Land Use Plan Proposals Still in Review

by | Jun 24, 2019 | Town Planning

On June 26th, Wednesday night, the Council voted to refer the draft maps back to the staff to gather more public input this summer and fall.  It was near the end of the agenda,  when the Town Council asked for public comment on 6 key areas of town that later will become the draft future land use plan.

Speakers representing several neighborhoods spoke in opposition to the placement of high rise, large massive apartment blocks in their communities. Harvey Krasney spoke in opposition to proposed high density adjacent to the Summerfield Crossing neighborhood,  citing concerns with stormwater and traffic.  Julie McClintock told the Council that neighbors in the North Street and Mill Race neighborhoods off of Hillsborough Road are concerned about the intensity of uses planned for the intersection of MLK and Hillsborough Rd. She questioned why staff was recommending downtown zoning be extended from downtown to this area.  Julie also cited  continued land use concerns with the Epehesus-Fordham Blue Hill District.  In the 15-501 map,  the staff recommends  intensive redevelopment in areas already prone to flooding.

Kimberly Brewer spoke for the Purefoy Road neighborhood where the staff  continues to propose high density at a dangerous intersection despite previous comments (South Columbia and Purefoy) and adjacent to a mixed income neighborhood. She made the following observations about the South Columbia area:
  • On west side of S. Columbia north of the intersection and approx. south of Chase Ave. they are proposing multifamily, shops, and office up to four stories.
  • The existing location of Merritt’s Grill is proposed to be multifamily, shops, and office up to four stories.
  • Purefoy Road up to the Purefoy-Howell intersection is proposed to be Townhomes, with higher density of development than currently allowed.This mono-culture vision does not reflect the rich variety of existing single family, apartment, and townhomes currently on Purefoy and Howell. The staff has not indicated the level of density that would be allowed.
  • Merritt’s Pasture is not shown as an existing or future park area on the map.
Council reaction. We don’t know yet what changes the staff intend to make following the Council comments before these maps are taken out for further comment. Our observations of the council discussion brings us to conclude:
  1. We heard no consensus sought on the public comments made;
  2. No clear direction was given to staff about what changes would be made in the maps, and finally that
  3. The council did not deal with other concerns presented, such as extending downtown densities all the way to Hillsborough Road, and the staff recommendation to put high densities in areas prone to flooding, comment that were made in letters to the council.  We appreciate the effort to show the location of the 100 year flood plain, but there are other areas that flood regularly that  are not included.

It was gratifying to hear some measure of concern in response to the public comments.  However, we don’t know in fact how the staff will address the public and council comments, nor the other problems in the draft maps.

Next steps. CHALT will continue to track this project over the summer as the staff takes out the amended plans to the public for additional comment.

Click here to see the entire Land Use Plan (PDF) presented by the Town of Chapel Hill.