Will You Be Part of Carrboro’s Future?
Tomorrow evening is one of the last two scheduled opportunities Carrboro residents will have to learn about and/or give input on the Downtown Area Plan (DAP), “an action-oriented document that helps guide Town decisions in Downtown and the Jones Ferry Road Area.” The impact of these plans will ripple throughout Carrboro for decades to come.
Wednesday’s meeting will take place at MLK Park, 1120 Hillsborough Road, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm (November 5).
If you aren’t familiar with the plan, a small group of local Carrboro-ites have put together short summaries of the major issues from their points of view.
To me, the DAP’s biggest weakness is the lack of detail on affordable housing. Affordability is at the heart of our community challenge. We can’t get affordable housing without reducing the cost of living here. And that cost reduction requires new revenues. The plan, as written, assumes that by adding more property owners to an already densely developed small town, additional property taxes will be generated to reduce the property taxes of existing land owners. It’s the same theory Chapel Hill has been following for the past many years. It’s the theory that gave them Blue Hill and towering parking garages and student housing on Rosemary Street. Is that what you want for Carrboro?
The consultants hired to develop the plan tried to generate interest and involvement in the plan creation by the community, but it’s been surprising to learn how many local residents say they haven’t heard about the plan. That failure does not lie exclusively with the consultants or the Town. We’re living in a time when there is simply too much going on and too much that needs our focused attention. But they’ve responded by adding new sessions before the Town Council is scheduled to vote to adopt the plan on November 18, so this is your opportunity to engage.
Please make some time to drop by MLK Park tomorrow from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm and familiarize yourself with the future vision of Carrboro. If you have time to prepare in advance, check out this post:
Last scheduled public engagement meeting: November 8, 12 pm - 2 pm, MLK Park, 1120 Hillsborough Road
The public hearing on the plan has been continued to November 18. If you can’t attend either of these last two public engagement sessions, please attend the November 18 Town Council meeting (or do both!). As a last resort, you can email your thoughts to the Town Council, the Town Manager, and the (interim) Planning Director. (Please send to all three.)