Carrboro 'green' project wins friends

CARRBORO -- Five years ago, when the Winmore development was proposed, Dave Otto was against its location.

Too close to Bolin Creek, said Otto, of the Friends of Bolin Creek. The project would erode the creek bed and harm wildlife.

But the developers have worked with the Friends every step of the way, he said, even inviting members on weekly erosion-control inspections along the creek.

"Our original thought was that they could've done this farther from Bolin Creek," Otto said. "But now that it's been approved, now that it's here, we think they did a good job."

On Wednesday, Otto was one of the supporters at a ribbon-cutting off Homestead Road.

Winmore is Carrboro's first "green" development project approved under the town's new "village mixed-use" zoning category. The zoning is supposed to help create "village"-type neighborhoods where people live, work and play without having to get in their cars. Residential space will mix with commercial space on the site's 66 acres.

Plans call for 96 single-family homes, 86 townhouses and 56 rental apartment units, said sales director Carole Selkirk. The single-family homes and townhouses will run from about $300,000 to $900,000. The apartments will be built through Orange Community Housing and Land Trust to satisfy the town's affordable-housing requirement. Some "live-work" units will be built above first-floor commercial spaces.

More than 26 acres will remain public and open space, including wooded areas, orchards, a community garden, a community pool, a clubhouse and a central gathering area to be named Philip's Square.

Scott Kovens, owner of Winmore developer Capkov Ventures, described a typical Winmore lifestyle.

"A kid could start here and never have to drive his car to high school," Kovens told the crowd, since Chapel Hill High School is within walking distance.

In Carrboro, where residents and town leaders champion walkability and bikeability, the project had to go through many reviews and revisions to meet strict green building standards.

Mayor Mark Chilton cut the ribbon, saying Winmore will present "a different pattern of mixing residential and commercial."

"I think all of us over in Carrboro believe ... commercial growth is an essential strategy for growth in Carrboro," Chilton told the audience. "We need a different vision for the future ... for how our town, our country, will grow."

Winmore's not perfect, Otto said. Although a dozen retention ponds will help keep runoff from the creek, he regrets the developer destroyed the creek's natural buffer to put them in. And he wished more trees had been kept in the center of the site.

Still, Otto praised the project.

"They've built an incredibly beautiful nature trail around the periphery of the property," he said. "People that enjoy nature will be able to enjoy a beautiful nature trail right outside their doorstep."