Residents concerned about construction near Eastwood Lake

Last week, Chapel Hill resident Carolyn Cole saw something during a rainstorm that shocked her — a large flood of debris in the lake outside her house.

“I looked out the window, and all of a sudden, I saw something that looked like an island developing,” she said.

Cole lives near Eastwood Lake, a man-made lake that has been affected by sediment buildup from construction runoff throughout the past few decades.

Residents are now expressing concern that the proposed Charterwood mixed-use development — which would be located off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Weaver Dairy Road — will contribute to runoff from the lake’s northern feeder stream.

Tonight the Chapel Hill Town Council will once again discuss approving a zoning amendment and special-use permit for the development. Members voted 5-4 in June to approve the changes, failing to achieve the required two-thirds vote to pass.

Council members who voted against the development said they were concerned that the construction of a new development could threaten Eastwood Lake.

Councilman Matt Czajkowski voted against the ordinance in June.
Czajkowski said he is not opposed to the development but wants to know if it could create additional sediment buildup and erosion in the lake.

“Part of our responsibility as council members is to not approve projects that may have a detrimental impact,” he said.

Longtime resident James Protzman, who lives on the lake, said sediment coming in through the lake’s stream has led to the lake filling up.

“It’s pretty clear where it comes from,” he said. “I just have to open my eyes and look to see that it’s full of silt.”

Protzman said the erosion prevention systems haven’t done a good job of controlling runoff from construction on Weaver Dairy Road.
“Every time it rains, they fail,” he said.

Protzman said the last time the lake was dredged, or had its sediment removed, was in 2001 — but the Lake Forest Association had to foot the more than $1 million bill.

He said buildup is inevitable if Charterwood is approved.
“Everyone agrees that there will be erosion from Charterwood that comes into the lake,” he said.

But Bill Christian, Charterwood’s developer, does not think runoff will be an issue since the development must comply with town erosion laws.

“We intend to meet and exceed all of those rules,” he said.
Protzman said he would like the council to impose a performance bond on Charterwood, which would require the developer to pay for any damage to the lake.

The council denied the request in June.

“If you look around the country in the Great Lakes area, there is a whole history of over 100 years of performance bonds,” Protzman said. “The town council should not be telling us to deal with legal problems that they created.”

Cole said she is worried about the environmental impact future developments will have on the lake.

“There’s going to be a whole series of things built,” she said. “And if we don’t get some regulations and restrictions, this lake’s going to fill in really fast.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.