UNC, Town Debate Involves Local Church

Stuck in the middle, the Chapel Hill Bible Church asked the representatives to decide among themselves as to who would use the lot, which is located at the intersection of Sage and Erwin roads.

While Nancy Suttenfield, vice chancellor for finance and administration, has represented the University's interest in using the lot since December 2001, town representatives say they have been contacting the Chapel Hill Bible Church since 1998.

After Suttenfield contacted him, Chapel Hill Town Manager Cal Horton decided to obtain the town council's opinion. But in a memo presented Monday night at the Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, Horton conveyed approval for the University's use of the lot.

"Unless the council provides other directions, we will communicate to the University and the Bible Church that the council has no objection to the University pursuing development of a park-ride lot at the Bible Church property," the memo states.

However, a number of local residents expressed concern about the increased amount of traffic a PR Lot would bring to the area, whether the town or the University develops it.

Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services said UNC needs about 2,600 additional short-term PR spaces for the next six to eight years.

During that time, Elfland said the University hopes to acquire more permanent PR spaces and that the number of short-term spaces needed would drop by about 50 percent after the six to eight years. "We actually drove around to various churches in the community to see if any had parking lots we could possibly use as PR lots," Elfland said.

Elfland said that worries about increased traffic in the town were greatly exaggerated. "Instead of continuing up 15-501 into Chapel Hill, people will take the turn into the church," she said. "There won't be a great difference."

Brent Clark, an administrator at Chapel Hill Bible Church, acknowledged that use of the lot as a PR lot could possibly pose traffic problems. "The Bible Church is located along a busy corridor in Chapel Hill," he said. "As a church, we want to be sensitive to our neighbors."

But Clark also said the church wants to do all it can to help the surrounding area. "The church would be open to any discussions as far as helping the town and University with their parking needs."

Elfland said she hoped the situation between the town and University could be resolved quickly. She said officials hope to have the PR spaces at the church operational by the fall of 2003.

Council member Flicka Bateman said although the town had been pursuing the property, she realized that if the University acquired the church lot, the action would promote mass transit, one of the town's main priorities.

"The town has been looking for ways to provide park and rides for a long time," she said. "Assuming we can work out the access, we can accept this."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.