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(10/10/07 4:00am)
Political activist Will Raymond is campaigning a second time for a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council.
Raymond said he hopes to facilitate more open and honest exchanges between the town and its government.
If elected, he promises to increase financial accountability of the council's actions, openness of information and attention to detail.
He will draw on his experience designing software to streamline business operations to achieve these goals and advocates using the Internet to connect with the public.
Raymond already makes his opinions on town issues and events public on his blog, http://citizenwill.org.
Raymond said his main issue with the current council is that it doesn't encourage citizen participation.
"It's not just telling people what you did after that fact but pulling the community in beforehand," he said.
He has participated on the Horace Williams citizens committee, the downtown parking citizens committee and the technology advisory board.
He also takes credit for mobilizing dissent in 2004 to bring an end to Chapel Hill's camera system that monitored intersections.
Raymond advocates evaluating the success of council initiatives.
"I'm for setting goals and having some way to measure results."
Another of Raymond's complaints is that the council is not careful enough in estimating costs, citing the discrepancies between estimated and actual costs for many major town projects, especially the recently constructed Town Operations Center.
He said that he hates to make money such a major issue but that he believes "if you don't have money in the bank, you can't do good."
Raymond also said the council's opinions are homogenous and resistant to outside points of view.
"This is my problem - they have not entertained dissent," he said. "They have not integrated dissent."
He said the council's goal to increase downtown dwellers with Lot 5 is misguided because there already are residents downtown.
Raymond also said the project won't result in the expected economic benefits.
"This whole thing is based on a bunch of illusions," he said.
Raymond lives with his wife and 11-year-old son in Chapel Hill. He moved to the town in 1991.
"At the time, Chapel Hill was a pretty progressive place," he said.
Raymond is a software architect with TIBCO Software Inc. His colleague Joe Baysdon said Raymond will take on difficult issues.
"He's always willing to ask the hard questions that maybe management doesn't want him to ask."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
(09/27/07 4:00am)
Carrboro mayoral and aldermen candidates focused on development and public transportation Wednesday evening at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina.
The candidates present at the forum were allowed one minute to answer questions from residents present at the Carrboro Town Hall.
There are three candidates running for mayor, and six people running for three seats on the Board of Aldermen.
Brian D. Voyce, who is running for mayor, and Frank Abernethy, who is a candidate for the board, both were absent.
Incumbent Mayor Mark Chilton emphasized his focus on commercial development for the town throughout the forum.
"Wherever our commercial development happens ... those areas need to be key public transportation corridors. They need to be well-connected by bus, and they need some sidewalks," Chilton said.
Mayoral candidate Chuck Morton addressed the need to ensure that new commercial development is not disruptive to the neighborhoods in which it happens.
"We need to concentrate on seeing whatever commercial space is sited ... is suitable to the residents of the area," he said.
Alderman candidate Katrina Ryan agreed that commercial development should be a focus for the board. She said that Carrboro needs a socially responsible general retailer.
"We've made such great strides in affordable housing, but people who need affordable housing need affordable underwear and affordable socks," Ryan said. "It is not ecologically or economically sustainable to continue sending them to Durham."
Joal Broun, an incumbent alderman, said planning for commercial development outside of downtown Carrboro is crucial.
Broun said that with the exception of two gas stations, there are no commercial enterprises in the northern areas of Carrboro.
Lydia Lavelle, an alderman candidate, spoke about residential development. She said affordable housing is a way to diversify the housing stock in Carrboro.
"We need to have a variety of housing because we're a variety of people," she said.
Transportation and its role in the growth of the town was also a focus of the forum.
Morton said he wants to rework the local bus system to increase ridership.
"I'd like to rethink the way that routes are laid out in the local bus service," he said.
He said that the current layout of the routes discourages people from riding the bus.
Sharon Cook, an aldermen candidate, said that many bus stops are not safe for riders, and that improving bus stops is an important part of developing the bus system.
"I so often see families that are there with their strollers ... in the weeds and grass trying to stand safely."
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(09/19/07 4:00am)
Rival factions vying for control of the Hillsborough Farmers Market are working with Orange County Cooperative Extension to mediate the conflict between the two groups of vendors.
Talks began after Beverly Blythe, market manager, filed a lawsuit against an incorporated group fighting to reorganize the farmers' market management.
Blythe is both the market manager and a vendor, which the incorporated group of vendors sees as a potential conflict of interest.
Jeffry Goodrum, spokesman for the group and owner of Seeing Stars Farm said he envisions an elected governance board, an independent market manager, a treasurer and an official set of bylaws.
He said these steps will bring a necessary financial and bureaucratic transparency to the market.
"I've never seen the financial reporting, no budget reports were ever given," he said.
"There are other markets like Hillsborough with a vendor that's a manager of the market, but that's the exception."
Blythe could not be reached for comment, but said in an August interview that Goodrum's plan would create "a level of bureaucracy which may not be what is best for the market as a whole."
On Aug. 24 Blythe filed a cease and desist suit requesting that the incorporated group not use the name Hillsborough Farmers Market, and that the group stop making intentionally false statements.
The lawsuit came after both groups spoke at an Aug. 21 meeting of the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
The groups both were presenting plans for the market's re-opening in a site that's part of the Orange County Justice Facility.
Goodrum said his group asked for clarification of the issue in a letter which was received by Blythe's lawyer on Aug. 31, requesting a clarification of allegations.
"As far as we were aware, we made no intentionally false statements," he said.
The law firm never replied to the incorporated group's letter.
But Goodrum said Blythe overreacted to the proposed changes.
"Even small groups have to have some kind of organization and structure, and that's been fairly actively resisted for a number of years now in this market," he said.
Since the lawsuit, Goodrum said his group has made one more presentation to the county commissioners.
He said the issue is on hold because the market is moving into a new county facility.
The regulations for use of the newly dedicated market house must be established before commissioners can vote on the management of the farmers' market, said Barry Jacobs, vice chairman of the board.
He said the board will take up the farmers' market issue again in October, after the regulations for the market house are decided this month.
Goodrum said that in the new location, and with better organization, the market could double or triple its customer base.
"The market could be far more vibrant and active than it is."
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(09/13/07 4:00am)
The Orange County Solid Waste Management Department is scrapping a recycling drop-off point on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The site was started in the 1970s by local Boy Scouts of America Troop 39, which ran the site until 2006. It is closing on September 30 to accommodate University expansion.
The site is currently open 24 hours a day and is not staffed. The impact on residents in the area should be minimal, said Gayle Wilson, director of Orange County solid waste management.
It is used the least of all the unstaffed recycling drop-off points in the county. Nearby sites such as the one at University Mall are viable and more popular alternatives, Wilson said.
"Oftentimes people go to a site that's on the way to somewhere else, so the site at University Mall is a big site because people are going there anyway," said Larry Kehrer, former executive director of ECOS Inc., which started the drop-off facilities at the site set for closure.
Wilson said it will impact small businesses in the area more significantly than residents because some business owners use the site for their recycling since the bins are often empty.
"It is somewhat underutilized," Wilson said.
Most residents in the area have access to other recycling services including curbside pick-up, said Rob Taylor, recycling programs manager.
The department's headquarters, located next door, also will be moving at the end of October, Taylor said.
The site, which is one of six drop-off points without staff in the county, is being closed to facilitate the construction of the University's satellite campus, Carolina North, Wilson said.
"As the University prepares for development they're trying to reduce the amount of traffic," Wilson said.
The site closing comes at a time when the department is expanding its pickup services to allow residents to recycle all mixed papers at their homes.
This service extension is partly responsible for a 28 percent increase in curbside recycling tonnage, said Taylor. From January to March 2007, 1,503 tons were recycled in comparison with 1,176 tons during that period in 2006.
The Scouts in Troop 39, who started the facility, first got involved in recycling when they did a cleanup of Airport Road and Homestead Road.
"We collected so many bottles and cans that we didn't much want to throw them away," said James Mackorell, Scout leader emeritus of Troop 39. Mackorell was the troop leader from 1964 until this year.
"This little Scout troop kept doing things like the cleanup," Mackorell said.
The troop's cleanups turned into a full-fledged recycling facility on Plant Road, which recycled more than 28,000 tons of glass and saved 5 percent of the town's landfill space, Mackorell said.
The Scouts then built the facility on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with no funding. Between 1983 and 2006, they recycled about 85,000 tons of paper and about 30,000 tons of aluminum.
And Mackorell said he continued the project even when support for it lagged.
"You had people - parents of boys in the troop - that said, 'You'll never get this done.' They said, 'I didn't have my boy join Scouting to do work in recycling,'" Mackorell said.
He also said that the closing of the facility will affect many of the former Scouts.
"I cannot tell you of the hundreds and hundreds of boys who have gone through the troop," he said. "They all feel a special attachment due to the fact that they did a big thing for their community."
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(09/11/07 4:00am)
Planning directors from Orange County and its municipalities discussed future developments that will accompany the region's projected population growth at a breakfast meeting Monday.
Carrboro and Chapel Hill soon will exhaust the supplies of undeveloped land, causing a change in the nature of the towns' development, said J.B. Culpepper, Chapel Hill's planning director.
"We're moving towards more intense development, more urban-type development- - transit-oriented, multifamily, mixed-use - and we're seeing more redevelopment in Chapel Hill," Culpepper said.
A major project in the county's future is the development of the University's satellite campus, Carolina North.
Aaron Nelson, president and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said 17,000 trips into Carolina North are projected per day once the campus opens.
Culpepper said the traffic will not affect just Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
"It will have impacts beyond the jurisdiction," Culpepper said.
As development across the county progresses and population increases, transportation becomes a concern, Orange County Planning Director Craig Benedict said.
"Transit-oriented development is going to be the future of development in all of the towns in the counties," Benedict said.
"We need to get the single-occupancy vehicles off the road."
The main growth-related issues for the rest of Orange County, including Hillsborough, are mainly extending water and sewage systems to areas without service, said Margaret Hauth, planning director for the town of Hillsborough.
One sewage-related project upcoming in the next five years will be an overhaul of the Hillsborough Water Treatment Facility, Hauth said.
"The sewer plant, while permitted to treat 3 million gallons of sewage a day with new environmental regulations, cannot begin to treat that much," Hauth said.
"It's not at capacity yet, but as we increase the flow to it, with increased development, we are seriously looking at a major upgrade to our sewer plant."
Hauth also said Hillsborough's housing developments have diversified.
Developments in process in the town include a project intended only for residents older than 55 years old and a development spearheaded by Habitat for Humanity.
The Hillsborough planning department is focused on maintaining a small-town feel, Hauth said.
She said she intends to ensure new developments' structures are similar to buildings already present in the town to maintain Hillsborough's architectural integrity.
In addition, a 24-acre plot of land adjacent to the Eno River is being developed into Hillsborough's first town-built park.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/30/07 4:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH - Downtown businesses were bedecked with Mardi Gras beads and carnival-themed decorations Wednesday night as part of the first Little N'awlins fundraiser.
Eleven shops and restaurants participated in the event to raise money for the Salvation Army and Angel Tree organizations' aid efforts in the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The fundraiser, organized by Tony Dillard, the owner of 3gatos Fire & Rice, a spicy food boutique, included a walking bead parade route, a coloring activity for children, a hot sauce challenge, a silent auction and free food.
The food boutique hosted a silent auction, which included donated ales, purses, jewelry, gift certificates and other trinkets. The auction will continue until Friday. The shop also will sponsor a hot-sauce challenge through Saturday. Participants have to keep a toothpick dipped in the store's hottest sauce in their mouth for five minutes.
Next door at Fetch, an antique store, owner Karen Sjoberg served cupcakes and a traditional carnival king cake. Sjoberg donated 20 percent of the store's Wednesday sales.
Sjoberg said her experiences with hurricanes in North Carolina made her want to help those affected in New Orleans.
"We are not a sister city, but it definitely feels like it," she said, noting the towns' rich histories.
Charlotte Ruth, who attended the fundraiser and grew up in Louisiana, said these kinds of events are necessary to help New Orleans become a "magical city" again.
Catherine Callaway, who owns her own jewelry shop in Hillsborough donated earrings for the silent auction.
"How could I not?" she asked.
Sjoberg said it's good to have this type of event in Hillsborough because the logistics of organizing are simpler in a small town.
"Hillsborough is a great place to do this because we are still a small community," she said. "It would be harder to organize something like this in Chapel Hill and Raleigh."
The event isn't the first fundraiser organized by Hillsborough's downtown merchants.
Sjoberg said that after the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast and the extent of the damage became clear, she and other business owners built a lemonade stand and donated the proceeds to help Katrina victims.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/28/07 4:00am)
For the first time since May, the wheels on the buses went round and round for Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County schools Monday.
Busing students to and from school on the first day of the traditional school year went mostly without incident, school officials said.
The biggest problem was congestion in school parking lots, caused in part by many parents driving their school-supply-laden children on the first day, said Stephanie Knott, assistant to the superintendent for community relations for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
Knott also said parents stay at school for kindergarten orientations, packing the parking lots. But these problems are typical and usually temporary, she said.
"I think after a few days, you know, it will iron out," said Robert Miller, the director of transportation with Orange County Schools.
"It went really well for the first day of school. It's a whole lot better than the first day of school last year."
Of the 56 buses run by city schools, there was one bus that was slow to start, causing a minor delay in the morning.
Two of the 79 county schools buses broke down. One bus overheated, and another bus had to complete the route, delaying the trip about 40 minutes, Miller said.
The second bus had a fuel-filter problem, which was fixed on the road. The filter repairs delayed the trip by 40 minutes.
Both buses were loaded with students at the time of the breakdowns.
Knott said that although bus use hasn't increased in the district, it has changed because of the new Carrboro High School.
Routes also changed for students in the Learning Environment for Advanced Programming classes, which is a program for highly gifted students, as well as the exceptional-student classes for special needs. Those programs had to be relocated to other schools because of space.
Bus use also changed in the county school district. More than 80 students transferred from Efland-Cheeks and Central elementary schools, neither of which met the standards for the No Child Left Behind Act last year.
The students who transferred rode a bus to the school they attended last year and then boarded a shuttle that took them on a route stopping at the three schools that accepted the transfers.
Neither district was short any drivers or buses, Miller and Knott said.
In years past, driver shortages for county schools have been more problematic as the school year progressed. To address this, the district is planning to implement salary incentives to drivers who remain with the schools through the full school year. The board will vote on the budget Sept. 4.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(07/19/07 4:00am)
A plan to improve water quality in the impaired Jordan Reservoir is now under public scrutiny.
The reservoir is a popular recreation spot and provides drinking water for 460,000 people in North Carolina, but harmful levels of nutrients are threatening the viability of the lake.
Many of the municipalities in the watershed support improving the water quality but are concerned about the costs of the plan presented by the N.C. Division of Water Quality. The plan places most of the financial responsibility on local governments.
The rules address runoff from new and existing developments, landscaping and agricultural operations, state and federal entities, as well as wastewater treatment discharge.
Many community members who attended a public hearing on the plan at the Carrboro Century Center July 12 said the benefits of the reservoir outweigh the costs of improving water quality.
"Water is one of the necessities of life," said Rita Spina, vice president of the Chatham Citizens for Effective Community.
"We already know that in the not-too-distant future, it will become a scarcity that people will fight over."
The plan's aim is to reduce the levels of nutrients that cause the overgrowth of algae in the lake.
Certain species of algae produce toxins which irritate human skin and mucous membranes. Algae also can be unsightly.
"Think green slime," said Elaine Kioso, executive director of the Haw River Assembly.
The overabundance of algae also can stress or kill aquatic animal life, increases the costs of treating drinking water and can alter its taste.
Gregg Weiner, a Durham realtor and kayaker, emphasized the impact on homeowners in the watershed.
"I've seen firsthand the algae blooms and the pollution on Jordan Lake. At the same time, I know landowners have rights."
The proposed rules stipulate five-year nitrogen and phosphorous reduction rates for each reservoir arm to reduce algae.
The Upper New Hope arm must reduce nitrogen and phosphorous loads by 35 percent and 5 percent, respectively. The Haw River Arm must reduce nitrogen and phosphorous loads by 8 percent and 5 percent. The Lower New Hope arm is already at permissible levels.
"We feel this will cause an onerous and unfair burden," said Matt Flynn, a stormwater program analyst for the Town of Cary, about the reductions.
Flynn said in high density residential areas, the proposed regulations for existing developments could mean some privately owned homes would have to be condemned.
Anne Coan, a N.C. Farm Bureau staff member, brought up the impact the rules could have on farmers.
"There are very few farmers left, and the few that are hanging on are barely hanging on," Coan said.
Jessica Ramsberger, an Apex resident who has gotten her drinking water from the reservoir for several years, said she thought the rules should go even further.
"I feel developers should be given stricter regulations when building in this watershed," she said.
Many attendees who supported the regulations emphasized the importance of clean water for the reservoir's recreational use.
Chapel Hill Town Council member Sally Greene expressed support for the plan, in spite of the costs.
"We hope these rules and strategies would be implemented in 2011 and not later."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
Jordan Lake
Nutrient Management Rule: Commercial fertilizer application must be done by trained professionals or in accordance with an approved plan.
5-year cost: $63,000 for land management community
Agriculture Rule: The agricultural community must collectively reduce levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in its runoff.
5-year cost: $2.57 million for agricultural community
New Development Rule: Developers must maintain the land's ability to process storm water runoff, and incorporate runoff filtration systems that remove 85% of the contaminants.
5-year cost: $1.11 million for developers
Existing Development Rule: Local governments must perform feasibility studies, develop educational programs, and identify nutrient reduction measures. Municipalities and counties may work together and share costs.
5-year cost: $16.4 million for local governments
Wastewater Discharge Rule: Wastewater treatment plants must follow stricter regulations of nutrient concentration in discharge, which vary with the type of plant.
5-year cost: $57.31 million for local governments and private industry
Nutrient Strategy for State and Federal Entities: Universities and the Department of Transportation must reduce erosive flows and nutrient concentrations in runoff.
5-year cost: $58.5 million for the state, the Department of Transportation, and Universities
(07/12/07 4:00am)
Downtown Chapel Hill's holiday decorations may be getting a face lift.
The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership Holiday Decoration Task Force is spearheading a plan to spruce up highly trafficked streets and intersections at the heart of town during special events.
The group met Tuesday with a representative from Mosca Design, a Raleigh-based design firm, and various public works and energy officials to talk about town decorations.
Pat Evans, a member of the Friends of Downtown, said she feels the community needs to think creatively and decorate more often.
"We should think broadly, which we haven't in the past, to do more downtown," Evans said.
Michael Ray from Mosca Design said coordinating decorations "gives a nice center-of-town feeling."
Sandy Turbeville, another member of the Friends of Downtown, proposed installing a permanent lighted tree silhouette on lamp posts throughout town, which she said could be alternated with seasonal banners.
Ray said the banners should be 30 inches wide by 60 inches tall and would cost about $85 each. The bracket sets to hold them would cost an additional $110 each.
The group discussed the lighted trees at length, which Ray said could range in price from $2390 to $4000 per tree.
In previous years, the town has decorated lamp posts with lighted snowflake silhouettes, but the decorations are now rusted and worn.
The trees would be about 10 feet tall and lit with bulbs that use one-twelfth the energy of the incandescent bulbs in the snowflakes.
The group said year-round displays would solve problems of minimal storage space and annual installation costs.
The lighted displays from Mosca are made with materials guaranteed to last for five years, and the banners are guaranteed to hold the color of the ink for two years, Ray said.
Attendees of the meeting expressed concern about the possibility of banner theft, but Ray said it's a non-issue.
He said the brackets for the banners are angled, making the fabric taut so that removal is difficult.
Liz Parham, executive director of the Downtown Partnership, said banners and lights aren't the only decorations she had in mind for the town, adding that bells and chimes at Christmas time are also an option.
Parham said it will be important to investigate new funding sources for the decorations and apply for grants from organizations, such as the Stroud-Rose Foundation and Duke Energy, that donated to this past December's Festival of Lights.
Evans said that when the snowflakes were previously purchased, residents bought snowflakes individually for about $100 each.
Parham said the next steps are to look at tree samples and talk to town and business owners.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(06/28/07 4:00am)
CLARIFICATION: This article and headline state that the kiln and well are from the 18th century. The foundations are believed to date back to the 18th century, but the kiln and well are believed to have been constructed in the 19th century.
A routine survey of the plot for the Orange County Justice Facility expansion project in Hillsborough unearthed the remnants of several building foundations and an 18th century kiln and well that had been lost to the memory of local historians and residents.
(02/26/07 5:00am)
On Saturday the historic Alexander Dickson House and grounds in Hillsborough were taken over by soldiers and citizens in a Revolutionary War re-enactment.
Revolutionary War Living History Day, sponsored by the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, commemorated General Cornwallis' encampment in Hillsborough in February 1781.
The alliance is focused on bringing history, especially that of Hillsborough, to life and breaking down the isolation between people in their everyday lives and their pasts.
"We have a problem in the 21st century; we think the people of the 18th century are marble men," said Mike Williams, a war re-enactor and captain in the UNC Hospitals police department.
On Saturday, Williams played the part of a surgeon and explained field surgery practices to onlookers.
Williams told the story of the fastest leg amputation in the 18th century, which lasted 88 seconds. During the rapid surgery, Williams said, the assistant surgeon lost three fingers and the patient lost his left testicle, in addition to his leg.
Williams took time to explain to adults and children alike the various uses of his assortment of tools.
The military demonstrations and muskets incited awed and frightened mutters from the children. Parents' murmurs assuring children that the guns did not have bullets often were met with disbelief.
Some children said they enjoyed frolicking around the grounds with friends and family.
"I've been playing spy with some of my friends," said Wilson LeCount, of Rock Hill, S.C. LeCount was one of several youngsters decked out in 18th-century-style dress.
LeCount said he has been to "hundreds" of re-enactments with his father, Chuck LeCount.
Chuck LeCount is an avid re-enactor and the site director at Historic Brattonsville, a Revolutionary War battle site in South Carolina.
Todd Dickinson, who portrayed a militiaman at the event, said he has participated in re-enactments for 10 years.
When he's not masquerading as historical characters, Dickinson restores antique houses, including the Alexander Dickson House.
"It was cool for me to go from working on the houses to playing with them," he said.
Dickinson also performs 18th-century dance in contemporary dress.
"The women look gorgeous, and the men look studly," he said.
Ed Franz of Richmond, Va., a re-enactor for the British army, said that in the quest for historical accuracy, many parts of re-enactors' costumes and weapons are replaced or modified.
Franz said the regiment recently bought a certain kind of short jacket that was thought to be the proper style. It turned out there was no reliable documentation of the jackets' use, so they had to retire them.
"There's $109 down the toilet," Franz bemoaned.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/14/07 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization released a study Feb. 6 on socioeconomic and demographic trends in the three municipalities.
The data will be used to craft the 2035 long-range transportation plan.
The plan outlines transportation projects for the next 20 years.
For projects to get state and federal funding they have to be included in the plan.
Andrew Henry, one of the transportation planners for the organization, said Carolina North, the University's proposed satellite campus, will be a very important issue in planning for transportation issues in Chapel Hill.
Typically the issues the organization has to plan for are congestion related. The study's data is gathered in part by a private company.
According to the study, employment levels and population are growing in Chapel Hill. Employment levels in Chapel Hill are expected to increase from 35,314 jobs in 2005, to 81,227 jobs in 2035.
Chapel Hill had a population of 52,394 in 2005, a number that is expected to grow to 81,297 by 2035.
"There's a great deal of interest in taking advantage of development opportunities," said David Bonk, long-range and transportation coordinator for Chapel Hill.
Bonk attributes the population surge to new developments, but said the rate of growth eventually will flatten out.
The supply of free space that attracts developers is decreasing, and the rate of development eventually will level off on its own, Bonk said.
The study predicts a decline in growth rates for the years between 2015 and 2035.
Projects in the long-range transportation plan also are important for guiding transportation improvements in the short term, Henry said.
The transportation improvement plans are drafted every two years. Projects outlined in the long- range plans can be funded at that time.
Bonk said the long-range transportation plan must be developed and adopted every four years.
The organization is looking for community input on its data and will hold four public forums.
"We're looking for the public to give us feedback on the kind of assumptions we're making," Henry said.
The organization also is interested in getting community feedback on possible solutions to the transportation issues the study predicts.
Residents will have the opportunity to voice their concerns at four upcoming meetings: