Chapel Hill Town Council denies Charterwood

CORRECTION 2/1/12

After months of public hearings and changes, Charterwood won't be coming to town after all.

The Town Council voted down the proposal to bring 155 apartments and 18,000-27,000 square feet of retail to 1641 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, near Weaver Dairy Road, Monday night after more than two hours of presentations from the developer and public comment Monday night.

The council voted 5-3 with Council members Laurin Easthom, Lee Storrow and Ed Harrison voting against a rezoning and a Special Use Permit for the Charterwood property. Council member Donna Bell was sick and excused.

A protest petition was filed against the project last year, which means it required at least seven out of nine votes to pass. Because Bell was absent, six votes were needed to approve the project instead of seven.

The development would have covered 9.3 acres of a 15.7 acre property and had been reduced by 30 to 40 percent since it was first brought to the council, said developer Bill Christian. He also removed plans for a hotel on the site and had increased buffers between the development and the neighboring houses.

In past drafts of the plan, several council members also said the development would remove too many trees. The current proposal still didn't conserve enough trees, and the walkways would still disturb existing trees root systems, said Council member Jim Ward.

Several residents who live in the neighborhood bordering the Charterwood site spoke against the development Monday, saying it would decrease home values, and hurt the environment.

"This really will directly impact the values of the homes being sold in our neighborhood," said Judy Weinstock, who lives in the nearby Northwoods neighborhood and is a real estate agent in town. "They will remain on the market long [term] ultimately they will sell for less."

The project is the type of development the town's Northern Area Task Force plan calls for in the northern part of town, according to memos from the town staff.

Christian said he has spent more than $1 million ushering Charterwood through the town's approval process, and has been responsive to all concerns of the council and neighboring residents, but said last week that, in the end, it hasn't mattered.

"We pretty much have been shooting in the dark,"  he said. "...I had no idea that we would be strung out like this."

One resident supported the proposal, saying the town should defer to current plans for growth until a new Comprehensive Plan is complete.

"We should ask ourselves why we write these plans if when we are presented with projects that fulfills them, we don't approve them," said Tom Wiltberger, who serves on the economic development committee of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.

Council member Gene Pease agreed. Charterwood fits with what the town has outlined for the northern part of town in its Northern Area Task Force plan, he said.

" I can't negate the task force work, that's one of the reason I support this development,"  he said. "I think this developers been very responsive to both public comments and council comments."

Council member Laurin Easthom was concerned about the development's affordability. Charterwood rental units would be two-bedrooms and rent for $1,200 to $1,600 per month.

"In this case there really is no known affordable housing ... I don't think in these price points these are affordable in town," she said. "There are tons of units here. I just think it's really concerning."