More housing is on its way to downtown Chapel Hill.

The Town Council unanimously approved the Shortbread Lofts, a 7-story, apartment complex on West Rosemary Street Monday night, saying it will bring more people downtown and offer more rental opportunities for residents.

The vote was 7-0, Council member Donna Bell was absent and Council member Laurin Easthom excused herself from the vote because her husband's law firm represented the developers.

The Town Council unanimously approved a new towing ordinance Monday night designed to prevent predatory towing and increase accountability and enforcement from tow truck operators.

The new rules will require more signage around private lots downtown that lets drivers know they can be towed.

The council also voted to increase the tow fee to $125, up from $100, and place it on the town's fee schedule, so it can be reviewed each year. That vote was 6-3 with Council members Laurin Easthom, Penny Rich and Donna Bell dissenting.

I sat down with the self-proclaimed "young buck" of the Chapel Hill Town Council yesterday, Donna Bell. We chatted about affordable housing, homelessness in Chapel Hill, the town's relationship with Carrboro, and the power of perception when legislating.

"The one thing I've learned on the Council is that there are no 'duh' answers," she said. "Everything is complicated."

Bell said hot-button town issues like the vibrancy of downtown Franklin Street, and parking often become discussions between feelings and viewpoints.

"Responding to perceptions is hard for me," said Bell. "How do you have a conversation between two sets of perceptions?

Bell said despite a high occupancy rate of storefronts on Franklin Street, and improvements to parking that are coming as a result of a town study, people don't always see facts the same way.

One person has their facts and another person has their facts, everybody has facts, she said. "But sometimes you have to respond to perception."

The power of perception came into play a few weeks ago when the mayor of Morganton, a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate said the town is "slowly declining."

When asked about Chapel Hill's relationship with neighboring Carrboro, Bell said the two don't work together often. The towns are sharing a green development grant right now, but she said the municipal neighbors aren't necessarily the best of friends. "There's a history of resistance to collaboration between Carrboro and Chapel Hill," she said. ""Carrboro wants to maintain their own identity."

She then shrugs and admits that she usually finds herself in Carrboro, meeting people at Weaver Street (yes, we met there too), rather than Foster's (the typical Town Council dive). Weaver Street, she said, is a much easier walk from her house.

Other hot issues for the council this fall, according to Bell:

-the budget (when is that not hot?)
"We've gone two years without giving [town] employees a raise," she said.

-IFC's homeless shelter permit application and site discussion

-UNC's University Square project
"That'll be big."

-Chapel Hill Museum. Bell said she thinks that issue will resurface.

-Glen Lennox development

"We're not good at having some of the really hard discussions," Bell said. She cites examples like affordable housing, "there's a serious...need," she said.

The Council is begins their meetings September 15.

Timely guest post here given a conversation I had this morning with Bill Hester. who recently closed his fine arts gallery at University Square.

From Paul Hrusovsky, retired art teacher:

Every day I pass by the old Crown Volvo/Honda building and think what a wonderful structure for something great in Chapel Hill. It is a good size building with ample parking and easy access from the highway.

Since there has been a lot of chatter about Carrboro and Chapel Hill losing its edge, I was thinking that maybe this space would be a great arts center.  

There could easily be two galleries and another gallery and office for the Orange County Artist guild. The back could be transformed into 10 to 15 resonably priced artists studios. For many years we have talked about finding spaces for artists. There would be no theatre or classes at the beginning as not to compete with the Carrboro Arts Center.

This is just a dream but thought maybe others would be interested in pursuing this.

Paul Hrusovsky

One of Chapel Hill's downtown alleys is getting some long needed repairs. Or it will if the Town Council approves $60K in renovations Wednesday night. See the resolution here.

Amber Alley, the cut-through between Franklin Street and the Wallace Parking Deck on East Rosemary Street, is well known to anyone whoever descended its steps to eat at the now closed Rathskeller. Less well known is the fact that the alley is private property.

On Wednesday the Town Council will consider a request to spend about $60,000 (the owners will spend another $44,000) to remove and replace the slippery terracotta floor of the alley, redo the stairs and install and paint handrails among other measures. The town would also install signs above both entrances to the alley.

If you're wondering how Amber Alley got its name, by the way, read the essay by muralist  Michael Brown that ran as part of our Save the Murals series in The Chapel Hill News.