The meeting, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chapel Hill Town Hall, 306 N. Columbia St., will focus on redesigning certain locations. Potential topics include discussing ways to handle Parking Lot No. 5, located between Michael Jordan's Restaurant-23 and the Exxon station on Franklin Street. "The emphasis is on planning and new development in the downtown area," said Planning Director Roger Waldon.
The session, which is open to the public, will give residents a chance to provide their input on the development of these ideas, said Town Council member Bill Strom.
"The workshop is really (designed) to receive guidance on planning from citizens," Strom said.
Waldon said the planning department has been working for two months on computer-generated sketches that are meant to provide a better idea of how development will look.
"We've got some computer models to allow us to play 'what if,'" Waldon said. "What we're going to do is to put some visual into some ideas that people have been talking about for years."
Strom said he hopes the workshops will focus on issues like improving Parking Lot No. 5 to make it a more functional space.
"I'd agree that (Parking Lot No. 5) is an underutilized town asset," Strom said. "I'd like us to use that asset to spark a more vibrant downtown area. By vibrant, I mean both economically and, as well, promoting town life."
Strom said he believes that Rosemary Street could be better planned to provide both business and parking solutions.
"I see this as functioning like a mixed-use downtown area and not solely surface parking," Strom added. "We need to reshuffle the existing land parcels and see what is available."
