Chapel Hill Grows With Decisions

No one knows this better than the Chapel Hill Town Council, as it tries to deal with the major town growth issues it is facing. For the council members, town growth is their life.

And it seems that no one can agree on what is the best way to manage this growth -- and that is the beauty of Chapel Hill.

The future of Chapel Hill is largely placed in the hands of elected officials. They must make the town a place to live and work for future generations -- a big responsibility, to say the least. Fortunately, you can count on the fact that residents of Chapel Hill are ready to keep this responsibility in check.

But finding a unanimous middle ground is difficult -- and sometimes impossible -- task.

So, how do you tackle necessary growth problems while trying to maintain the small-town environment of Chapel Hill that we all know and love?

And moreover, how good of a job are our elected officials doing to manage this growth comfortably?

Nearly every decision and debate made during council meetings is caused by the tremendous development of the town and surrounding areas. Affordable housing debates, environmental problems and school overcrowding -- all are plagues that are interconnected with each other.

A decision to do one thing severely affects other issues in the town. And making the right decision for the best interest of the town is easier said than done -- and what's the "right" decision is always up for debate.

For every decision made concerning development, someone warns about urban sprawl. For every road widening or creation, there are environmental concerns. You would think it would be difficult to get anything passed in this town.

The town's latest woe is lack of affordable housing. With the council's approval of a $50,000 no-interest loan to assist a Habitat for Humanity project on Sunrise Road, the town is beginning to show its commitment to the creation of affordable housing units for its low-income employees.

The $50,000 loan is significantly less than the $300,000 grant that Habitat requested from the council members -- an example of the way they attempt to find a compromise.

They backed the Habitat loan unanimously despite the vocal opposition of neighbors concerned about environmental and density problems.

So a balance must be found elsewhere. The recent division of the government-owned Greene tract has reserved 18 acres for affordable housing and leaves the other 86 acres as open space.

Some say it's too little an area for low-cost housing, while some say green space is equally, if not more, important to the character of the town.

But the division of the Green tract seems like the right compromise. This town has always been committed to environmental protection. And as the town becomes more developed and urban, council members must be sure to reserve some open spaces for aesthetic and leisure purposes.

But also affecting affordable housing is the problem of school overcrowding -- the interconnectedness is not immediately obvious.

The council is considering a test run of the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance that would limit new neighborhood development until adequate school facilities are available.

The problem with SAPFO is the demand for housing would increase, causing the price tags on already-expensive housing to increase as well.

While it is a good idea in theory and developed for productive purposes, it could end up having harmful consequences on availability of affordable housing.

Such is the life of a Town Council member -- trying to find the best management of growth and maintenance of the character of Chapel Hill.

As at least temporary residents of the town of Chapel Hill, we all are held to the responsibility of its future.

The give-and-take nature of town growth makes it impossible to please everyone all the time.

But what we need to ensure is that they are pleasing most of the people all of the time.

Carolyn Pearce can be reached at cpearce@email.unc.edu.