The Carrboro aldermen will take stock tonight of the town’s options for dealing with an abundance of deer.
 
Some residents and the executive committee of the Orange County Democratic Party have asked the town to allow an Urban Archery Program early next year on public and owner-approved private lands. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission estimates there are 30 to 44 deer per square mile in Orange County; there are no individual statistics for Carrboro.
 
The aldermen will discuss a staff report that the town is densely populated and only a limited number of properties are large enough for safe bow hunting – typically two acres or more. Town laws also prohibit the discharge of any projectile, including arrows.
 
Staff will present an alternative ordinance, too, that would prohibit residents from feeding deer. Wildlife experts say feeding can concentrate more deer in one area, where diseases can spread more easily and reproduction is ideal. It also makes the deer less fearful of humans and more likely to wander close to homes or into traffic, experts say.
 
The aldermen will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the OWASA board room on Jones Ferry Road, since Town Hall is being used as an early voting site.

From correspondent Tammy Grubb

The Board of Aldermen unanimously passed limits on dog tethering this week.

Police Chief Carolyn Hutchison said the town’s animal control officer estimates there are 40 to 50 locally tethered dogs.

Tethers can include ropes, chains, wires or other lines, even if the line is attached to a cable trolley system. Opponents say the practice is inhumane, and chained dogs are more likely to bark, be aggressive or bite, and become tangled or prevented from reaching food, water and shelter.

Several North Carolina communities, including Durham and Raleigh, have passed anti-tethering ordinances in the past few years. Orange County’s ordinance allows tethering for up to three hours in a 24-hour period, while Chapel Hill prohibits all tethering and sets minimum sizes for outside fences and kennels at 100 square feet for a dog under 20 pounds and 200 square feet for a 20-plus-pound dog.

Carrboro’s new ordinance adopts those fencing requirements but allows tethering up to seven consecutive days for hunting; field, water, obedience or law enforcement training; or veterinary treatment. An owner or keeper also may tether a dog if they are nearby or with the dog, or if a stray dog is being kept during the search for its owner.

We'll have a full story on the new anti-tethering rules coming Sunday in The Chapel Hill News.

From correspondent Tammy Grub

The Board of Aldermen will take up the debate this fall about the effects of the town’s anti-lingering ordinance on local day laborers.

“There are a lot of stakeholders in this issue who are not here tonight, who also need to be heard from before the board can fully take up this matter,” Mayor Mark Chilton said Tuesday. The board will not meet again until Aug. 23.

The ordinance bans loitering between 11 a.m. and 5 a.m. at the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie roads. Although that corner has long been a gathering place for Hispanic and African-American men looking for work, the town passed the ordinance in 2007 in response to complaints of harassment, trespassing, drinking and public urination.

Some residents demanded Tuesday night that the board repeal the ordinance, because it penalizes the workers and violates their right to be in a public place. Alberto Rodriguez, speaking through an interpreter, said he has sought work at the corner off and on for 15 years. The corner has always been there for workers, especially now that jobs are more difficult to find, he said.

“The corner is part of Carrboro … and we always know where to find a job there, where to stand there,” Rodriguez said. “We know that by 11 we have to leave; they don’t need the police to enforce that.”

After a short discussion, the aldermen voted Tuesday to have staff put the item on the fall agenda, notify neighbors and provide a list of previously considered alternatives. They also want to hear from Hutchison about current conditions at the corner.

Look for more on this issue and the rest of the aldermen's meeting coming Sunday in The Chapel Hill News.

From correspondent Tammy Grubb

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen will discuss Tuesday whether there is the potential for a conflict of interest when members of the Economic Sustainability Commission who are also local business owners consider new applications for the town’s revolving loan program.

The loan program, established in 1986, has helped launch several businesses, including The Beehive, Neal’s Deli and Cycle 9. ESC members are responsible for reviewing loan applications and making recommendations to the aldermen, who make the final decision.

Local businessmen Tim Jones and Jerry Glass said Tuesday that they became concerned after learning that some ESC members are potential competitors of the juice and smoothie bar they plan to open on West Weaver Street.

“Naturally, we were very concerned about releasing our confidential business plans to potential competitors, but more importantly … we would expect that someone with such a conflict would recuse themselves from discussions concerning the application,” Jones said.

N.C. General Statutes only recognize a conflict of interest when a town officer or employee will directly benefit from the decision to approve or reject a contract, town attorney Bob Hornick said Wednesday in an email to economic director Annette Stone. Since ESC members only advise the aldermen and don’t make the decision about loans, there is little chance of a conflict, he said.

The ESC has not recommended for or against the new loan. Town staff will report back to the board Tuesday after looking into the matter and how other towns handle similar conflicts.
 

From correspondent Tammy Grubb

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen is expected to set a date Tuesday for public comment about a plan to rezone four properties at or near 500 N. Greensboro St. for a roughly $15 million mixed-use project.

Ken Reiter, of Durham developer Belmont Sayre LLC, has proposed two new buildings between Southern States and a residential area to the north. The entrance to the 2.5-acre project would intersect with Shelton Street. One two- to three-story building, fronting North Greensboro Street, could provide 12,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 24 upper-level residential units. The second, four-story building would have 90 more residential units and a below-grade parking garage for residents.

Reiter has asked the town to rezone the properties for conditional business use; a conditional-use plan would come later. The project is aimed at creating “affordable workforce housing” within walking distance of downtown Carrboro.

They need a decision before the summer break, Reiter said, because the option to buy the properties expires before the aldermen return in September. The public hearing could be set for June 14.

- The aldermen also could set a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. May 24 to talk about the town’s 2011-12 fiscal year budget. The budget is not expected to include any expansion items and is available for viewing in Town Hall, 300 W. Main St., from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. It also will be posted on the town’s website at www.townofcarrboro.org. The board is tentatively scheduled to adopt next year’s budget June 21.
 

From correspondent Tammy Grubb

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen unanimously approved rezoning and a conditional use permit Tuesday night for the eco-friendly Veridia subdivision proposed for two parcels at 810 Old Fayetteville Road.

Mayor Mark Chilton, who worked with developer Sustainable Properties LLC on the project, abstained from the discussion and subsequent vote.

Veridia will replace 37 mobile homes and one house in the Pine Grove Mobile Home Park with two- and three-bedroom homes. The plan saves another house at the front of the property for a community clubhouse. About 31 percent of the 4.66 acres will be open space.

Architect Giles Blunden’s initial drawings show single-family, millhouse-style homes. A 100-kilowatt solar array will generate roughly 135,000 kilowatt hours each year for sell to local utilities. The proceeds – possibly $13,000 to $24,000 annually, will be used to maintain the system and reduce homeowner’s association dues.

The project also includes a rainwater capture system that will support the community garden and help flush toilets. The developers plan to meet national LEED green-building standards for residential insulation, recycled construction materials and solar thermal hot water heaters, among other features.

Stormwater runoff will be directed to underground sand filters and a detention system. All utility lines will be buried, and OWASA will provide water and sewer services, replacing an existing septic system that has reached the end of its life, the developers said.

Development partners Trip Overholt and David Bell agreed to 28 conditions Tuesday, including housing size limits, making sure the locally built playground meets safety and disability standards and letting homebuyers seek financing from their own bank or credit union. In addition, the permit requires many of the project’s green building features to be in place before the developers receive an occupancy permit for the 26th house.

Look for more on this story in this Sunday's Chapel Hil News.

A reader's letter criticizing the Carrboro mayor's writing "F--- you" on his Facebook page about Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner touched off a debate in our newsroom. Was the mayor's Facebook page a public forum, was his comment public? Is anything a mayor says ever private?

The Pittsboro Town Board has condemned Saturday's assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the Arizona shootings that killed six people. An alderman in Carrboro, which may consider a similar resolution, says Pittsboro's resolution does not go far enough.

The resolution from the Chatham County seat supports the safety of public officials in open forums that are safe for civil debate.

"Now therefore be it resolved," the Monday resolution states, "the town of Pittsboro offers support for Congresswoman Giffords and its deepest sympathy for the victims of this attack. And further resolves to condemn the violence that was expressed in this attack ... as such actions have no place in a civil society."

In Carrboro, Mayor Mark Chilton asked his board members by e-mail if they would like to consider a similar statement at a future meeting.  

"Absolutely," Alderman Randee Haven-O'Donnell wrote back, "civil discourse is to be respected and upheld, all violence condemned."

Alderman Dan Coleman suggested Carrboro consider a more strongly worded resolution.  
 
"I would not vote against this, but I do not particularly support it. It strikes me as a fairly bland response," he wrote. "If we are to have a resolution, I prefer one that does not just single out he who pulled the trigger but also those who put the gun in his hand and aimed it."

The weekend shootings have got people asking whether political rhetoric has contributed to a breakdown in civil discourse. Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin posted a video on her Facebook page today, accusing journalists and political analysts of inciting hatred in the wake of the  Arizona shootings.  Last spring, Palin targeted Giffords' district as one of 20 that the GOP should take back, each marked with the cross hairs of a gun sight, according to the Associated Press.

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