on March 22, 2012 - 11:55am

Chapel Hill 2020, Carolina North: Serious Questions

Submitted by Priscilla Murphy on March 21, 2012 - 11:19am

In the context of concern about development of neighborhoods proximate to Carolina North, about last night's (3/20) session: 

A threat?  There's much to be wary of, not the least the strong implication that unless we accept fairly sweeping increases in commercial use and density in the very near future along MLK, Estes, 15-501 and 54, we will bring down the wrath of economic gods on us -- making property values plummet and real estate taxes skyrocket.  Of course, the consultants do not use such threatening terminology, and words like "modest" obscure the true extent of alterations in critical neighborhoods. 

Lining the corridors?  The dice are heavily loaded in favor of thinking first in terms of transportation corridors to serve commercial interests and on that basis planning neighborhood changes to best serve those corridors.  This is being framed as if it's the rest of the town saying "leave us alone and just develop along 'major corridors."  A politically savvy spin, pitting potential NIMBYs against each other, but there's more going on than that.

Chapel Hill 2020 Process Changes Directions

Submitted by Jeff Miles on March 20, 2012 - 11:53pm
Chapel Hill town manager Roger Stancil opened tonight’s Chapel Hill 2020 meeting by describing where we are in the process. As part of that description, he mentioned that the town was moving out of the “intensive engagement” part of the process and into the “refine and review” process. Tonight’s meeting and some recent developments in the process seem to clearly point out that this is indeed the case.

Chapel Hill 2020 Special Topic: Chapel Hill Community Survey

Submitted by OP Editors on March 3, 2012 - 12:35pm
Chapel Hill 2020 will offer the special topic presentation "Chapel Hill Community Survey" by Karen Falk, vice president of ETC Institute.

The public is invited to the presentation to be held at noon Tuesday, March 13, in the Council Chamber of Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 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

The Town Council will have an earlier opportunity to receive the survey report at its Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 12. The report will review results from a Town of Chapel Hill Community Survey conducted last fall by ETC Institute, a professional market research firm based in the Kansas City area. ETC has administered surveys in more than 300 cities and counties across the United States.

"Conducting this survey was one of the Town Council's early established goals as a means to help us understand our residents' perception of the services the Town provides," said Town Manager Roger L. Stancil. "This biennial survey helps us understand what we are doing better and where we need to improve. It is one of the tools we use in establishing budget priorities and making policy decisions."

Results from the 2011 survey are expected to provide valuable input toward a visioning process, Chapel Hill 2020, to shape the town's direction in a sustainable way for the next 10 years.

The survey was mailed to 2,000 randomly selected Chapel Hill households. The random selection is critical to the statistical validity of the survey results. An online survey also was offered to allow interested residents an opportunity to view and complete the survey, although those results will be tabulated separately.

The survey polled residents on issues ranging from public safety, development, and parks and recreation, to infrastructure and administrative services. Benchmarking analysis has been conducted by ETC to help Chapel Hill understand how its results compare to similar communities.

Survey results will be made available on the Town website at www.townofchapelhill.org/survey. The results of Chapel Hill's 2009 community survey are available online for review.

Date: 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Council Chamber, Chapel Hill Town Hall

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