Council Wants Changes In Development Plans

Town Council members reviewed plans for the Northeast Gateway, a 150-acre site on U.S. 15-501 identified as a possible place for mixed-use development, at their meeting Monday night.

Town Manager Cal Horton outlined site design objectives, which the council requested Oct. 23. The objectives drew from features created by architectural firm Duda Paine, represented at the meeting by Turan Duda and Jeffrey Paine.

Duda Paine, a Durham-based firm, was the winner of a Town Council-sponsored competition to initiate dialogue about possibilities for developing the site.

Duda said the center of the site will be a large green area anchoring branches of entertainment, commerce and education, two ponds and other smaller elements.

"Place-making is proudly at the essence of what this project needs to be," said Duda, who articulated the vision behind the firm's design to the Town Council.

A pedestrian bridge spanning 15-501, which Duda said was symbolic of a gateway into Chapel Hill, was drafted as a key feature of the plan.

Duda said the plan has the building blocks of a mixed-use complex.

"Working, living and playing in the same context is absolutely essential," he said.

Duda said the development, made to be environmentally, socioeconomically and demographically adaptive, would be built gradually.

"There is no such thing as an instant city," Duda said.

But council member Joyce Brown was wary of the architect's description of the growth that the new development would bring to Chapel Hill.

"I'm not sure that the public has realized the magnitude of this plan," Brown said.

Brown said she is concerned about Duda's reference to Chapel Hill as a city.

"Clearly this is the path to a city, and we need to make sure that this is their vision too, and I'm not sure that it is."

Over the course of three growth phases, the development will end with 1.3 million square feet of office space, 600 residential units and 7,500 parking spaces, including a mass transit center.

Mayor Rosemary Waldorf expressed concern about the density of the site and possible traffic congestion.

"If all transit systems are in place by the time it hits that density, then it can work," Waldorf said. "If not, we will have problems. This is already an area that is mobility-deficient."

Council member Kevin Foy suggested that the extensive increase in parking might draw more motorists to the area.

"We don't want to create a giant traffic nightmare over there," he said.

Duda assured the council that the firm's vision for the site was that it be a pedestrian-oriented retail area accommodating bikers and pedestrians and would not create traffic difficulties.

The council voted to send the design goals back to the town Planning Department, under the direction of Chapel Hill Planning Director Roger Waldon, for further revisions including the redrafting of bicycle paths and parking.

The revised design goals for the Northeast Gateway area will be presented to the council within the next three weeks.

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