More than 50 people attended Chapel Hill Town Council meeting Monday night to recognize a two-year-long effort between community residents and developers to find a consensus for the Glen Lennox Area Neighborhood Conservation District Plan.
“The planning board unanimously and enthusiastically approved the NCD plan,” said Del Snow, chairwoman of the planning board.
While preserving the historic beauty of the neighborhood, the plan aims to attract a hotel, extend greenways, and add more housing, shops, restaurants and office space in Chapel Hill’s oldest shopping center and apartment complex.
Glen Lennox, the first mixed-use development in Chapel Hill, was built in 1950 with 440 cottage apartments.
The NCD plan became contentious after the owners of the Glen Lennox properties presented a plan for the Glen Lennox Neighborhood Conservation District.
“I remember it was scary, the amount of anger in the room during the first introduction of the plan,” said council member Matt Czajkowski. “But trust is created, and this to me is just thrilling.”
Mike Collins, co-chairman of the development committee that worked on the plan, agreed that finding consensus was not easy.
“This neighborhood took up the challenge… it’s been not an easy road,” Collins said. “Each person sacrificed something they wanted for a larger goal.”
The committee meets about once a month to discuss the neighborhood and outline guidelines approved by residents of the Glen Lennox area as they consider how they will change the property.
“It was an incredible experience of listening,” said Molly McConnell, a long-time tenant of a Glen Lennox apartment. “We’ve fought and cried … but we agreed (with the committee) the fact that we value Glen Lennox, and it’s a socially and economically diverse neighborhood.”
Although residents agreed that attending neighborhood meetings and getting involved in the process was worth their efforts, some said there were issues beyond those the committee could solve.
“I’d like to ask my neighbor to monitor these: affordable housing, greenways, tree ordinances, transportation strategies and design of architecture,” said Rogerson Drive resident Mary Dexter, who petitioned the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2008 to make Glen Lennox a neighborhood conservation district.
But not everyone was pleased with the plan. Long-time resident Jane Hare said the plan needs to prioritize keeping rental space inexpensive.
“Affordable rental housing is a desperate need in Chapel Hill and development should be geared to be providing for this,” she said.
The next public hearing will take place on May 30.
Notable:
While the NCD plan received positive feedback, town council members and residents did not express much support for the concept plan of Carolina Flats, a proposed student housing project in Chapel Hill.
Carolina Flats would put a four-story hotel and about 190 apartments designed for UNC upperclassmen and graduate students at North Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Will Raymond, a neighbor from the Mt. Bolus neighborhood, said the project is a poor fit with Carolina North’s transparent process and environmentally sensitive development.
“Carolina Flats proposes a large commercial development that is not consistent with the visions of Carolina North,” he said. “It is not transit-oriented and there’s little to improve current conditions.”
Jill Blackburn of Coker Woods was also concerned about the density and traffic proposed with Carolina Flats.
“The project will bring detrimental changes to our neighborhood and significantly affect families,” she said. “We wish to preserve the safety of Estes drive, especially those who attended elementary school there.”
Quotable:
Some town council members said developers should delay the Carolina Flats plan until the town finishes its 2020 comprehensive plan process.
“Your timing is lousy,” Councilman Gene Pease said. “I’m prepared to negotiate with you, but this plan doesn’t even come close to even starting to what I’d like to see in this part of Chapel Hill.”
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