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The Daily Tar Heel

Town OKs Review for UNC Center

Additions to the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center will continue despite a recent halt on area development.

Council members voted unanimously to allow expansion of the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center, which is owned and operated by the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The decision went unchallenged by the council members in spite of the virtual moratorium on new construction.

The council stalled future development at its Jan. 28 meeting in order to perfect the town's development ordinance, which will be a guide for all future development. But since then, council members have made a few exceptions for projects already in the works.

Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning at UNC, requested that the center's special-use permit be extended to allow further construction. Two additions to the building were included in the center's 1997 special-use permit.

But construction did not begin until after both the 24-month special-use permit deadline and the date for an extension request had passed.

"If the project is stalled by the hiatus in development, there will be a significant impact on the community," Runberg said. "We're simply asking that they approve what's already been approved."

The Rizzo Center is a 28-acre facility situated in Meadowmont, a mixed-use development on N.C. 54, and is the host site for business school functions.

"The existing facility has been well-received and demand for access to the center has exceeded expectations," Runberg said.

Runberg wrote the Town Council on Feb. 1 to request a vote in favor of the project's expansion. An approved request for expedited review would benefit both the University and the town in the long run, he argued.

"This project provides economic benefits and presents a positive image of the University and the town of Chapel Hill," Runberg said.

He added that the economic benefits provided by the conference center expansion would benefit the town indirectly.

"The facility hosts conferences whose attendees will be able to walk to the Meadowmont Village and present an expanded clientele to the businesses that will exist there," Runberg said.

Runberg added that delays of even a few months would have widespread consequences for the town of Chapel Hill and the project's investors.

"If our request is accepted, the conference center can be ready by June or July. But if it is not approved for four months, the cost would be an extra quarter of a million dollars."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.

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