This Wednesday, March 10, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Flyleaf Books, Transition Carrboro-Chapel Hill will present two episodes of The Powerdown Show, which examines local responses to peak oil and climate change.

This morning, the west end of downtown Chapel Hill was immobilized when someone called in a bomb threat against the rising Greenbridge development. I understand that some people have issues with tall buildings in Chapel Hill, although I don't especially.  But I do share the concerns that many have about the gentrification of Northside. However, the fact is that Greenbridge didn't create either of those problems, and stopping it isn't going to help solve them either.

At last night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting a decision was put off regarding the Town Manager's recommendation to move forward and issue the voter-approved bond for the Library expansion.  There were two major issues.  First, the anticipated operating expenses for the expanded Library would result in a tax rate increase of $0.0113.  This would add about $34 to the tax bill of a homeowner with an appraised house value of $300,000.  Second, several Council members were concerned about moving forward until Orange County commits to a more equitable funding of the Library since 40% of the users and 40% of the circulation is by Orange County, non-CH residents.

If they put half as much effort into the design, safety and impact of this development as they have put into the legal battle, perhaps we would not be so opposed to it.  Article from the good folks at the Carrboro Citizen:

Northwest Property Group, which wants to build a shopping center at the intersection of Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street, has won an appeal in its case against the Town of Carrboro.

In September 2007, the developer sued after the town approved its development but limited access to Barnes Street to emergency vehicles due to concerns about safety at the intersection. In a suit heard in April 2009, Northwest argued that the town’s condition, which effectively killed the project, was not backed up by a finding of fact on the traffic and safety concerns.

Anyone who ever tries to get to and from businesses on the east side of Estes Dr. south of Franklin St. knows that it's a treacherous errand, no matter where you're coming from.  I've become better than a FedEx driver when it comes to planning right-turn-only routes. While I'm sorry to see Walker's BP station go and have mixed feelings about the possibility of a Walgreens there (esp. since Kerr has left the mall), this does present an opportunity to think hard about the miserable traffic patterns in the area. 

Most voters in Chapel Hill are happy with the rate at which the community is growing.

57% of respondents on our recent poll said that it is growing at 'about the right pace' while 37% think it is growing too fast and only 3% think it is growing too slow.

Interestingly this does not seem to have been an issue that created a big split among voters in the Mayoral contest.  59% of Czajkowski voters said the current rate of growth is fine, as did 54% of Kleinschmidt supporters.

Conservatives were more likely than liberals or moderates to say the community is growing too fast, a finding at odds with the usual assumptions about who supports higher rates of growth.

In general most politician's campaign materials lack details.  Its easy to say we're going to reduce taxes, but much, much harder to identify what to cut, so I'm not going to rule him out based on that.  What did make up my mind, however, is his misunderstanding of mixed-use developments:

"Let the man have been tarred with the University stick and he will tell you along with his after-dinner cigar that he has a notion of some day building a house at Chapel Hill – and there remaining to the end of the chapter in the one place where he believes he can obtain a large and perfect peace. There men cling to the town and its surroundings with a memory that is both tenacious and jealous of details.

33 farmers and land owners, living in the Carrboro ETJ, have petitioned Orange County and the town of Carrboro to return jurisdiction for ETJ farms to Orange County. 

PETITION TO REMAND DEVELOPMENT JURISDICTION FOR CARRBORO ETJ LAND TO ORANGE COUNTY CONTROL