Council delays Charterwood decision

For the third time this year, the Chapel Hill Town Council postponed a decision Wednesday night on the Charterwood development.

Charterwood is a 14-acre mixed-use development proposed to be located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It includes retail, office space and residential units.

But the development has drawn criticism from some council members and neighbors who worry about its appearance and environmental impact.

“The impact on existing residents is profound, and it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ed Harrison — the only council member to voice concerns about the development at the meeting.

The council discussed whether the proposed development met zoning goals provided in the Chapel Hill 2020 Comprehensive Plan.

Four council members, including Harrison, voted against the zoning atlas amendment, which would have asserted that the development fits the comprehensive plan, causing a tie.

Councilman Gene Pease was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.

Harrison said he also thought the applicant — developer Bill Christian — did not listen to the council’s suggestions when creating the development’s site plan.

“It opens up the ability to bring any type of design the developer wants,” he said.

Christian has been working to get Charterwood approved by the council for years.

During a June 26 meeting, the council voted 5-4 for the development. But the development needed six votes to pass.

The council will revisit the development’s zoning atlas amendment again at its Sept. 24 meeting.

But J.B. Culpepper, director of the Chapel Hill planning department, advised the council to vote on the development’s zoning atlas amendment separately from its special-use permit and related amendments.

Culpepper said the council will vote on resolutions and related amendments separately — a new policy for the town.

“We will be doing this in the future for text amendments and zoning atlas amendments,” she said.

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