Bonnie Hauser, the president of Orange County Voice, sheds light on Orange County Commissioners’ budget deliberations. Here’s what she has to say about the commissioners’ season finale: On Tuesday, the BoCC will approve increased taxes and fees for 2013-14. On top of Chapel Hill’s 2 cent tax increase, the county will add 2 cents for […]
All posts in category Economic development
Business as usual?
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 17, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/06/17/business-as-usual-2/
Invite them where?
I listened to a panel discussion on WCHL yesterday afternoon as I drove around doing errands in the rain. Local residents who held various leadership roles in Chapel Hill and Carrboro talked about their vision for the town. One comment in particular stuck with me. Delores Bailey, executive director of Empowerment, said she would like […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 29, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/29/invite-them-where/
It’s only a slice
Don and I live simply. Because we are so focused on paying our high property taxes (purportedly the highest in the state), we rarely go out to dinner. But once in a while, we’ll pick up a pizza to go. Last night, Don called Tedesco’s, our favorite Italian joint, to place an order, but the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 22, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/22/its-only-a-slice/
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/
A sense of place
Bonnie Hauser, president of the grassroots organization Orange County Voice, sends this holiday greeting from New England: This year, and every year, I spend Christmas in western Massachusetts (“the Berkshires seem dreamlike on account of their frosting…”). A few inches of snow, a little sun, and a brisk 30 degrees – warm for the area, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 1, 2013
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/01/01/a-sense-of-place/
Too lucky?
Council members must count how many of their colleagues attend an event lest enough of them gather in one place that they violate open meeting laws. Must they also count how many door prizes they win? The Friends of Downtown, at its holiday meeting on Dec. 6, gave out door prizes donated by downtown merchants. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 24, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/12/24/too-lucky/
Give them the business
From the way businesses have sprung up downtown, you’d never know that we’ve been through four years of a down economy started by a financial meltdown and we’re teetering on the edge of a fiscal cliff. Here’s a by no means exhaustive list of businesses that have opened downtown in the past year: Sweet Frog […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 17, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/12/17/give-them-the-business/
What’s the rush?
Southern Area resident and CH2020 participant Jeanne Brown has this to say about the proposed Obey Creek development near Southern Village: As has become a common theme in the two-and-a-half-year-old Obey Creek discussion, area residents found that Monday night’s Town Council agenda included another Obey Creek twist: The resolution before Town Council combined discussion and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 8, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/11/08/whats-the-rush/
Table talk
John Ager is a member of the Planning Board and co-facilitated the recent Central West Focus Area meetings. Here’s what he has to say: A fundamental challenge lies at the heart of the “Central West Focus Area” debate. This area contains some of the town’s oldest and loveliest neighborhoods. No one is surprised when the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 15, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/15/table-talk/