Chapel Hill is asking residents to fill out a brief survey to help staff understand how well the 2020 planning process worked.

The Chapel Hill 2020 Participants’ Survey is available online at http://bit.ly/VCDSbx or pick one up at the Chapel Hill Public Library in University Mall; the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Administrative Office, 200 Plant Road; or the Seymour Center, 2551 Homestead Road.

Survey participants must be age 18 or older. All survey responses are anonymous, and participants will be eligible for a drawing to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

The survey ends Dec. 23. Paper surveys will be accepted at pickup locations or mail them to Ben Chambers, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

The results will be announced early next year.

Chambers, a graduate student in UNC’s School of Government, is an intern with the town, and the survey project is required for his graduate program. For more information, contact him at bhchambe@live.unc.edu or 919-969-5053.

The Town Council appointed 16 members of the Central West steering committee Monday. They dropped a 17th seat, because no one from public housing applied.

The Central West planning area is immediately adjacent to the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Estes Drive. The impact area runs from Carrboro east to Franklin Street and Homestead Road south to Hillsborough Road.

The steering committee will begin meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 19. It also will hold a community design charette Feb. 15-16 and community workshops before updating the council in June. The final plan is due next December.

Before the council's decision, Former Transportation Board Chairman Rudy Juliano raised eyebrows by asking to dropped from consideration and recommending his replacement. He and others asked the council to appoint community advocate and former Town Council member Julie McClintock instead.

"I honestly feel that there are other people who would really serve the community better in the context of the Central West study," including McClintock, he said.

Neither Juliano nor McClintock was named to the steering committee. A complete list of members is available at http://bit.ly/SH6WiW

Chapel Hill residents and town staff compared notes Monday in preparation for this week’s Town Council presentation about the Central Estes/MLK Focus Area planning process.

The council will receive three recommendations for the study group and process at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Council Chambers at Town Hall.

There are a few differences – about the group’s name and composition, the planning area and the schedule – but also a number of similarities. The groups have met five times since September.

The Central Estes/MLK Focus Area is one of six small areas identified in the 2020 Comprehensive Plan for more intensive study and planning.

Mary Jane Nirdlinger, town director of policy and strategic initiatives, said a memo with community, Planning Board and staff recommendations was not meant to change or circumvent residents’ desires.

“Your time is valued. We’re here tonight to share our thinking, but I don’t think we would even be at this point if you all hadn’t put the time into those meetings and we hadn’t had a chance to have all the conversations we’ve had, including tonight,” she said.

The Estes Neighbors community group has a petition asking the council to accept the community’s recommendations. The petition – at http://bit.ly/RuyBkg – had more than 200 signatures Tuesday morning.