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Residents voice concerns
about shelter relocation
Foy mediates between town, IFC
BY RYAN C. TUCK
CITY EDITOR
Although Mayor Kevin Foy
repeatedly stated that the Chapel Hill
Town Council was taking no action
regarding plans to relocate a men’s
homeless shelter, debate spilled into
the council chamber Monday night.
A group of residents from The
Meadows and Tumberiy neighbor
hoods off Legion Road presented a
petition to the council asking it to
halt investigations of town-owned
property olf Legion Road as a
potential site for the relocation of
Inter-Faith Council’s shelter.
The shelter now sits at the comer
of Rosemary and Columbia streets.
In December, the council autho
rized Town Manager Cal Horton
to begin investigating the Legion
Road site with IFC.
“Is this the highest and best use
for the land?” Meadows resident
Lynne K. Kane asked the council
in a petition that extended beyond
the permitted time.
Although Kane and many other
residents who had signed the peti
tion attended Monday’s meeting, a
large group of residents and repre
sentatives of IFC also were present
to counter the petitioners.
IFC volunteer R. Michael McGee
spoke on behalf of the IFC, saying
that there is no typical poor person.
“It might be true that many shel
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ter residents are substance abusers,
but it is also tme that many are not,”
McGee said, adding that the council
should not respond to the petition
ers’ “knee-jerk constructionism.”
Foy ultimately led the council in
receiving and referring Kane’s peti
tion, reiterating between speakers
that the IFC only had asked the
council for assistance in investigat
ing the Legion Road site.
Kane’s petition, which lists as
its primary concerns that the site
would be close to residential space,
is similar to a petition submitted in
the fall from residents of another
would-be shelter location.
When the IFC announced in
August that it had purchased an
option on a tract of land off Merritt
Mill Road, area residents signed
petitions, attended government
meetings and met with IFC officials
to oppose the IFC’s relocation.
For IFC Executive Director
Chris Moran, both petitions are the
result of a knowledge gap.
“People should want to learn
more about what we do,” Moran said.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of”
Moran explained that the Legion
and Merritt Mill sites are only
options. The IFC also has looked at
a site off Millhouse Road near the
new Town Operations Center.
“What happens when people buy
houses? They explore,” Moran said.
“That’s all we’re doing.”
Kane said that she understood the
investigation into the Legion Road
site was preliminary. But she said
her petitioners wanted to act before
it became more. “Don’t waste time or
staff salary,” Kane told the council.
“IFC has obviously recognized that
homeless men should not be located
near women and children because
of the separation of the (men’s and
women’s) shelters,” she said. “Guess
what? There are women and chil
dren (on Legion Road).
“It’s not ‘not in my back yard,’
but concerns over residential safety
and the best use for the land.”
Moran said he hopes the com
munity can realize that homeless
ness issues are bigger than the IFC
and that they help to address the
issue, not combat it.
“We’ve enjoyed the partnership
we’ve had with the town down
town,” he said. “But we’ve outgrown
that space.”
Moran said he invites anyone
with questions or concerns regard
ing the IFC or its plans to relocate
to call him at 929-6380.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
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News
Town mulls rezoning airport tract
BY DAN SCHWIND
SENIOR WRITER
While UNC has not made a for
mal change to its plans for a future
satellite campus since last spring, the
Chapel Hill Town Council continues
to prepare for the undertaking.
Much of the debate among
council members at the portion of
Monday’s council meeting devoted
to Carolina North was whether the
town should rezone the portion of
the Horace Williams property with
in the town of Chapel Hill to make
the tract Office/Institutional-2.
Council member Edith Wiggins
said the town shouldn’t act without
first hearing from the University.
“Until they deny an invitation to
sit down and work with us, I just
don’t think it’s a good idea,” sbe said.
“What would that mean for long
term relations with the University?”
But Mayor Kevin Foy stressed that
it would be beneficial for the town to
rezone the entire tract to 01-2.
“It gives uniformity to the par
cels there, and it gives assurance to
neighbors that nothing can happen
without their involvement,” he said.
The property now falls under
three different zoning districts:
Residential-2, 01-2 and Office/
Institutional-3.
Rezoning the entire property to
01-2 would allow more develop
ment in the areas now zoned R-2,
but less development in areas now
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zoned 01-3.
Rezoning to 01-2 would also
give the council more control of 01-
2-zoned property, which requires
council approval of development
plans. 01-3-zoned property requires
only planning board approval.
The council first considered
the property at its Oct.
11 business meeting.
Four days later, Chancellor
James Moeser wrote a letter to Foy
objecting “in the strongest possible
terms” to the rezoning.
“For the record, the University
has not submitted a request for
rezoning,” Moeser stated in the
letter. “When it does, we expect to
consult with the town to identify
appropriate ways to proceed with
any rezoning consideration.”
The zoning issue will be recon
sidered during a March 21 public
hearing.
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There was also debate among
council members as to the best way
to maximize open space and land
conservation at Carolina North.
The “Principles, Goals and
Strategies for Guiding the
Development of the Horace
Williams Property” report, written
by the Horace Williams Citizens
Committee and accepted by the
council last March, has “a goal
of preserving 75 percent of the
Horace Williams property.”
Council member Jim Ward ques
tioned the goal, saying the council
might be asking too much.
But Foy said he believed the
council should reiterate its ulti
mate goals, which could still be
negotiated. “I just think we need
to set out what it is that we want.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
5