UNC
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday May 21, 2005
Like the three-headed dog of Greek mythology, town, gown and scrubs
have put their heads together to move forward on a common initiative.
Last week, Mayor Foy, Chancellor Moeser and UNC Healthcare CEO Roper
all signed a letter to the N.C. Department of Transportation conveying
their "agreement on a solution acceptable to all parties" on the
long-delayed improvements to Chapel Hill's South Columbia Street.
Perhaps now, the turn lanes, bike lanes and sidewalks agreed to by
the town and Chancellor Michael Hooker in 1998 will at last be built.
This was quite a turnaround from recent weeks when it was learned
that the improvements were held up by the DOT and questions were raised
as to the university's involvement.
Those who follow the issue are well aware that not long after
Moeser's arrival, the university reneged on Hooker's agreement and the
planned improvements were stalled.
Guest Post by Linda Convissor
Friends and Neighbors,
A you know, we are in the midst of a major building program on campus. The campus master plan, which was completed in 2001, guides this campus development.
Midway through our historic building program, we recognize that it is a good time to evaluate and update the plan for main campus. The update process began with a number of initial planning workshops held this past winter to assess current conditions and identify the scope of the update. Issues of pedestrian connections, green space, transportation and parking are some of the issues being looked at.
Next week we will hold a meeting to solicit additional input from the community and invite you to attend. The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 19, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. in 116 Murphey Hall.
If you are unfamiliar with the 2001 master plan, it is posted at http://www.fpc.unc.edu/CampusMasterPlan. It is also available at the Chapel Hill Public Library.
Regular readers of my part-time employer, the Chapel Hill Herald, will surely have noticed its editorialists' unflagging support for UNC's growth plans. In a Wednesday editorial titled "Carolina North is coming closer", they wrote that Carolina North is "getting ready to splash across the front pages." They went on to discuss a "new, revised plan" that they said would be presented to the trustees.
This prompted Vice Chancellor Tony Waldrop to write a letter, appearing in today's paper, correcting the editorial and pointing out that what will be presented is only an update and information on a study of potential airport sites.
The irony for me is that I have written repeatedly urging people not to overstate or over-react to events surrounding the proposed Carolina North. Now the university is doing the same!
The encouraging bit in the Herald editorial was their concluding hope that the university has heard concerns already expressed on Carolina North. Given the paper's often disdainful attitude toward those concerned with the impact of UNC's plans, this could be a very positive development.
At Wednesday night's town-gown soiree, all were on their best behavior. The only moment of tension arose when Will Raymond pressed the town planning director on a point. Two hours went by before Elaine Barney politely asked if the university still had a protest petition in place for the proposed OI-4 zoning changes.
But there was one particular bit of hogwash that should not go uncorrected. This was Jonathan Howes sanctimonious prattle about the need for the university to safeguard our tax dollars. That was the primary rationalization offered for UNC's push for a hasty town review of university development projects.
What Howes did not tell us, but surely knows, is that state funding accounts for only 20-some percent of the university budget (see, for example, UNC says state funds are just 25% of budget).
In misrepresenting this fact, Howes is playing on public misconceptions. In its Feb. 26, 2004 issue, the Triangle Business Journal reported on a UNC survey which found that
Tomorrow (Wednesday) evening at 7 pm is the big, friendly hoe down between the Town and UNC to discuss proposed changes to OI-4, the zone that covers the entire main campus. This is intended to be a relatively-informal event which should allow UNC administrators and town officials to discuss issues in a non-confrontational format. There will be some audience participation, but I'm not sure how much.
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