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Appointment for Strom Vacancy
On December 14, 2009 a Special Meeting of the Town Council was held to appoint one of 8 applicants to the two-year remaining Council term caused by the resignation of Bill Strom. Newly elected Council members Penny Rich and Gene Pease, as well as newly re-elected Council members Laurin Easthom and Ed Harrison, were among those who voted. Council members acknowledged the value of diversity of race, gender, and town area, as well as acknowledged the very close vote numbers Matt Pohlman received as the fifth-highest election vote-getter. All said they would work harmoniously with whoever was appointed. Czajkowski and Pease voted to appoint Matt Pohlman. Kleinschmidt, Ward, Easthom, Greene, Harrison and Rich voted for Donna Bell, who is the newest Council Member.
Aydan Court
Conceived and proposed by Chapel Hill developer Cazco, Inc. as a medium density (10 units/acre) empty-nester neighborhood of 58 dwellings. The original concept for 15 units/acre received positive comments from a majority of Council members in May 2007. The applicant voluntarily reduced the density of the proposed development and achieved the following:
• On-site re-use of stormwater for flushing systems
• Reduction of impervious surface impact from 47% to 31%
• Met the proposed future Jordan Lake water quality discharge standards
• Road improvements to Highway 54 benefitting travelers and nearby neighborhoods
• Visual screening of the development from NC 54
• Expand Meadowmont business customer population
• Added residential tax base of $40 million
• On-site affordable housing and $400,000 contribution to the Housing Trust Fund
After 26 months in the Special Use Permit and Re-zoning review process, a handful of anti-growth advocates persuaded Mayor and Council to deny the applicant the opportunity to present changes made to the development to address issues raised in prior hearings. The applicant was thus denied a full and fair hearing about the positive environmental and economic affects of Aydan Court.
Vote by Town Council to Deny Zoning Text and Map Amendments for Aydan Court. March 23, 2009 by 9-0 vote (Merritt, Czajkowski, Easthom, Ward, Foy, Strom, Kleinschmidt, Greene, & Harrison).
Woodmont
Conceived and proposed for development by Woodmont Properties/ Capital Associates as an extension of The Exchange at Meadowmont (the SunTrust and Franklin Street Partners Buildings on the south side of NC 54). 600,000sf of class A office, including approximately 100 residential condos and 24,000sf of retail. Original concept was rejected by CDC and Council. Revised concept has the buildings set back from NC 54 and well buffered from adjoining properties, with considerable underground parking.
This development proposal adds:
• commercial tax base ($125MM)
• daytime retail customers for the Meadowmont Village Center
• provides opportunities for expanding Chapel Hill/UNC businesses to stay in Chapel Hill
Only one neighbor was opposed to Woodmont and many spoke in favor.
Approved by Town Council on September 9, 2008, by 7-1 vote (Yes– Foy, Strom, Ward, Greene, Kleinschmidt, Czajkowski & Easthom. No – Harrison).
Residences at Grove Park
Conceived and proposed by RAM Development as a medium-density, walkable, residential community near downtown and UNC. The property currently houses a dated 1950s-style rental complex called Townhouse Apartments. To minimize impervious cover, over 78% of the parking spaces in the development proposal are underground or beneath buildings.
This development proposal adds:
• 346 Residential units within walking distance to downtown and UNC
• Downtown Area redevelopment/revitalization
• Density along one of the Town's major transportation corridors (MLK)
• Infill along existing transit routes
• Safety improvements along Hillsborough St
• Stream corridor restoration along Mill Race Branch Creek
There was some neighborhood opposition from residences along Hillsborough Street. Supporting council members said they felt the developer had successfully mitigated the neighbor's concerns and that the project on balance would be a benefit to the town.
Approved by Council on February 23, 2009 by a 6-3 vote (Yes – Foy, Strom, Kleinschmidt, Greene, Easthom & Merritt. No – Ward, Czajkowski & Harrison).
The Voter Owned Elections Program
The North Carolina General Assembly approved public funding of local municipal election campaigns in Chapel Hill. The town is the only local government in North Carolina to have requested (and received) this legislative authority thus far.
After submitting proper paperwork and following certain guidelines, any candidate running for local office will be eligible to receive money from the town budget. Participation in the program is voluntary for candidates, but for taxpayers, participation is mandatory. This is not the case with the public finance option for some North Carolina judicial races.
The maximum public grant provided to a qualified candidate running for town council is $3,000, in addition to their maximum of $750 in required seed money and a maximum of $2,250 in qualifying contributions.
The maximum public grant provided to a qualified candidate running for mayor is $9,000, in addition to their maximum of $1,500 in required seed money and a maximum of $4,500 in qualifying contributions.
If candidates who are not participating in program spend more that 140% of what program participants are allowed to spend, then they will receive "rescue funds" of $4,000 for mayoral candidates and $2,000 for council candidates.
The ordinance became law on June 9, 2008. Mayor Kevin Foy and seven members of the council voted yes, including Laurin Easthom, Sally Greene, Ed Harrison, Mark Kleinschmidt, Bill Strom, Bill Thorpe, and Jim Ward. The only dissenting vote was Matt Czajkowski.
After filing for the 2009 municipal election, only mayoral candidate and council member Mark Kleinschmidt and council candidate Penny Rich filed to participate in the program. The other council incumbent running for mayor, Matt Czajkowski, declined to participate in the program, as did Mayoral candidate Augustus Cho. Candidates have until 18 days before the election to file to participate.
Council incumbents running for reelection who voted for the program - Laurin Easthom and Ed Harrison - both indicated that they would not participate, as has appointed member Jim Merritt, who is also on the ballot. Both Easthom and Harrison have indicated that they supported the program because it would help some candidates, but they did not feel that they wanted to participate.
Lifetime Healthcare for Mayor and Town Council
At the Monday, June 9, 2008, Town Council Regular Business Meeting, an amendment was buried in the Consent Agenda to amend the Healthcare Eligibility for Mayor and members of the Town Council. Prior to that date, Mayor and Town Council had been eligible to participate in the group medical insurance program on the same basis as full-time Town employees. The amendment would have offered a Mayor and Council member, upon leaving office and having served two full terms, eligibility for lifetime health insurance benefits with 75% of the premium paid for by the Town. The amendment was publicly highlighted by Matt Czajkowski when he had it removed from the Consent Agenda, which is normally voted on as a block. After a short discussion, the amendment was approved by the Town Council. (Yes-Foy, Ward, Easthom, Greene, Harrison, Kleinschmidt, Strom, Thorpe. No-Czajkowski)
Following the public uproar that ensued in response to Council and Mayor awarding themselves these healthcare benefits, on Monday, June 16, 2008 at the Chapel Hill Town Council Public Hearing the Mayor and Council voted unanimously to rescind the ordinance.
140 West Franklin (Parking Lot 5)
In February 2007, the Town signed an agreement with Ram Development Corporation to jointly develop an urban mixed-use project on town owned Parking Lot #5 at the corner of West Franklin Road and Church Street.
The project is to house 138 residential dwellings (15 of which are affordable units), street level retail (30,000 SF) and a public plaza. One building of nine stories and two buildings of four stories will sit atop a two-level underground parking garage with 335 spaces.
The agreement calls for Ram to put up developer equity of $12.5 million for the development. The Town of Chapel Hill will commit $7.245 million for 158 public parking spaces in the parking garage. These spaces continue the use of the lot 5 property for important downtown public parking. Parking revenue and property taxes from the development are expected to repay the Town for its parking garage costs. In addition, the town will pay all site remediation expenses (the exact costs of which are still unknown). Ram will lease the property from the Town for 99 years at $1 per year with the option to buy the site and improvements after fifty years for $2 million. Since 2004 when the town initiated this public-private joint venture to increase investment and development in the downtown, the Town has spent $470,000 in consultant fees for site engineering tests, market studies, a joint venture economic development consultant, review of private development proposals, and peer review of the Ram design during the development review process. In addition the town has spent $178,000 on legal fees and $121,000 of staff time during the five-year period to date.
Originally, the Town specified that the project must meet LEED Silver green building and energy conservation requirements but later amended it, requiring only minimum certification requirements.
In June 2007, the Town Council zoned the property to the most dense of the three existing downtown zoning districts, increasing allowable height from five to nine stories and making it possible for the Town/Ram Development venture to develop according to the Ram design, as approved by the Council. The vote for the rezoning and special use permit was eight for (Foy, Strom, Harrison, Kleinschmidt, Greene, Ward, Thorp, and Hill) and one against (Easthom).
During the development review process, some opponents pointed out that the Town should let private developers shoulder all risk; others said the Town should be willing to participate in order to have more control over the development. Major points in favor of the project were its contribution to the revitalization of our downtown, the investment in new residential units, and the resulting increase in downtown population. Major points made against the project were its height and scale and a financial structure that differs significantly from the Town's original commitment that no Town funds would be used for the joint venture.
As of Jan. 1, 2010, no redevelopment has started on Lot 5.
Eastgate Starbucks
The application to create a Starbucks coffee shop (1,920 sf) at Eastgate, a retrofit of a former abandoned gas station, did not elicit much public attention except positive anticipation of the remodel of a rundown building. Eastgate Plaza had already upgraded its flood control system and was renovating all facades.
As an in-fill proposal with no vocal opponents, the Starbucks permitting process began on November 3, 2003 with a request for "expedited processing," which was granted July 7, 2004, and ended three years later on November 6, 2006 when a Special Use Permit (SUP) passed on a 6-3 vote.
Mayor Kevin Foy, Council members Bill Strom, Laurin Easthom, Ed Harrison, Cam Hill and Jim Ward voted "yes" for the SUP. Town Council members Mark Kleinschmidt, Sally Greene, and Bill Thorpe voted "no" because they wanted entry only onto Eastgate Center Drive, with a left into Starbucks, a right-out only exit onto E. Franklin Street.
Contributions by the Starbucks developer included:
• Environmental remediation was done (removal of over 3,000 tons of petroleum-impacted soil)
• Floodproofing the building and adjacent area
• New sidewalk areas
• Two new landscaped swaths
• Crosswalk between Starbucks and TCBY
• With NC DOT approval, a right-in right-out entrance was created at Starbucks onto Franklin Street
• New timing of two intersection traffic lights
• Improved bus stop nearby
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