If you had told me six months ago that someday I would lead the cheering section for Planning Board chair Del Snow, I would have called you crazy. And now look. After Town Council’s Feb. 27 vote approving Bicycle Apartments, Snow wrote a letter to council questioning why council members didn’t postpone the vote until […]
Save Del Snow
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 6, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/06/save-del-snow/
Our anti-social Town Council
There’s nothing in the town’s bylaws that says Town Council members have to be socially responsible. Or that they must exercise foresight in their decision making. Or that they should do their best to make certain the social fabric of our community is kept intact. But it sure would be nice. The council extravagantly funds […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 4, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/04/our-anti-social-town-council/
Act now
Town Council won’t meet again until Wednesday, Feb. 27, which gives council members two more days to do something about workforce housing. Approval for rezoning and a special use permit for The Bicycle Apartments comes up for a vote toward the end of a packed agenda. Council members will likely be tired and perhaps a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 25, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/25/act-now/
What’s another $50 million?
Watching Parks & Rec director Butch Kisiah and various paid consultants and volunteer committee chairs present the master plans for Parks & Rec and Greenways, I learned that I’m not the only one with Lexus tastes on a Civic budget. The plans looked great: adding 10 miles of greenway trails to the town’s existing 13 […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 19, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/19/whats-another-50-million/
Our box of chocolates
Don and I sometimes think about retiring to a rural town where our retirement dollars will go further. But when it comes time to act, we stay put. What keeps us in Chapel Hill is not the public art, the state-of-the-art transportation center or even the lovely indoor swimming pools and library (the limited hours […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 18, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/18/our-box-of-chocolates/
Whose fair share?
Turns out 123 West Franklin’s parking spaces and grassy courtyard weren’t for the public after all. In trying to defend its miserly contribution to affordable housing in the face of several council members’ criticism, developer Cousins Properties pointed to the courtyard green space and the pool of 150 to 200 metered spaces in its parking […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 12, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/12/whose-fair-share/
Too big to donate?
Shortbread Lofts got off easy when it came to making a contribution toward affordable housing. Should that set precedent for downtown redevelopment projects going forward? Cousins Properties apparently thinks so. Cousins makes a return visit to council tonight for a zoning change and special use permit to tear down the existing University Square buildings at […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 11, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/11/too-big-to-donate/
Mayor backs Planning Board
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt addressed the Planning Board meeting last night to clear the air over the brouhaha ignited when former council member Penny Rich wrote an official letter in her role as an Orange County commissioner to Kleinschmidt asking him to fire Del Snow as chair of the Planning Board. His timing forced us to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 6, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/06/mayor-backs-planning-board/
Transportation meeting tonight
I don’t envy Kumar Neppalli, Chapel Hill’s traffic engineer-in-chief. Estes Drive will get a new traffic light where Library Drive T’s into it. NCDOT will cover the costs. Neppalli will work out the logistics. Everyone who has ever tried to turn east on Estes after leaving the library knows the risk of making that left […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 4, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/04/transportation-meeting-tonight/
Park it where?
Never have I been so glad to work from home as after listening to the presentation on the state of the town’s transit system. For an hour and a half last night, Chapel Hill Transit’s interim director, Brian Litchfield, waxed eloquent about where we are and where we’re going, bus-wise. Federal and state funding projections, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 29, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/01/29/park-it-where-2/