UNC Plan Provokes Commissioners' Concerns

UNC officials presented the board with the plan for the development of the 979-acre Horace Williams land tract, which is expected to include research, commercial and residential facilities.

The commissioners cited county concerns, such as transportation and school growth, as key factors UNC officials should consider when planning the proposed expansion.

Commissioner Stephen Halkiotis said he is concerned that large-scale growth at the University would bring new students to Orange County schools.

"The county commissioners have a legal responsibility to provide schools," Halkiotis said.

"Please keep in mind that what you do has an impact on what we have a legal mandate to do."

Commissioner Barry Jacobs said he is concerned that the development does not place enough emphasis on mass transit use but instead would allow commuters to use their own vehicles with limited restrictions.

"This still seems like 20th-century thinking about transit," he said.

Jack Evans, a professor in the Kenan-Flagler Business School and special assistant to the chancellor, presented the proposal to the commissioners and said he recognizes these concerns.

But Evans also said the expansion is still in the early stages of planning and that the impact on schools or transit could not yet be determined.

Evans told the commissioners the University plans to use the tract to develop "bio-tech/human genome research and commercialization."

The expansion would greatly add to the 575-acre main campus. This expected growth has angered some residents who fear the University's expansion could infringe on the community.

But Evans said environmental implications are being addressed.

"Environmental planning is very much at the heart of things that we're planning out here," he said.

Halkiotis said he is pleased that the the University plans to develop the area with minimal disturbance to the existing community.

"We're interested in controlled and managed growth," he said.

Evans emphasized the University's need to grow with the concerns of residents and the commissioners.

Evans also said UNC's development would include mandatory open space and limited urbanization.

"(The architects) project nothing for the Horace Williams property larger than the scale of Franklin and Columbia Streets," he said. "They are very much thinking about making this a livable space."

The completion of the expansion, still several decades away, would include civic, residential and retail space in addition to academic and research facilities.

"A number of people could live here and work here and be within walking distance of their occupations," Evans said.

Evans also said the Horace Williams tract would not replace the main campus.

"It took the University 200 years to build the square footage it has now," he said. "The core programs will remain on the main campus."

Evans said the University's proposal highlighted the possibilities the expansion could have for UNC and Orange County.

"Long-term, this will make an important contribution to the University and the state, but it's got to fit the community," Evans said.

"There's no towering construction contemplated in any of this."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.