Forum exposes misgivings over Chapel Hill condo project

The idea of an eight-story complex downtown raises questions

CHAPEL HILL -- Some downtown advocates are banking on residential development to provide an economic boost to Chapel Hill, but others aren't convinced that an eight-story condominium building is the best bet for a more vibrant Franklin Street.

About 75 people attended the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership's annual meeting and forum Tuesday night. While suggestions to improve downtown ranged from planting more flowers to improving crosswalks, the redevelopment of the town's Parking Lot 5 as condos and retail space loomed large. The Town Council is still considering whether to fund the project.

"I'm afraid that we are making the wrong decision here. I think that we have overemphasized this [idea] of people living downtown," said Scott Maitland, owner of Top of the Hill Restaurant. "The issue that we have is barriers to getting here."

Maitland said that rather than having the town invest $7.25 million in a public-private condo project, it should use the money for office space to bring white-collar workers back downtown. Workers would take up parking during the day but leave spots free for downtown visitors at night, when restaurants and bars begin to fill.

Buz Lloyd, a 40-year resident who lives near downtown, asked whether the condominiums wouldn't simply become more student housing. Lloyd owns several properties around downtown. He said "parents pay a premium" for housing where their students can walk home from bars.

Sometimes, Lloyd said, he loves living among students. But when the bars close after 2 a.m., he said, noisy students spill into the streets, tossing beer cans and even urinating on sidewalks. "We don't need to turn the downtown into a total ghetto for children of rich parents," Lloyd said.

There was similar dissension about the planned Lot 5 project at a public forum during a Town Council meeting last week.

While many who spoke at that meeting supported the project, others wondered whether it was a good investment of town money and whether an eight-story building should be in the heart of downtown.

Some Town Council members have said the project fits in with efforts to accommodate growth by increasing density downtown and will help fuel other investments in downtown.

Scott Radway, a former member of the town's Planning Board, warned that objections to taller buildings had "paralyzed the downtown for many years."

"Towns grow incrementally, and they die incrementally," Radway said. "I've seen us go down."