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Airport to stay
open indefinitely
Move could hinder Carolina North
BY CHRIS COLETTA
MANAGING EDITOR
June 3 Controversy sur
rounding the University’s pro
posed satellite campus soon could
be rekindled, thanks to identical
bills pending in both chambers of
the N.C. General Assembly.
The bills call for the indefinite
continued operation of the Horace
Williams Airport, a University-run
strip located on a 963-acre tract of
land scheduled to become Carolina
North, a research park and mixed
use development about 11/2 miles
Iron the main campus.
Rep. Verla Insko, an Orange
County Democrat and the main
sponsor of the bill in the House,
said the provision will be included
in the House’s budget plan. Such a
strategy will speed up its passage.
“It’s just easier that way,” Insko
said. “It’s not a controversial
issue.”
The proposals are meant to
ensure a home for the N.C. Area
Health Education Centers, a pro
gram that transports University
leaders and faculty from the air
port to various areas in the state.
UNC officials have stated that
other possible homes for the pro
gram, including Raleigh-Durham
International Airport, are inad
equate for its needs.
But if the area does not close,
the University will have to alter its
plans for Carolina North because
its current proposal calls for break
ing ground on land now occupied
by the airport.
Such a scenario long has been
recognized by local officials, and it
has proven to be a point of town
gown contention.
But now, with the situation
coming to a head, both town and
University officials say they want
to reach a solution even if they
don’t entirely see eye-to-eye.
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“Hopefiilly, we can take advan
tage of the time we have now,” said
Mark Kleinschmidt, a member of
the Chapel Hill Town Council.
. At a meeting in April, the coun
cil passed a resolution stating that
it would refrain from further con
sideration of Carolina North until
the airport’s fate was clear.
And at another meeting two
weeks later, council members
grilled Tony Waldrop, UNC’s vice
chancellor for research and eco
nomic development, on the same
issue.
In an interview Tuesday,
Waldrop said the University’s plans
to get around the airport, which
involve altering the order in which
it would build the satellite campus’
seven phases, are feasible.
“As I said in the presentation to
the Town Council... certainly we
believe in the plan that we have for
Carolina North,” he said.
Waldrop added that changes
to the Carolina North blueprint,
including phasing changes, are
likely to go before the University’s
Board of Trustees later this month
for approval.
But Kleinschmidt said he’s
unsure as to how UNC will pro
ceed.
“It doesn’t seem that the func
tions that the University is looking
to have occur on that site would
actually be workable.”
The House’s budget, which will
contain Insko’s airport provision,
is likely to hit the floor Monday or
Tuesday and be passed next week.
(Editor's note: Insko's provision
was included in the version of the
budget signed by Gov. Mike Easley
last month. The trustees have yet
to seriously consider updates to
Carolina North plans.)
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Welcome Back
Council, Waldrop square off
BY EMMA BURGIN
AND JOSEPH SCHWARTZ
SENIOR WRITERS
May 13 UNC’s plan to break
ground on a million-dollar satellite
campus appears to be experiencing
some turbulence.
The Chapel Hill Town Council
approved an ordinance last month
that effectively halted all com
munication dealing with Carolina
North until the fate of the Horace
Williams Airport is decided.
The N.C. General Assembly
required the University to keep the
airport open until Jan. 1,2005, and
is expected to extend the deadline
to help relocate the Area Health
Education Centers, which trans
ports physicians across the state
from the airport.
But the University met with the
council May 5 for a presentation
scheduled before the ordinance
passed. Officials presented the first
revision of the plan since December
to the council.
For more than three hours, the
council questioned Tony Waldrop,
UNC vice chancellor for research
and economic development, and
Doug Firstenberg, of Stonebridge
Associates, on issues the plan does
not address.
Waldrop skirted the issue of the
airport, continuosly noting that he
would address it in “the next couple
of slides.”
After a lengthy back and forth
about the importance of park
ing and the potential failure of
the project, the council members
quit asking questions and started
demanding answers.
“I can’t believe we’ve been here
for three hours and we’ve acted like
the airport isn’t even there,” council
member Sally Greene said.
The airport was even equated to
an elephant in the room by council
member Jim Ward, who noted that
any discussion about the plan as it
stands could be irrelevant.
Waldrop then revealed several
alternatives to the plan, including
anew starting point for the devel
opment. The plan, which assumes
the airport will close Jan. 1,2005,
■wEgply "\,\ I’M £/*?• &/CT'
„ > \ '/ ■' if r -J. i
' 'Ss i ‘ sl'V’* V— gjjgsn Development of Carolina North that is not In
. . o&Wl/a* *&&&!! a. (Sr*, -i conflict with Federal Aviation Regulations
Iff (FAR) Part 77 “Objects Affecting Navigable
\ Airspace" or the 65 DNL Noise Contour (or
2 . 4 the Horace W*am Airport""
* COURTESY OF TONY WALDROP'S OFFICE
The alternate plans for Carolina construction, spawned by the potential of Horace Williams Airport's continuing
operation, include options for construction around the site. A search for a Raleigh airport location is under way.
requires the University to break
ground where the airport now
sits.
Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange,
said Tuesday that the legislators
that comprise the Joint Select
Committee on the Horace Williams
Airport will meet Thursday for
the first time to discuss AHEC’s
future.
Insko said last month that leg
islators likely will keep the air
port open for at least two years
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in order to find anew home for
AHEC.
Waldrop said the University
will not close the Horace Williams
Airport until an alternative location
is found for AHEC, and Raleigh-
Durham International Airport is
no longer an option.
But Carolina North is still on it’s
way to what officials hope will be a
smooth landing.
Waldrop said UNC plans to
present a second set of revisions
to the Carolina North Executive
Committee and the UNC Board
of Trustees this summer, and
submit formal applications to the
town between September and
December.
“We firmly believe in the integ
rity of this plan,” he said. “I’m not
saying we have to start tomorrow,
but the need is now.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
5