Welcome to the Daily Tar Heel’s exclusive coverage of local politics, covering Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County.
Check back for the latest municipal election news, town government updates and general political developments.
I’m Matt McGibney, a sophomore on the city desk at the Daily Tar Heel. I’m going to be covering town council in Chapel Hill, and all the elections taking place in the county.
You can reach me at mcgibney (at) email (dot) unc (dot) edu
If you wish to do a justifiable job of representing the issues important to the 2009 municipal elections, you’ll seek an answer to the following question: Is Carrboro managing its development in a way that does not unfairly shift the burden for water contamination (University Lake/Jordan Lake) onto the watershed farms?
If “NO!” Then how else is it going to pursue future development and simultaneously comply with the State’s new water quality regulatons?
If the answer is “Yes!” Then, where’s the social justice in this? The town’s June 2009 law restricting fertilzer use, which far exceeds that erequired by the State, surreptitiously is aimed at the local farms to benefit the urban core. Why else impose restrictions on parcels of two-acres-or-greater in size, weheras carrboro residences are on tiny lots?
And how will Chapel Hill respond when it discovers how Carrboro has threatened the entire area’s water supply?
How will the farms respond when they discover that, because they can no loner fertilize their fields under Carrboro’s “Urban Code”, they’ve been run out-of-business. And after Carrboro has so over-built that no developer will offer a dime for the remaining farmland?
If you look closely, you’ll discover the truth.
Talk with area land-use experts, not just with the town’s “politicos.” Talk with the NC Environmental Management Comm. Read Mayor Chilton’s letter to the NC EMC of July 5, 2007 for a clue to the town’s position at: http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/nps/documents/Carrboro-7-5-07JordanRulesletterfrommayor.pdf.
Speak with non-incumbent municipal candidates about this.
And, by the way, pleae consider revising Mr. Chilton’s profile to correctly read: “attorney/ realtor/developer/mayor.” The word “broker” infers something altogether difference the the truth. Then set about to identify which and how many parcels he has development options on within Carrboro’s transition areas. Hm-m-m???
What you see and hear isn’t always “real!”