development
I attended the January 13th forum on the future of the American Legion Post 6 property, hosted by Woodfield Properties. As a resident who lives within walking distance of Post 6, I wanted to go beyond the headlines and see and hear for myself the details of Woodfield’s vision for the site.
Here are eight observations and perspectives from the forum:
In a cross-post from today's Chapel Hill News, Travis and I ask: Are we designing for 2017 or 2070? Read the text below and tell us what you think.
The reality we live in presents numerous challenges and long-term threats. Scientists have been documenting these trends for decades. We know, for example, that climate change is a pressing problem that requires action today (yesterday, really) to mitigate existing damage and prevent further environmental degradation. We also know that rates of obesity in the United States, and in other nations, has risen rapidly, leading to a decline in life expectancy for the first time in modern history.
These two examples highlight the importance of modifying patterns and behaviors today to shape a better future. Local action can be important in setting a positive path forward, especially when state and federal action is insufficient. How can local action help address these major issues? For one thing, we can change how we develop our community.
There are numerous developments in various stages of the planning process in both Carrboro and Chapel HIll, so many that it is hard to keep track of them. Here we provide a rundown of the status of developments of most interest in Southern Orange County.
Carrboro
A summary of active development applications can be found here and is updated monthly. The Town staff also created a map of the active developments. Active or recently approved developments are:
I just returned home from a three plus hour meeting about Obey Creek. This was the last meeting before Chapel Hill decides to enter a development agreement negotiation. Phase I the Compass Committee ended last winter, Phase II addional information gathering has been during the last six months and phase III negotiations will probably begin soon. The first hour was a repeat of the traffic analysis presentation that was given last month at the library. More data will be obtained from additional studies but the analysis incorporates 1.2% traffic growth rate as the back ground increase in traffic. It projects 10% of the Obey Creek development traffic to be carried by mass transit. The next two hours were devoted to the general Obey Creek plan, modifications and potential points for negotiation. The general plan would allocate 50 acres for green space ( part of which could become come a school if needed) and 30acres developed near 15-501. At the end Roger stood up and stated that if Council permitted less than 1,000,000 square feet he would use current zoning for creating 120 homes on the 85 acres.
Thursday I attended a Sierra Club meeting in Pittsboro and learned more about the water issues associated with the huge Chatham Park development. The local goverment of Pittsboro will be deciding what happens there. First the area watershed has rare or endangered species of fresh water mussels and tiny fish called shiners. Of course it drains into Jordan Lake which is already impaired. The state government has delayed the Jordan Lake water protection rules and has created a weird situation where if communities want to have better environmental rules they will have to enact them this year with a 100% agreement vote. Also the state has reduced funding and resources for the state agencies that monitor and protect our water. Originally after hearing the Triangle Realtor presentation last summer I thought Chatham Park (for 55,000 people) was a done deal. I
think there are a lot of reasons for believing it can not be that big.
Much of land has streams and steep elevation and if logical stream
buffers and slope rules are used that would limit what can be developed.
The original proposal would result in population density and percentage
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