Last week, Chapel Hill resident Carolyn Cole saw something during a rainstorm that shocked her — a large flood of debris in the lake outside her house.
“I looked out the window, and all of a sudden, I saw something that looked like an island developing,” she said.
Cole lives near Eastwood Lake, a man-made lake that has been affected by sediment buildup from construction runoff throughout the past few decades.
Residents are now expressing concern that the proposed Charterwood mixed-use development — which would be located off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Weaver Dairy Road — will contribute to runoff from the lake’s northern feeder stream.
Tonight the Chapel Hill Town Council will once again discuss approving a zoning amendment and special-use permit for the development. Members voted 5-4 in June to approve the changes, failing to achieve the required two-thirds vote to pass.
Council members who voted against the development said they were concerned that the construction of a new development could threaten Eastwood Lake.
Councilman Matt Czajkowski voted against the ordinance in June.
Czajkowski said he is not opposed to the development but wants to know if it could create additional sediment buildup and erosion in the lake.
“Part of our responsibility as council members is to not approve projects that may have a detrimental impact,” he said.
Longtime resident James Protzman, who lives on the lake, said sediment coming in through the lake’s stream has led to the lake filling up.