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Market battle divides town
Threatens to go to courts for appeal
BY ANNE HILLMAN
STAFF WRITER
The future of the Hillsborough
Weaver Street Market is stuck in
traffic.
The developers of Gateway
Center are appealing the Board
of Adjustment’s decision to deny
approval of their site plan amend
ment that adds Weaver Street
Market to the proposal.
In a closed session tonight the
Hillsborough Town Board will
decide if they will challenge the
appeal in court.
Approval was denied at the
adjustment board’s meeting in
January because two of its mem
bers said they were concerned
about safety issues at the site
caused by increased traffic.
Three members approved the
change and two voted against it,
blocking the supermajority need
ed for approval.
“I’d love for us to have a Weaver
Street Market our downtown
would be secure for 50 years —but
that doesn’t matter. What matters
is public safety,” said Al Hartkopf,
Beleaguered lottery heads to court
Approval process
to be examined
BY JOE COLLEVECCHIO
STAFF WRITER
Before a state numbers game can
be established, the N.C. lottery will
have to bypass one final obstacle in
Wake County Superior Court.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the
N.C. Common Sense Foundation
and N.C. Fair Share will go before
a judge today, the first step in a
possibly lengthy court battle. The
plaintiffs claim the way in which
the lottery was passed in the
General Assembly in August is
unconstitutional.
The lawsuit states that a lot
tery is designed to generate rev
enue for the state. Under the N.C.
Constitution, revenue bills must
be voted on twice on two separate
days before they are enacted.
The lottery bill was voted on
twice but on the same day.
“In terms of the actual legal pros
pects ... we believe there is real merit
to the lawsuit,” said David Mills, the
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a board member who voted against
the amendment
George Horton, one of the devel
opers, said he filed the suit because
he thought the board’s concerns
about the updated site plan were
unsubstantiated.
“The reality of it is there was no
fact that was presented to us or to
the Board of Adjustment that this
was a safety concern,” he said.
The original site plan called for
a restaurant and a bank on the first
floor of the proposed three-story
structure, which will be located
on Churton Street in downtown
Hillsborough. The amendment
replaced these with a branch of
Weaver Street Market and added
a lawn to the front of the develop
ment.
Hartkopf said he thinks the deci
sion could be upheld in court, but
he doubts that the town will chal
lenge the appeal. He said an unof
ficial deal had already been made
that the town board will not fight
the decision in court.
Bob Homik, Hillsborough town
attorney, said that he does not know
executive director of N.C. Common
Sense and a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“We think (the lottery) does
qualify as revenue because the
state is counting on it to make
certain expenditures next year,” he
said. “Everyone in the state clearly
knows this is revenue.”
Mills said the lawsuit is not intend
ed to keep North Carolina from ever
having a lottery but rather to reopen
public debate on the issue.
The lawsuit, if successful, would
rescind the bill and require a re
vote in the General Assembly.
“I’ve been told by a Democratic
senator that there’s no way it will
pass again in the Senate,” said Rep.
Paul Stam, R-Wake. “It’ll be voted
down, definitely.”
Stam said the recent scandals
involving gaming companies and
House Speaker Jim Black, D-
Mecklenburg, have made mem
bers of the legislature wary of being
associated with the lottery.
Stam also said the actual amount
of money the lottery will raise for
education has been exaggerated by
lottery advocates.
Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-
of such a deal but that a significant
number of people think it should
be settled outside of court.
If the case does go to court, “it’s
a case that could be defended if
the board wants me to defend it,”
he said.
Though Weaver Street Market
is not formally involved in the pro
ceedings the suit was filed only
by the developers its e-mail
newsletter asked Hillsborough
residents to help the cause by writ
ing letters to the town board and to
newspapers.
“A lot of people weighed in
because they cared about it, not
because of our prodding,” said
Ruffin Slater, general manager of
Weaver Street Market. He said
dozens of letters were written to
editors, and the board received
between 50 and 100 e-mails.
Horton said he is optimistic that
the town board will respond to resi
dents’ support for the development
by not fighting the appeal.
“Because they are elected offi
cials they need to respond to the
town and its interests,” he said.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
Buncombe, who voted against the
lottery, said if the measure comes
back to the Senate for a vote, he
plans to vote against it again.
He said he believes more money
can be generated in a less regres
sive way. “This is less money than
a half-penny sales tax (increase) at
the end of the day.”
But recent polls have revealed
widespread public support for a
state lottery, said Angie Whitener,
a spokeswoman for Black.
Whitener said she believes
the chances of the lottery being
repealed are slim.
“The lottery is voluntary, so you
don’t have to play it,” she said. “It
would not be classified as a tax, so
the two-day rule doesn’t apply.”
But Stam noted that alcohol
and cigarette taxes are considered
legitimate, though drinking and
smoking are voluntary.
“Almost all of our taxes are volun
tary in that same sense,” he said.
“That’s just a silly argument
whether it’s mandatory or not.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
News
PARKING
FROM PAGE 1
drivers are punished with tough
fines or by having their vehicles
towed.
Open-access lots are more
prone to fines, said Randy Young,
spokesman for the Department of
Public Safety.
“Gates deter a certain amount
of illegal parking just because of
the fact they’re not allowed entry
to begin with,” he said.
There are 12,761 parking spots
on campus that require a permit
out of almost 19,000 spaces
total, Young said.
This year about 600 spaces were
lost to the ongoing campus con
struction crunch, tempting more
drivers to risk fines just to find a
place to leave their car.
Next year could see some relief
when the Jackson Circle and
Northeast Chiller Plant parking
decks open, Young said.
Though the number of parking
tickets issued might seem excessive
to some, the University isn’t mak
ing a profit from any of them, noted
Carolyn Elfland, associate vice
chancellor for campus services.
“The reason we have parking
fines is... because we want to keep
the spaces available for the people
with permits,” she said.
THE Daily Crossword By Barry Silk
ACROSS
1 Part of a door frame
5 Thin nail
9 Clue for 17A, 33A, 42A
and 62A
14 Prefix meaning uniform
15 Zap with light
16 Part of Asia Minor
17 See 9A
20 "King" Cole
21 Bilingual Muppet
22 Way to go
23 Eat late
24 Pentium product
26 Wallflowerish
27 Ultimate consumer
31 Two toppers
33 See 9A
36 Golf gadgets
37 Goddess of folly
38 Perimeter
42 See 9A
47 Rubber tree _____
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49 Short end of
the stick
50 Pina colada
ingredient
51 Claim to a
share
54 Possesses
55 Inside: pref.
57 Cruise movie
59 Uncouth clod
62 See 9A
65 Poker
announce
ment
The Battle for the
Heart of the GOP and the
Future of America
Officers have some discretion
when deciding whether to issue a
ticket, Young said. For example, if a
parking spot is not clearly marked,
an officer could be more lenient.
But repeat offenders are less
likely to gain a reprieve.
“(People) with over five citations
in a year or a balance of more than
$250 ... can be immobilized or
towed,” Young said.
To dispute a citation, a driver
must submit a written appeal to
DPS within 10 days. A $lO fee is
charged to challenge a citation
after that window of time closes.
As of early December, $521,000
of fines issued in 2005 had been
paid, Young said.
In 2003 and 2004 the depart
ment issued citations totaling
about $2.7 million—about $1.5
million of which were paid.
Unpaid fines eventually are
turned over from DPS to NCO
Financial Systems, a collection
firm that charges a percentage of
the fines it collects as a fee.
Although parking fines can
seem harsh, Elfland said, funding
enforcement costs more than the
amount the University is permit
ted to keep. UNC-CH only can
retain 10 percent of the money it
pulls in from issuing fines.
The remaining portion is turned
over to the N.C. Office of State
66 M. Kitman or R. Ebert
67 Star in Lyra
68 Little ones
69 Web page file letters
70 Cyclotron particle
DOWN
1 -Claude Van Damme
2 Shade of blue
3 Jeff’s partner
4 Life lines?
5 Short fly ball
6 Butts
7 Jellied meat
8 Demise
9 for tat
10 Runaway victory
11 Apprehensive
12 Musical intervals
13 Actress Bates
18 Pizza feature
19 Singer Bonnie
Monday Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m.
Hill Hall Auditorium
Free General Admission
Limited parking for fee in Swain lot
on Cameron Ave.
(919) 843-6339
college.unc.edu
' § UNC
AKIN a St II N(. IS
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006
“The reason we
have parking fines
is because we want
to keep the spaces
available”
CAROLYN ELFLAND, unc services
Budget and Management and is
distributed throughout the state
public school system.
UNC-CH previously was allowed
to keep all the fines it collected
until the N.C. Supreme Court ruled
in July that parking fines on UNC
system campuses belong to public
schools.
Elfland said University officials
had hoped to use the money to
fund one of the parking decks.
With the loss of revenue, the
number of parking spaces the
decks can accommodate has to be
cut down.
The Craige Parking Deck now
will hold 700 spaces instead of
1,600 spaces, she said.
The University has not yet turned
over any of the money it put aside
and is waiting for a final determina
tion of how much money it owes.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
(C)2006 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
All rights reserved.
45 Native Mexican people
46 Plucked sound
47 Foolishness
48 Acela operator
50 Ignited again
52 Rub
53 Have on
56 Look at lasciviously
58 Forbidding
59 Help do wrong
60 Kind of stick?
61 Test
63 Overhead RRs
64 One Gabor
23 Daily event in the west
25 Historic beginning?
27 CPR specialist
28 Highland negative
29 Casino cube
30 Harvest
32 Improves text
34 Biblical suffix
35 Scorch
39 Unknown John
40 Cookie-selling org.
41 Unagi, at a sushi bar
43 Held first place
44 Leaves a stage
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