As plans for Obey Creek move forward, residents of nearby neighborhoods will now have a larger part in crafting the development.
The Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously approved an alternative plan for the project’s Compass Committee at Wednesday night’s meeting. The committee will be responsible for information gathering in advance of Obey Creek’s construction, and will report its findings to the town in the fall.
The town’s original proposal called for a 10-member committee, which included four residents from neighborhoods near the proposed mixed-use retail and residential development.
Yesterday, the project’s developers and a Southern Chapel Hill resident submitted an alternative committee plan which included 16 members, half of whom would be residents. The committee will also include business leaders, planning board members and other representatives of Chapel Hill government.
Before they approved the plan, the council added a representative of the town’s Greenways Commission to the group, bringing the total membership to 17.
During the public hearing, project developer Roger Perry spoke about the need to include more resident voices in Obey Creek.
“It was unacceptable to the neighborhood,” Perry said of the original plan. “And the reason was they felt it didn’t give them enough chance to express their concerns.”
Several community members spoke at the meeting in support of Perry’s plan. One such speaker was Julie Richardson, who lives in the Hundred Oaks neighborhood near the proposed Obey Creek site.
“I would love to serve on such a committee,” Richardson said. “We also just have a vested interest in keeping our town special, the way Chapel Hill has always been.”
