David Adams, resident of Colony Woods, sent this letter the Mayor and Council,
Dear Mayor Hemminger and Chapel Hill Town Council members,
Mayor Hemminger, Council Members, and Consultant Keesmaat:
I attended the Town Council work session on June 21st in which you heard and discussed the presentation: A Strategy for Where and How to Build Complete Communities. I heartily commend the Council for acting on consultant Rod Stevens recommendations to build neighborhoods/communities rather than piecemeal development without an overarching plan with civic engagement. That said, I wish to add my perspective on the
Three Hard Truths that concluded the presentation:
1. Chapel Hill is already an exclusive place.
The Rod Stevens report documented this fact and its origin in detail.
The unsaid hard truth is that this and previous Councils have created said exclusivity by enabling development that overwhelming favors and welcomes people of means. Council needs to take ownership and stop deflecting blame on others. The Council has made little effort to fix the flawed Blue Hill form-based code or to use its zoning powers to get better outcomes.
2. No one is happy with the housing planning process and outcomes. There is over-representation of voices that resist or reject change. The developers we want have been driven away.
Not everyone involved is unhappy. The developers that have been enabled by staff and approved by Council are quite happy. Developers of the Hartley Apartments even got taxpayers to fund the road that provides access to their project while displacing 200 families who once lived in affordable housing.
There is indeed over-representation of voices that resist change – but these voices are not from the community as implied but those of developers who refuse to build anything other than “Texas donut” luxury apartment complexes without any of the community benefits that have been specifically requested by citizens time and time again.
There are local developers (e.g., Clay Grubb) who have stayed and set an example for what can be accomplished. Likewise, other cities (e.g., Baltimore) have demonstrated successful approaches to equitable development.
Chapel Hill has a hard urban form to remediate.
The unsaid hard truth is that UNC owns much of the remaining developable land and has shifted responsibility for housing both its workforce and its students onto the town, which is not equitable.
Transit is the most difficult element to remediate. Some failing transit corridors – US15-501 in particular – are not controlled by the town and bottlenecks such as those at Eastgate Commons likely cannot be removed. Yet 3000 apartment units have been or soon will be built in this exact location. Hard truth: infill development is encouraged but must recognize and accommodate existing infrastructure among other constraints.
As one of the “usual suspects” who care about Chapel Hill, I support getting more “missing middle” and affordable housing along with more commercial development to broaden our tax base. I look to the Building Complete Communities process to bring all stakeholders – the developers, UNC, community members and town government – to work together to create a livable, viable equitable future for everyone. Such an honest process will certainly require many more than forty voices chosen by a select few who have their own biases.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
David Adams
In case you missed Tuesday’sJune xx Council work session on Building Complete Communities, the presentation by Jennifer Keesmaat, consultant, ended with three Hard Truths. This letter summarizes them here with my response to Mayor, Council and Consultant.
