Why I’m running

7 Comments

1. 

   Terri

    /  July 22, 2019

   I think you are going to have to explain your vote against affordable housing to get past this issue. You say you voted with the community, but the community was split and you chose the part that wanted to slow down the process (the part with the misnamed Friends of the Greene Tract). I disengaged from Chapel Hill politics a couple of years ago and only took an interest in this issue because of Orange County and Carrboro’s involvement with it for the affordable housing. It reminded me why I don’t want to be involved in Chapel Hill. That was one of the most dysfunctional council meeting I’ve ever witnessed.

2. 

   Nancy Oates

    /  July 22, 2019

   My vote was not against affordable housing. My vote was for the community. The master plan the county put forth did not reflect the density and use I heard from the community. The county’s plan had Berkshire-style development and destination businesses, something the community clearly said during the rezoning meetings that they did not want in that area of town. Everyone from the community who spoke at council supported Option C. I received no emails or phone calls from anyone in the community who wanted Resolution A. It would be wonderful if politicians & political advocates came to council to lobby for affordable housing when developers propose a mixed-use project that needs a rezoning. That’s when we have our best shot at getting AH units.

3. 

   Terri

    /  July 22, 2019

   I disagree that your vote was for the “community.” It may have been for a portion of the community that lives outside of the historic Rogers Road neighborhood, but it did not represent the full community.

   Nor did the county put forth a master plan. Calling it that is misleading. The three planning departments–Orange County, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill–worked collectively to put forth the concept plan you helped shoot down. You’re just playing politics by labelling it a county plan.

   Nor did the plan have anything about Berkshire-style development and destination businesses. The plan had the types of housing and businesses specified in the 2016 Mapping Our Future Plan developed by the Rogers Road community before Larkspur residents got involved.

   Of course you didn’t receive any emails or phone calls prior to the vote–only a small handful of individuals knew what was going to happen. The council and staff weren’t even aligned on the language of the Option C language as illustrated by the last hour of haggling.

   The number of units that come from mixed use projects in minuscule and doesn’t come close to meeting the demand. We need the Greene tract as a more significant step toward meeting the unmet demand for affordable housing.

4. 

   Nancy Oates

    /  July 22, 2019

   Not to get too wordsmithy. but you can find the materials from our Feb. 20 meeting here: https://chapelhill.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx; click on Agenda, then click on the hyperlink next to the Greene Tract item, then click on “Resolution.” You’ll see that we were asked to approve a “master plan” that included “67 acres of housing/mixed use.” The Berkshire and other apartment buildings going up in Blue Hill are mixed use. What Rogers Road area residents were clear about during the many rezoning meetings was they wanted a place for senior citizens and families to return to the community, and triplexes was as dense as they wanted to go. They did not want traffic from destination retail and high-rise apartments. Yet that’s what mixed-use allows. I wanted to make sure the residents’ vision was respected. At that same calendar link, you can watch the video and see that council members wanted to move forward with planning for development and making sure that what we agreed to was in keeping with what RENA residents envisioned. That’s why we approved everything except the master plan and its accompanying map that would “modify” all 164 acres.

5. 

   Terri

    /  July 22, 2019

   We’ll see when/if any affordable housing gets built. Given the different understandings by the elected officials and staff and residents, I’m not feeling too hopeful.

6. 

   Bonnie Hauser

    /  August 1, 2019

   Nancy – thanks for standing up for community and for affordable housing. I find it incredible to watch politicians and their operatives distort the facts, and work to drown out the voice of the community. Trump-like in every way.

   More public servants needed. Thats for being one!

7. 

   Plurimus

    /  August 2, 2019

   “…..political connections can drown out the voices of the people who live here.” This is sad but true. The embedded political machine around here is an anathema on democracy.