Update to story 1/26/08: Mayor Chilton posts a clarification, outline of the zoning issues and possible solutions offered by town planners on Orange Politics. Link.

After receiving an anonymous complaint, Carrboro officials notified three property owners that so-called “taco trucks” parked on their properties are not in compliance with local zoning rules and will need to cease operations.

The owners of Fitch Lumber, Cliff’s Meat Market and Johnny’s Sporting Goods were notified by letter last week that allowing the trucks to operate on their property puts them in violation of the town’s zoning ordinances. They were given seven days to shut down the trucks or face action from the town. The letter, dated January 17, stated that the businesses could appeal the decision through the town’s board of adjustment, a process that requires a $250 filing fee.

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Closed for the winter, it’s quiet around Univerity Lake these days. Though not nearly as drawn down as Cane Creek Reservoir, Assistant Lake Warden Robert Glosson says “you could harvest a lot of hay around here.” Photo by Kirk Ross.

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority will hold a public forum tonight (Thursday) regarding “The State of Our Local Water Supply,” to provide information and receive customers’ questions and feedback.

The forum will be held at 7 p.m. at the Chapel Hill Town Hall and will be televised live on local cable channel 18.

The forum will cover local water supply and demand and weather forecasts for coming months along with the short and long-term financial implications and the options, costs and timetable for addressing the worst-case drought scenario.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

A new five-story mixed-use development slated for the site of the old Andrews-Riggsbee hardware store won’t provide enough parking and will exacerbate a growing downtown parking crunch, residents and business owners told the Carrboro Board of Aldermen Tuesday night.

The comments came as the board opened a public hearing on the proposed Roberson Square project on North Greensboro Street that would span the block between Carr, Roberson and Maple streets. The project includes two floors of commercial space, with the ground level dedicated to retail and restaurants and the second floor office space, and three floors of residential space with 18 condominiums.

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After a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tour of Barbee’s Chapel’s new education assistance center, Rev. Gene Hatley reflected on the need to do something within the community to address the acheivement gap. Photo by Kirk Ross.

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Ten years ago, Bishop Gene Hatley started thinking about a program run through the church to help educate the members of the African-American community.

The program would reach out to children and adults who needed help with reading, math or other skills.

Although Hatley – who serves as pastor of Barbee’s Chapel Missionary Baptist Church – tried to launch such a program several years ago, it was too small to succeed. But about a year ago, Hatley and other volunteers started work on a new program, Barbee’s Chapel Harvest Word Community Resource and Enrichment Centers, which will launch next month.

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American Beech leaves glistening gold everywhere. Photo by Ken Moore.

By Ken Moore 

A small group of us were rewarded with some beautiful and dramatic surprises during our woods walk on the Adams Track this past Saturday afternoon. It was very cold, the rain began to fall, and it was two hours before the Tar Heel basketball game. It’s hard to believe that a small group of 11 adults and two lively youngsters would set off into the woods at the edge of Wilson Park at such a moment. But we did, and we were rewarded.

At the beginning of our adventure, I asked the two youngsters, Flora and Jasper, to serve as junior naturalists and lead us forward. Flora immediately initiated a game called “Find that Tree.” She beat us all to the base of the biggest of several sycamores and explained that she could find it because of the bark. We all admired the brilliant white upper trunks of the big trees brightening the dark gray day.
We left the big white trees behind down on the low ground as Flora ran ahead up hill into the piney woods to find leaves of different trees to show us. Young Jasper was proud to find a cone of one of the three different common pines, and that discovery was so important that it did not matter what pine it was.

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By Valarie Schwartz 

Having a library within walking distance of my childhood home fed my growing mind and kept me out of trouble. It even provided a safe place to break up with my first serious boyfriend. Throughout life, my local library was the place to go when bored or needing a lift — where there’s always something new waiting to be found.

Members of Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library know such facts about libraries. They knew it 20 years ago when they first started petitioning for one and have kept the knowledge fresh through the years since 1995, when the Carrboro Branch Library opened up inside McDougle Middle School.
They have been grateful for the library there, but they will not be satisfied until Carrboro lives down the statistic of being the largest town in North Carolina without a freestanding library.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Students and teachers were left saddened and bewildered after racially-charged comments led to a fight among three students at Carrboro High School last Thursday.

According to Principal Jeff Thomas, the fight broke out after a white student made racially charged comments to a black student. After faculty members broke up the fight, one of the students had to be taken to the hospital for injuries and was released later that evening.
According to a police report, the fight involved three offenders, including a 16-year-old black student, a 17-year old white student and a 15-year old black student. According to the report, two of the students fought while the third student struck one of the other students repeatedly.
The students have not yet been charged, according to Carrboro Police Captain J.G. Booker.

Possible charges include assault as well as ethnic intimidation.

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Rogers Road complaint to EPA alleges discrimination

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Orange County and the Board of County Commissioners are reviewing an administrative complaint against the county and others filed with the Environmental Protection Agency last summer.

According to a letter from the EPA to the county dated January 8, the agency received an administrative complaint in October “alleging that the Orange County, North Carolina Board of County Commissioners has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … and EPA’s nondiscrimination regulations.”

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At its meeting on January 22, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners approved two major grant applications and an initial concept design plan to begin development of the new Northeast District Park on Big Woods Road.

Chatham County operates ballfields in Bynum and recently completed the major phase of Southwest Park in Bear Creek, but other parks have not yet been developed. Last fall, the Board of Commissioners purchased nearly 67 acres on Big Woods Road for the Northeast District Park. Recreation fees paid by developers when land is subdivided paid for the purchase of the land.
The first phase of Northeast District Park is expected to include a baseball field, multi-purpose field, walking trail, natural areas and a playground. It also will include a building with concession stand, restrooms and covered eating area.

At press time on Wednesday, the Chapel Hill Town Council held a public hearing at which UNC-Chapel Hill staff presented a Carolina North Master Use Plan to Mayor Kevin Foy, council members and Chapel Hill residents. Also on the agenda for the 7 p.m. public hearing: a presentation about the Concept Plan for the Innovation Center at Carolina North, a public hearing regarding Millennium Commercial Properties, LLC and Orange County Habitat for Humanity’s request for approval of the 63-lot Bradley Ridge Preliminary Plat Cluster Subdivision and a public hearing regarding a request for approval of a preliminary plat for the Estates at Oxford subdivision, a 4-lot subdivision near Smith Level Road and Dogwood Acres.

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The Board of County Commissioners seeks applicants for the Orange County Board of Equalization and Review.

The Board of Equalization and Review examines and reviews tax lists of the county for the current year with the intent that all taxable property shall be listed on the abstracts and tax records of Orange County and appraised according to the standards required by the General Statutes of North Carolina.

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Carrboro Police, Carrboro Fire-Rescue and Chapel Hill Fire Department officials rescued a dog trapped in a storm water drain pipe near Lake Hogan Farms on Friday.

The Carrboro Police Department’s animal control officer was alerted to a dog trapped in the pipe Friday morning after the dog’s owner was unable to coax it out. Police requested the assistance of Carrboro Fire-Rescue after the animal control officer ran out of options, and officials decided to dig down to the dog, about 10 feet.

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