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Public comment on Carolina North
Submitted by eferreri on 11/18/2008 - 19:10
At the start of an information meeting tonight about Carolina North, The Chapel Hill Town Council and members of the UNC Board of Trustees heard from citizens firing a handful of questions their way.
Thus commenced a small bout of "what do we do with these questions," that concluded with a promise from town leaders that answers will be found and posted on the town's website.
A few folks had questions about an airport that may or may not be proposed, eventually, for the rural community of White Cross. Others had questions about transportation and housing issues at Carolina North, the huge new UNC campus planned for 25 percent of the nearly 1,000-acre Horace Williams tract just north of the main campus.
Once questions from the citizenry are answered, they will appear here.
Additionally, council member Jim Ward suggested that future meetings allow more than just 10 minutes before and after for public comment.
Of note: the folks out at White Cross are organizing swiftly to oppose any airport that might be eventually proposed for their community. They're nervous because their area was tabbed in a 2005 airport site study, and now there are new rumblings about a new Orange County airport.
They came with signs and bumper stickers reading "No Airport" and sent just a handful of delegates to speak. And Mayor Kevin Foy made clear at the start of this meeting that it was about Carolina North planning, not an airport.
He said:
"We're not talking about the airport this evening so what I would ask is that people who want to comment, comment directly about the Carolina North project. If you want to talk about the airport, I think that's a topic for a different meeting. If you do want to talk about that, I'm not going to entertain that this evening unless it's in the context of Carolina North."
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Comments
The Chancellor's Words
Wed, 11/19/2008 - 11:46 — fhblackGood info on his blog:
http://holden.unc.edu/
Airport closure...
Wed, 11/19/2008 - 11:25 — CitizenWillThe joint group finally agreed to start tracking questions and providing answers on the Town's Carolina North website.
I expect my question from last night, "What is the impact of delaying the Innovation Center project on HWA's closure schedule?", to be answered by UNC.
As has been noted before, a significant part of the justification for an expanded substitute Horace-Williams Airport (HWA) involves the closure of the current airport. If that closure in now contingent on the building of a new Law School, it pushes the time horizon further forward.
The community deserves a thorough, complete and accurate analysis of the justifications for that new airport. I asked the County Commissioners to appoint me to the Airport Authority because I believe I can help the community get solid answers.
Like Mark, Tony and others, I find the current justifications weak to nonsensical. If UNC's Thorp and UNC's BOT Chair Perry want to be (not just "seem to be") fair dealers on this issue, they have to start providing reasonable answers in a timely fashion to these community concerns.
And as plans shift, like pulling the Innovation Center, they also need to make sure that modifications in UNC's thinking as per closing HWA, a new airport, etc. are communicated effectively.
Clarifications
Wed, 11/19/2008 - 09:46 — marcoplosFirst - the N&O article mistakenly reports that I think we are "getting ahead of ourselves" because UNC is playing the shell game of saying their $200,000 study of just three years ago is inconsequential because they plan to do another site search. (Could it be because the special business interests did not like the report's conclusion that RDU was the best choice to replace Horace Williams?). We are absolutely not getting ahead of ourselves. Does anybody really believe that the criteria used in 2005 that resulted in our community coming in 2nd place have changed in three years? The land is just as flat, the distance form town is still the same, the same landowners are still here. (Interestingly, another potential site with a new landowner - John Edwards - has been removed from consideration.) Hmm, if he ends up having trouble at home and needs a place to stay .... Anyway, our goal at the meeting was to show ourselves to the Trustees and get our message out via the media, which we successfully accomplished. We only planned on having one speaker deliver a brief message to the Trustees. And we said what we wanted to say, Kevin Foy's weak assertiion notwithstanding: 1) In a county whose local governments routinely show respect for its citizenry by communicating & involving them in issues, UNC has never communicated with us or provided any information or opportunity for engagement on this issue. 2) Our community could be collateral damage for their grand plans. 3) Their own study concluded that RDU was the best place to relocate airport activity when Horace Williams is closed. 4) We don't need an airport anywhere in Orange County. I'd like to note an observation that speaks volumes. Roger Perry, Chair of the Board of Trustees, sat inertly while we spoke of our disenfranchisement and our disappointment that UNC has not communicated with us on this issue. When we concluded our brief remarks, he had nothing to say to us.
No Airport. Period.
Tue, 11/18/2008 - 22:19 — ClaudiusDoes it really matter what part of Orange County they want to put the airport? Let's face it, no matter where they eventually decide to site the thing, it's a huge waste of money and land (that will most likely have to be taken by force).
The citizens of ALL of Orange County should band together and JUST SAY NO - period. No airport, no where, no time, no how. Including Horace Williams.
The university needs to admit its mistake and stop this power-grabbing lunacy, then build the AHEC hangar at RDU and be done with it.