I’m at that age where I repeat myself. For more than a year and a half, I’ve been nagging Town Council members to fix the Ephesus-Fordham form-based code so that we can repay the $10 million loan we took out for improvements to the area. Bear in mind, we put up Town Hall as collateral. […]
All posts in category Housing
What, me worry?
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 15, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/08/15/what-me-worry/
The Deciders
Recently I asked the town manager for an organizational flow chart of town staff that would show who was in charge of what. I received 18 pages of charts in response, most of which broke out the hierarchy of positions in each department. The collection led off, however, with a master chart of management levels. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 9, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/08/09/the-deciders/
Discretionary Zoning
Listen to Raleigh’s city attorney, Tom McCormick: “It is important to remember that when making a zoning decision, the council must consider all potential uses in a proposed district and cannot make a decision based on one specific use.” McCormick said council members have “wide discretion” in deciding whether to rezone a property for a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 11, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/07/11/discretionary-zoning/
Ask the experts
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. When it comes to working on the problem of not enough affordable housing, town and county elected officials would do well to choose Door #3. At the joint board meeting of county commissioners and Town Council members on June 2, county commissioner Bernadette Pelissier suggested forming a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 20, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/06/20/ask-the-experts/
Do-good discount
You get what you incentivize, or so hopes Todd Neal, a Northside landlord. Neal sees the benefit of having more people in the neighborhood who care about the community. To attract those civic-minded tenants, he is offering a rent discount of up to $50 a month to tenants who will volunteer up to 6 hours […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 23, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/23/do-good-discount/
What makes a house historic?
Last week, the Historic District Commission reluctantly pulled the plug on a house in the Gimghoul Historic District by approving a request by the owners of 704 Gimghoul to demolish the home. The couple had purchased the house in March 2015 and had come to the HDC with a plan to make it live better […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 16, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/16/what-makes-a-house-historic/
Horsetrading at the Council Corral
Two weeks ago, Chapel Hill hired a new planning director, Ben Hitchings, who came to the April 11 Town Council meeting. Much to my surprise, he did not resign immediately; in fact, he participated in our work session two days later. That says he’s a man undaunted by challenges. In a nutshell — we embarrassed […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 18, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/18/horsetrading-at-the-council-corral/
Aging in town
We know we won’t live forever, But most of us believe we’ll stay spry until our last day on earth. We convince ourselves that if we take a brisk walk daily, there won’t come a time when we can’t take that walk, that if we live a healthy lifestyle, we won’t ever have to battle […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 22, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/22/aging-in-town/
… and bathrooms for all
Now I feel bad. At a recent Town Council meeting I clarified to my colleagues my view that the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance — the town law that requires subdivision builders to make 15% of the homes affordable based on Area Median Income — does not mean developers must provide luxury housing to people who can’t […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 15, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/15/and-bathrooms-for-all/
On ice
The calls started coming in Sunday before the sun had reached high noon. Constituents who live on what’s known as “tertiary streets” phoned me because they knew I’d understand their cabin fever. All of us were iced in, and our good humor had begun to fray. Tertiary streets are those out-of-the-way neighborhoods that are the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 25, 2016
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/01/25/on-ice/