Chapel Hill Town Council to reconvene, discuss comprehensive plan

As the Chapel Hill Town Council gears up for another year, elections and the comprehensive plan are sure to shape the agenda, town officials say.

The council will return from its summer break with a council business meeting Monday night.

At the meeting, the council will discuss regulating cellphone use while driving, establishing a budget for its transit advertising plan and amending the town’s land use ordinance policy.

Cellphone use became a subject of discussion over the summer when a resident petitioned the council to place a ban on cellphone use while driving.

The council also approved in June an exterior transit advertising program as part of a search for ways to lessen the burden of transit expenses, and needs a budget to operate the program.

But this session, the council will discuss even more long-reaching initiatives — like creating a new comprehensive plan.

“The greatest bulk of our energy is going to be around monitoring the comprehensive plan planning process,” Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said.

The process for forming the plan, which will guide growth in Chapel Hill for the next 20 years, will kick off Sept. 27.

Kleinschmidt said the plan will play a role as the council discusses developments.

“For every development proposal we consider, I think that’s going to be in the background.”

Council member Matt Czajkowski said he expects fiscal issues to dominate this session.

Czajkowski also said he would like to see the council discuss adopting broader anti-panhandling ordinances this year.

He said the issue has been controversial for years, but council members have been hesitant to take action on the issue.

“Most members and council members haven’t wanted to address (the issue),” he said. “I hope that maybe we’ll see some action, but I’m not hopeful.”

Councilwoman Donna Bell said she expects future panhandling discussions to focus on improving the town environment rather than on creating additional penalties.

She said she expects the town budget, local libraries and the comprehensive plan to dominate this year’s council discussions.

“At this point, I would love to see a more structured product come out of the comprehensive plan,” she said.

She said she is glad the plan will address how land use is connected to the town.

“(The plan) is very cognizant that all of our systems are connected,” she said.

Kleinschmidt said regardless of what the town discusses, the upcoming mayoral and council elections will color the discourse.

“It doesn’t really matter what level of government you talk about,” he said. “The fact that there is an election going on does inform the discussions the council has.

“I’d like to think the council members don’t make decisions based on the fact.”

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