Everyone wants progress; no one wants change. – Soren Kierkegaard
We should unfurl that wisdom on a banner over the dais in Town Council chambers, because that 
sums up the theme of nearly every council meeting.
Development proposals dominate our weekly agendas. Every new development brings with it troublesome side effects.
In order to be a “vibrant” town, we need to attract new businesses, which calls for us to ensure sufficient housing in a range of prices for those employees to live in. With limited undeveloped land in town, building new housing requires uprooting trees or demolishing older housing stock to increase density. The new construction sells or rents at a higher rate than existing units, which raises the floor of rents and housing prices all over town.
The loss of trees and open space increases stormwater runoff and the risk that existing homes will flood. Greater density brings heavier traffic, which motivates us to buy more buses and recruit more drivers, who can’t afford to live in town because the new growth has made Chapel Hill too expensive for the working class.
While it may feel as if all council has done in recent years is approve new luxury apartments — 400 in Carraway Village; 272 where the Days Inn used to be; 234 on the Hampton Inn property; 328 at the Honda dealership site; about 800 more where Park Apartments are currently — we have had some success in the commercial space. The Station at 54, an office building next to the new Hamilton Road fire station, opened this year and is fully rented. We approved new medical office and clinic space for UNC Hospitals in Eastowne, along with a large parking deck for some 1,100 spaces.
We’re nowhere near done. If federal and state money comes through for the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit, we will have to plan density and land uses around stations. UNC Health Care was clear that the building council approved at Eastowne would be only one of several it expects to build in coming years. Several concept plans for other developments, almost all of it luxury rentals, are in the queue already.
Because any progress we make will involve change, let’s be strategic about our growth. Let’s think about what we want, what we need to support what we want, and how to make all of this happen without raising taxes dramatically or otherwise reducing the quality of life for residents.
— Nancy Oates
