People love to feel special. Sales agents make a living by understanding the power of “just for you”: “I don’t usually do this, but just for you, I’ll …” It closes the deal and mitigates buyer’s remorse. But “just for you” would lose its value if there were no standards or rules to push back […]
All posts in category Land Use
Bargaining Power
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 13, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/03/13/bargaining-power/
The Gift of Rezoning
Town Council gave the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools a gift last week. But school board members, perhaps dismayed that they didn’t get what they came for, may not have noticed what they got instead. The school board has proposed expanding the existing building at Lincoln Center to centralize preschool classes now spread out across the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 6, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/03/06/the-gift-of-rezoning/
DOLRT’s Cost-Plus
If anything could sway me toward taking on the crushing debt of the Durham-Orange County Light Rail it would be the promise of getting some affordable housing in return. And sure enough, in its presentation about planning DOLRT stations, GoTriangle reps dangled that yarn ball before Town Council — including affordable housing in the mix […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 20, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/02/20/dolrts-cost-plus/
Dry reading worth wading into
Have you read the Lower Booker Creek Subwatershed Study Report? The tome is the type of reading you do only when the roads are iced over and you can’t leave your house for three days. But it contains critically important information that could save our town from washing away downstream. Stormwater management experts give this […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 30, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/01/30/dry-reading-worth-wading-into/
To a Healthy New Year
My husband and I gave each other matching colds for Christmas this year, not the gifts we had intended, but a result of getting out and into the community more than I have in years past. When it comes to germs, especially in the holiday season, I’ve tried not to give back. And that means […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 2, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/01/02/to-a-healthy-new-year/
Giving back
When it comes to charitable giving, I wish “deep pockets” meant “bottomless resources.” But in reality, people and organizations have a finite amount of money they make available to donate to nonprofits. Competition for those dollars is fierce, as you may have guessed by the number of solicitations you have received in the past several […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 19, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/12/19/giving-back/
The modestly paid are people, too
Swiss novelist Max Frisch’s quip, “We asked for workers; we got people instead,” applies as much to affordable housing as it does to the immigration issue he addressed in his day. At a council work session on Oct. 19, town staff presented the findings of David Paul Rosen & Associates, a consulting firm that we […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 7, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/11/07/the-modestly-paid-are-people-too/
Putting out
At last week’s Town Council meeting, a council member likened Chapel Hill giving Wegmans an incentive to locate here as “being the first girl to put out.” Many in the community seem to agree. I see it as a risk-free way to show companies that Chapel Hill is serious about being open for business. One […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 24, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/10/24/putting-out/
A bond without a plan
When it comes to taking on the challenge of increasing the amount of affordable housing, Orange County commissioners would do well to heed the wise counsel of Yogi Berra: “When you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” County commissioners proposed two bond referenda for the November election: $120 million to repair […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 10, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/10/10/a-bond-without-a-plan/
Lessons from Boulder
If the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce aimed to scare travelers on its 2016 Inter-City Visit into thinking that height restrictions and no-build buffers would make real estate prices skyrocket, someone forgot to clue in the Boulder speakers. The chamber organized a trip for about 80 of us from Orange County – elected officials, business […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 3, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/10/03/lessons-from-boulder/