Town Leaders Must Ease Up On University

And I think it's important to add that the first meeting was conveniently scheduled during UNC's final exams. It might have been unintentional (although, it's hard to believe the chancellor of the University didn't have access to an exam schedule), but that doesn't make it any less of a slap in the face for students.

Public meetings should be scheduled for times when there's a good chance the people who the meeting's outcomes might effect can attend.

Because The Daily Tar Heel doesn't publish during finals, there's a good chance students don't know anything about the meeting or that it even took place.

And that's a shame, because they have a huge stake in the Master Plan, the major issue the town-gown committee was formed to tackle.

The Master Plan involves expanding and improving residence halls, redesigning South Campus and building more parking decks, among other things.

When the plan is completed, the University will have space for about 3,000 more students.

Town officials are concerned about the impact 3,000 extra students will have on Chapel Hill in terms of roads, traffic, transit, storm water runoff and other infrastructure.

One of the issues December's meeting focused on was a town ordinance requiring anyone who wants to build to notify neighbors within 1,000 feet of the potential construction.

"It's an unreasonable requirement," Moeser said.

"It's treating a major state institution like a shopping center."

While that statement might be an exaggeration, it does often seem as though town officials are unjustly hostile to University expansion.

To name just a few of the benefits of having a major research university in your town, the University provides jobs, an excellent medical facility, educational resources and many students who are enthusiastic about volunteering in the community.

At the same time UNC is trying to grow, Chapel Hill itself is growing, and town officials will have to deal with the impact of new year-round residents as well.

The Chapel Hill Town Council tends to be careful when it comes to planning and zoning ordinances.

And to avoid excessive sprawl, that's necessary.

I'm not suggesting that Town Council members are discriminating against the University in construction matters, but they shouldn't always think of UNC expansion as a negative thing.

The population of the world, country and state are expanding. It makes sense that universities would have to expand to keep pace.

Another of the first town-gown relations committee meeting's major issues was a town ordinance's construction ceiling.

The Master Plan calls for 5 million more square feet of building space, but UNC will bump its head on the ceiling after building 600,000 more square feet.

But at September's public forum, town officials and residents were concerned about allowing the University to expand beyond its current limits.

Chapel Hill is going to expand, because that's what towns with good economies inevitably must do.

And while strict about zoning policies, town officials have seemed willing to work with that growth.

UNC is going to expand, because that's what good universities inevitably must do. But town officials have seemed less willing to work with that growth.

They're going to have to, though, or town-gown relations will get so ugly no committee will be able to deal with it.

Columnist Erin Mendell can be reached at mendell@email.unc.edu.