Greene Tract series continues

I took time out for a lengthy vacation, half of it spent abroad and half among the 85% of Chapel Hill residents who don’t realize Chapel Hill has a town council.

Stepping back gave me a new perspective on town business and how lives are lived by people who feel fulfilled, even if they know nothing about the slippery slope of conditional zoning or the threat posed by the big business of health care to heritage wildlife areas.

The rest of the world has a lot on its mind. The fields that grow our food are flooding or baking. Low-income folks are succumbing to diseases caused by particulate pollutants because they live near coal-burning power plants or high-traffic highways. Wages on the low half of the income range can’t keep up with housing costs.

To ease back into local issues, I went to an Orange County commissioners meeting last week to hear the discussion on the Greene Tract. I was dismayed to hear some commissioners straying from the facts.

A little background: The Greene Tract consists of 164 acres of which 104 are jointly owned by Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Orange County independently owns the remaining 60 acres of headwater preserve. Some years back, the three governing bodies agreed that decisions on developing any part of the parcel would be made jointly.

The land is considered part of the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood. In 2016, Rogers Road residents came up with a plan for low-impact development that would provide some affordable housing, particularly for senior citizens, while preserving natural areas of old-growth hardwoods.

At an Assembly of Governments meeting a couple years ago while I was on council, the county presented three development options to consider — low, medium or high density. No votes were taken; no decisions made; no substantive discussions had; and no community input received.

Last year, Orange County sent a development plan for the Greene Tract to the townships. In February, Chapel Hill Town Council expressed concerns to the board of commissioners but was rebuffed. When the plan was formally presented to Chapel Hill in late spring, the Town Council convened a special meeting in July to discuss it. Rogers Road residents partnered with neighborhoods along the southern edge of the parcel and conservationists to lobby for the 2016 plan developed by the Rogers Road community.

At the July meeting, former, current and aspiring politicians banded against the Rogers Road contingent to lobby for high-density development. Chapel Hill Town Council tried to find a compromise between residents and politicians. Over the next couple of months, a small group of elected officials and staff from all three bodies met to work out differences.

Now, all three governing bodies have agreed to a process for moving forward with development decisions. Some commissioners were reluctant to sign on, but the Rogers Road residents, neighbors, conservationists and an affordable housing advocate talked them into it.

Discussion of developing the Greene Tract will begin at Tuesday’s (Jan. 28) Assembly of Governments meeting at 7 p.m. in the Whitted Building on Tryon Street in Hillsborough. Public comment usually is not allowed, but open eyes and ears are welcome.

See you there.

— Nancy Oates