DURHAM - N.C. Central University's Board of Trustees will not vote today on a proposed master plan that has roiled some community members whose homes are in the cross hairs.

Chancellor Charlie Nelms had hoped to bring the plan to trustees today for a vote, but he recently decided to continue forums and meetings with concerned community groups. The plan calls for the demolition of 19 buildings, the creation of more than two dozen new ones and the purchase of at least 136 homes and other properties in neighborhoods abutting campus.

"I want to make sure that people are clear about what we are trying to achieve," Nelms said Tuesday. "They may still not agree with us, but they will be informed."

Nelms has held four forums with students, faculty and community members, and he plans additional meetings. But he doesn't expect community feedback to lead to substantial changes to the plan, he said Tuesday.

That doesn't surprise Carolyn Green Boone, a neighborhood activist and great-granddaughter of James Shepard, NCCU's founder. Boone has been a vocal critic of the master planning process and is still wary of the university's intentions.

"Right now what they're doing is damage control," she said Tuesday. "I think they're having the meetings to placate the community. Nonetheless, it is hopeful that they are willing to meet. I think it is a good sign that they put it off. The vote was being pushed, and the community and alumni had not been given adequate time for for review."

For many, the master plan -- devised by Lord, Aeck, Sargent Architecture -- is a lot to digest. While the university has distributed summary copies at public forums, the whole document is a cumbersome 103 pages. Many residents in the neighborhoods around NCCU are elderly and have said they don't have computer access.

Nelms said Tuesday that the university is printing more copies to distribute at future meetings.

The master plan is proposed in stages and would break the campus into nine precincts. In the first phase, which the plan would see finished by 2010, the university would buy 36 properties north of campus between Lawson and Dupree streets. By the third phase, NCCU would have bought 136 properties.

The first phase is driven by several immediate campus needs -- a new nursing building, a parking deck near Latham Hall, and a new residence hall.

Heeding the need for speed, Nelms explained to trustees Tuesday why he has moved away from the decision-by-committee format that had been used earlier. Too many committee members, he said, were giving the architecture firm too much conflicting information, Nelms said, acknowledging that he's taking a public relations hit by essentially saying the university no longer needs the committee's contribution.

"It is not a politically expedient process," he said. "It is one driven by the needs of the institution."

Nelms, who came to NCCU from Indiana University last summer and has been criticized by some as having a tin ear for local history, seems to have the backing of trustees.

"There are going to be those who disagree," said Ed Stewart, a trustee from Durham. "But I think there is a large voice in the community who you haven't heard, who support you."

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