By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
CARRBORO – Following hours of discussion, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on Tuesday postponed a decision on the proposed Shelton Station mixed-use development until January, saying they needed to hear more from the public and gather additional information before approving or rejecting the project.
The board did, however, vote 4-3 to approve zoning changes that would allow greater residential density in certain projects, possibly including Shelton Station. Board members Dan Coleman, Jacquie Gist and Sammy Slade voted against the changes.
The project, proposed by Ken Reiter of Belmont Sayre, is a two-building, 125,000-square-foot development on 2.7 acres at 404, 406 and 500 N. Greensboro St. and 113 Parker St. A three-story building would face North Greensboro Street with 24,000 square feet of commercial property on the first and second floors and residential units on the third floor.
A four-story building, set back from the first and running perpendicular to Parker Street, would house 90 residential units with parking below them.
The approved zoning changes allow greater residential density in developments in exchange for mutually agreed-upon conditions for site and building elements to be met in the project, such as sustainable-building features, affordable-housing provisions and more, as well as at least 20 percent non-residential development.
Gist warned that the zoning would open the door for dense apartment complexes in the downtown area.
“I think it would be opening Pandora’s box,†she said. “Within 10 years, downtown Carrboro will be coffee shops and dense student housing.â€
Other board members disagreed.
“I think that this mechanism would give us another tool in our toolbox,†board member Lydia Lavelle said. “I see passing this mechanism as coming up with a way that we can then look at future developments and give and take with developments that come before us.â€
Board member Joal Hall Broun said the changes would still give the board the final decision on whether to allow projects to use the zoning. The board did not decide on Tuesday whether to allow the proposed Shelton Station project to use the approved zoning.
A number of residents spoke against the project, citing concerns about traffic, possible road changes and the project’s effects on the character of the neighborhood. Developers have proposed adding a turn-lane on North Greensboro Street in front of the project, which would widen the road and sidewalks to 56 feet within the 60-foot right-of-way, but could possibly cut into the yards of houses across the street.
“I’m not opposed to this project in the right place. I do not think North Greensboro Street is the right place for this project,†said Braxton Foushee, a Williams Street resident and former member of the board. “This is a quiet residential neighborhood. The scale of this building is going to look like what we see at Greenbridge.â€
Residents also spoke in favor of the project, saying that it would bring increased density downtown, which would be good for both business and the environment and add needed workforce housing.
“I think it is affordable housing, and we keep talking about wanting affordable housing,†said Giles Blunden. “This affordable housing is walkable to downtown. … I think the merchants downtown will appreciate the extra business.â€
“I know it impacts certain people. Every project does that … but the bigger public good is what has to be looked at,†he added.
The board said they would like to collect more public input and information regarding how the changes to the road could affect neighbors before making a decision, and continued the public hearing until Jan. 24.
Although I couldn’t attend the public hearing, I would have voiced my opinion that we need development downtown that actually seeks to be compatible with the existing neighborhoods AND promotes a future for Carrboro that includes a vibrant downtown with mixed used development and affordable housing while protecting the quality of life by minimizing late night noise, light pollution, and limiting increased traffic on top of existing residents who own houses right next door or across the street. This discussion should be focused on the quality of downtown for ALL of the citizens. I am getting tired of the repeated simplistic analysis of your either for or against development, and am particularly disturbed by Giles Blunden quote in the Citizen that “the bigger public good is what has to be looked at”. What greater public good is there than trying to achieve a compromise on development that can achieve all of our goals…isn’t that possible? Why should the homeowners in the neighborhoods have to sacrifice our quality of life for developers who will make money and the Town of Carrboro that seeks to diversify its economic base, which would be good for all of us. Isn’t there a middle way?
Developers and Town officials should listen to what the neighborhoods and other citizens have to say about the impact of the Shelton Street project and other similar projects looming like CVS on the Greensboro and Weaver Street intersection. What greater public good is achieved when homeowners have their front yards destroyed and the streets relocated within 10 feet of their front doorsteps and we all sit in traffic trying to negotiate Carrboro’s inadequate road system? Can’t the developer find a way to lessen the impact and address the traffic that surely will result from such a large development? Can’t Carrboro try to address development, traffic, AND preserve our town’s heritage and character. I applaud Town officials for extending the public hearing and for weighing the public good for all, not just a few. Let’s all support the kinds of development that enhances the future of Carrboro for those of us who live and work downtown now and those who may in the future. Surely we can find a way.
Michele Rivest
100 Oak Ave
Carrboro, NC
I think this would be an awesome project and a great addition to Carrboro. It is everything Carrboro needs, and everything Carrboro represents.
It is walkable, very green because it is dense, like the rest of Carrboro, and it also puts people’s living space near where they shop and work.
Carrboro has to allow this to be built, it will further the much needed renaissance of downtown Carrboro, the Paris of the Piedmont!
My wife, Clay Carmichael, and I did attend the meeting, and I have to say it’s a sausage making process with little elegance or entertainment value. However, I thoroughly agree with Michele’s comments above, and I am seeing the importance of showing up to these council meetings. We were motivated by the reality that Carrboro traffic is already a less than pleasant aspect of our small town experience – we think of our “walkable community” more in runnable terms. The Shelton Street project would obviously add traffic to an already often bottlenecked road.
As I sat listening, I heard several frustrated comments about four approved projects stalled because of finance issues. Comments were offered by Jackie Gist referencing stipulations that were imposed – three story vs. five story – that may have added barriers to getting them going. I suppose that includes the Art Center complex, and I’m not sure what else. But it is obvious that the bigger picture of our economy has had a hand in delaying these projects, and it is also a truism that those conditions will change – and what then? What happens when the dam breaks on the barriers to building and those projects come back on line?
Much of the discussion about Shelton Street revolved around compromises to the percentage of commercial vs. residential space. These were conditions of financing from whatever bank the developer is dealing with. These compromises will set a precedent for the above mentioned stalled projects, giving them ample ammunition to renegotiate the composition of their projects. In order to finance what the banks will support we will have agreed to lower the percentage of commercial parts of any project, established that high density apartments are the preferred living arrangement for our downtown, and altered the paced way of life that drew us here in the first place. Will that be considered worthy once any savings in property taxes are now deferred because we need to commit to a massive crash course in infrastructure upgrades? Could be this just isn’t the time to be setting those precedents.
Banks finance what they will finance, and if the development we seek needs fit all their guidelines in these lean times, then we can all look forward to Cary-style human warehousing in Carrboro. As I sit on my front porch writing this, there are people having coffee at our newest neighbors, the Looking Glass Cafe. It’s a nice shop, good people, and while I’m not always crazy about the live music, they don’t do it often, and they close it up at a reasonable hour when they do. Next to that 605 Main Street, the three story block of a building we affectionately call “the Borg” (resistance is futile) sits on its pylons nesting its brood of cars. It’s no architectural wonder, but there’s some good people living and working in there. Change happens, and I’m fine with that. But I would like to see this little town continue to keep its quirkiness, continue to be a place where people have individual expression. Change, when it comes, should do so with respect for those who already live here. While we all grumble about Carrboro’s high property taxes, we pay them because there’s something here that makes them worth it.
Let’s keep talking about this before the meeting in January and see if we can’t come up with a workable compromise in the spirit of Carrboro. You’ll be seeing Clay and me at a few more of those alderman and road diet meetings–come on down.
Mike Roig
100 Hillsborough Road
Carrboro, NC