2
Thursday, July 15, 1999
14-Home Development
Gains Town Approval
Upset residents told council
members an affordable
housing site in their area
was inappropriate.
By Jacob McConnico
City/State & National Editor
Despite last minute protests by neigh
bors and a 142-signature protest peti
tion, the Chapel Hill Town Council has
approved a request by the Orange
Community Housing Corp. to build
low-cost townhomes on Scarlett Drive.
The council voted 8-1 last week to
approve the proposal, which calls for
the construction of 14 townhomes, a 25-
space parking lot and a recreational and
garden area on a one and a half acre lot
at the corner of Scarlett Drive and
Legion Road.
Elliot Sleight, a resident who has
lived near the proposed site for over a
year, said the area was not large enough
for the development and the council
should consider an alternate location.
“This is a grievous mistake," he said.
“This area is not right for this. I think it
is a mistake that is going to be with us
for years to come. Fourteen houses on
an acre and a half is crazy.”
Linda Mews, another resident of the
area, said she did not see the need for
the development.
“I just don’t know why you would
alienate 200 residents, property owners
and voters to accommodate 14
unknown families,” she said.
Council member Flicka Bateman said
the council had denied an original pro
posal by the OCHC to build a five
home development on the site.
“We told them no and asked them to
► i
TAQuE R i a M
711 West Rosemary St. • Carrboro • 933-8226
Mon-Sat 11am-10pm • Closed Sunday
New! Additional Parking at Love Overboard Kennels :
www.carrburritos.com
After drinking, you gotta eat:
EAT HEALTHY!
At the Cosmic Cantina:
No Grease, Always Fresh,
Always Healthy.
Open til 3 A.M.
Now open in Chapel Hill at 128 E, Franklin St., next door to Record Exchange.
Call 960 3955 for take-out.
In Durham at 9th St. and Perry, across from Brueggers. 1
Call 286-1875 for take-out. *
( tPc
WWW.nOSNdtOO/XMT-IMA.CiinM
eke out everything they could from this
land,” she said.
Town Manager Cal Horton said the
town had an interest in the property and
had spent $143,000 on the project.
Council member Julie McCllntock
said approving the proposal would be a
mistake and provided the one dissenting
vote.
“I am struck by the number of people
who are against this project,” she said.
“It goes against my grain to do some
thing that we think is good and have all
these people against it.”
Council member Joyce Brown said
the council should take measures to
“mitigate traffic" at the site and recom
mended involving residents in this
effort.
“This is something that we are going
to have to have to address because we
keep hearing complaints about density,”
she said.
Linda Tingen, another resident of the
area, said the development did not
belong in the neighborhood.
“You are insisting on putting a square
peg in a round hole where it doesn’t fit,”
she said, "The people who are in favor
of this project do not have to live in that
area.”
However, Edith Wiggins, a council
member, said the development would
do more good than harm for the town.
“I am so convinced that this is going
to be an asset that I would welcome it in
my neighborhood,” she said.
The council spent over one hour
debating this issue. After hearing com
plaints from eight residents and support
from one resident Bateman moved to
approve the building permit.
The City/State & National Editor
can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.
University & City
Candidate Focuses on Planning
By Jacob McConnico
City/State & National Editor
Bill Strom wants to make the need for
long range planning the focus of his
campaign for Chapel Hill Town
Council.
Strom, 43, who announced two
weeks ago that he would seek a seat on
the Town Council,
said he had a clear
understanding of
the issues that
faced the council.
“To me the
challenge that the
council faces is
i; "ffTXJ
Election]
99 |
how we welcome the growth and how
we shape the growth as a community,"
he said. “The council should be making
long-range policy."
In addition, he said creating a livable,
well-planned environment was of great
personal importance to him.
“I have a 7-year-old son who I want
to see grow up in a healthy, happy com
munity,” he said. “Being sensitive of the
Bard Takes the Stage Cliffs Notes Style
By Verna Kale
Arts & Features Editor
What better way to satisfy a craving
for theater than to watch all of
Shakespeare’s plays?
Of course most people do not have
that kind of time. The Open Door
Theater provides the solution to that
problem, offering up all 37 plays, plus
Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets, in one 90-
minute performance.
With so much packed into one play,
“The Complete Works of William
challenges of raising a small child in
Chapel Hill is one aspect I would bring
to the town council.”
According to Strom’s press release,
the candidate has served as director of
the Orange Water and Sewer Authority
since 1997 and was a participant in over
20 Chapel Hill and Orange County
political and social efforts in the last 10
years.
The candidate has also worked with
grass roots organizations like Citizens
Against Urban Sprawl and The Alliance
for Neighborhoods.
Council member Joe Capowski said
Strom had been active in local govern
ment for many years and was a good
choice for the Town Council.
“He’s what I would call a Town Hall
junky,” he said. “I think he will do well.
He will be an asset to the town.”
Strom moved to Chapel Hill in 1992
and has lived in Orange County since
1985. He is a native of New York, N.Y.,
and graduated with a B.S. in Business
Administration from Ithaca College in
Ithaca, N.Y. He also attended Duke
Shakespeare (Abridged),” by Adam
Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield,
promises to be a fast-paced comedy.
The show premiered yesterday and
runs through Saturday at the amphithe
ater above the Rosemary Street parking
deck.
Performances begin at 7 p.m. A five
dollar donation is requested.
Open Door Theater founders and
Co-Artistic Directors Michael Babbitt
and Robert Kramer direct the show.
Both are veterans of Play Makers
Repertory Company and graduated
from UNC-Chapel Hill with Masters of
Fine Arts Degrees.
In choosing the show, Babbitt and
Kramer had a certain agenda in mind.
“We wanted to do something that’s a
portable show and that we could do out
side.” Kramer said.
“We also wanted something that
would be fun, that the public could
enjoy.”
Meeting the above criteria, the play
boasts a simple premise: three guys who
love Shakespeare want to share that
love with the audience.
The result is a hectic comedy that
involves a great deal of spoofing that
IP S NOT HFIP
on the Village Green
FRIDAY... Split Decision
SATURDAY...Rewind
TUESDAYS: BLUE CUP SPECIAL $2.75 • SUNDAYS: KARAOKE NIGHT
AWESOME
OPPORTUNITY!
Versity.com Inc. (www.versity.com), is an internet startup
company offering free class lecture notes, local content, contests
and other cool sen/ices to college students - all for free!
Get excited - were coming to your school this fall!
We are hiring an entrepreneurial
undergrad to manage our on-line
notetaking service locally.
If you're highly motivated, business-oriented, and want to get
involved with something big, you'd be perfect for this opportunity!
Compensation is excellent, please apply for details! Positions are
filling up quickly, apply today!
Apply online at http://www.versity.com
Email:jobs@versity.com 1 W n _
Fax: 734.483.8460 |f©i SIIV^OOHI
< Phone: 734.483.1600 XBBB free lecture the internet >
RECYCLE MIXED PAPER*
“Old class notes, notebooks, empty
cereal boxes and soda cartons should be
recycled with mixed paper. At Chi Psi
house, we use the drop-off site at
University Mall. Waste reduction is an
important thing on this campus.”
~UNC Student Body President Nic Heinke
* MIXED PAPER is any clean, dry paper
including cereal boxes, junk mail, envelopes with
windows, flyers, notebook paper. DO NOT
include: laminated papers, tissue, paper toweling
or gummed paper. Staples and tape are OK.
ORANGE COMMUNITY RECYCLING 968-2788
“To me the challenge that the
council faces is how we welcome
the growth and how we shape
the growth as a community. ”
Bill Strom
Chapel Hill Town Council Candidate
University and in 1991 received a M.A.
in Liberal Studies.
Strom said his time on the board of
OWASA had given him some of the
tools to be an effective council member.
“I believe I have a track record of set
ting goals and getting things done,” he
said. “I have an understanding of plan
ning and business. I have a history of
being collegial and working with oth
ers.”
Dan VanderMeer, chairman of the
OWASA board of directors, said Strom
had been instrumental in making deci
sions during his time on the board.
“Bill Strom’s voice has been one of
Kramer said was “intentionally confus
ing."
He added, “The majority of the play
is not actual Shakespeare. It’s Monty
Python type stuff. ”
The three actors play all the various
roles and are visible at all times to the
audience, even when offstage. Just as
actors did during performances in
Shakespeare’s time, the men play
female roles as well.
Kramer said the
play also featured a
great deal of inter
play with the audi
ence, an important
part of the Open
Door Theater's
philosophy.
The company
gets its name from
the book “The
“The majority of the play is not
actual Shakespeare, it’s Monty
Python type stuff. ”
Robert Kramer
Artistic Director of the Open Door Theater
Open Door” by Peter Brook which
expounds on the idea that actors must
“knock down wails” to defy convention
and draw in the audience.
Babbitt said, “We are set on creating
living, vital theater in a professional
atmosphere. Our idea, is that theater
belongs in the community ... the com
Ep? •HP'’* • i
CM 11
■ v MB'
®li? Satli) (Ear Mrrl
reason, cooperation, creative thinking
and real impact during his two years on
the OWASA board,” he said.
Strom said he was also interested in
encouraging the town and University to
work on projects together.
“I think that in the long term, the
well-being of the University and the
town are inseparable,” he said. “Projects
the town and the University can enter
into together are better for the well
being of the community.”
In addition, Strom said the environ
ment was an issue that was of impor
tance to him.
“Community’s that have strong envi
ronmental rules have good growth," he
said. “As we make decisions about our
future, we have to keep our eye on envi
ronmental issues.”
Strom said he would launch a Web
site later in the campaign and in order to
columns and position papers that he has
written.
The City/State & National Editor
can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.
munity is what makes the dynamic the
ater work.”
Babbitt cautioned that audience
members should not worry about too
many inside jokes for English majors.
“There are inside jokes for every
body,” he said, and added that the play
is accessible to all ages and all interests.
Babbitt also added that though the
entire play did not make use of
Shakespearean language, a good part of
it does. But he said
that should not
scare people away.
“The language
is modern English.
It’s what we use
today and people
should learn to
enjoy it ”
“Shakespeare
isn’t stuffy,"
Babbitt said. “The depth of what
Shakespeare is is the issues that he deals
with in his plays. It can be fun."
The show also runs at 5 p.m. July 31
and at 2 p.m. Aug. 1 at the West End
Wine Bar, and at 6 p.m. Aug. 6 on the
lawn of Weaver Street Market.
The Arts & Features Editor can be
reached at vee@email.unc.edu
For The Record
In the July ! article "Town Moves to
Dump Landfill,” the county recycling
manager should have been identified as
Blair Pollock.
The July 8 article “Proposal On Bond
Under Fire" should have stated that a
proposed $2.7 billion was in danger of
failing.
The Daily Tar Heel regrets the errors.
Good on 100 or more i
plain white 8.5 xll (££"*/ fy/)
autoteed copies. \
July
C.O.OOPIES
169 E. Franklin Street • Near the Post Office
Open Late 7 Days a Week
L 933-9999 j