Carrboro eyes five-story project

Residents at a public hearing complain about parking near a project hoped to contribute to a vibrant downtown

CARRBORO -- A public hearing Tuesday night for a five-story building proposed for downtown brought forth a wave of complaints about the lack of downtown parking.

The town held the public hearing for the Roberson Square project, a five-story building comprising condominiums on the top three floors, and shops, offices and possibly restaurants on the bottom two floors.

Roberson Square -- 203 S. Greensboro St., across from Open Eye Cafe -- would be 91,575 square feet, and would include 18 condominiums, 65 underground parking spaces and at least 10 on-street parking spaces.

Residents have complained for years that that site is an eyesore. It used to be the location of the Andrew-Riggsbee Hardware Store but has since been a fenced-off gravel lot in the middle of a bustling downtown.

Next to The Alberta, Roberson Square is the second project going before the Carrboro Board of Aldermen that would change the landscape of downtown, achieving the town's vision of creating a vibrant downtown where people live, work and play.

The Alberta is a four-story building the aldermen approved in September that will be mostly condominiums with retail space on half of the ground floor.

Roberson Square developers hope to meet the town's goals of walkability, bikeability and more public gathering spaces, on top of helping double the commercial tax base. Currently, the town's property tax base is more than 80 percent residential.

Tuesday night, David Ripperton, an architect for Roberson Square developer Darcon of N.C., showed a 3-D image of what the project would look like. There would be multiple entrances to the building and the large courtyard inside via Maple Avenue, and Carr, Roberson and South Greensboro streets.

Two elevators would go from the underground parking garage to the top floor. Only the building's first two floors would be visible from the sidewalk, and the rest of the building would step back gradually to reach the fifth floor. People would be able to walk on the roof decks, where developers may install plants or gardens.

The property would have a 10-foot sidewalk on Roberson Street, with 5 feet of trees, shrubs and grass. The loading dock would be in the back on Maple Avenue.

Though some residents who came to speak on the proposal said they are excited about the project and what it would do for downtown, they still want the project to include more parking spaces. Many downtown parking spaces are free of charge and unmanaged. They want the board to come up with a more comprehensive parking plan when it considers Roberson Square and future downtown projects.

Jenny McMillan, owner of the Nested art-gift gallery on Main Street, said the little parking available downtown has been hurting the businesses.

"One business owner is already seriously discussing fencing off their lot and keeping it private," she said. "I would recommend, for the sake of the local economy, that you do not approve this building with its current parking plan."

Gary Kramling, who lives in Roberson Place behind the proposed site, said once the development is built, cars won't be able to parallel park on Maple Avenue as they currently do, reducing the number of parking spaces.

The board is expecting to vote on whether to grant the permit for Roberson Square at its Feb. 26 meeting.