Town Sweats Sprawling UNC Campus

As UNC's campus continues to grow, many people worry that the University will start spilling into neighborhoods despite efforts by officials to preserve the town's small size.

In September, a revised edition of the Master Plan for UNC was unveiled. This blueprint will guide University development over a 25- to 50-year period. But the University is not an island unto itself, and the UNC Master Plan will affect not only the campus, but also the areas surrounding it. And some are concerned that not all those changes will be positive.

"The major goal (of the Master Plan) is to accommodate the growth and development of the University while maintaining the beauty and the small campus feel of the current layout," said David Godschalk, chairman of the Master Plan's design and operations team.

This draft features new residence halls, academic and research buildings, a transit corridor and a new entrance from Fordham Boulevard.

Weathering the Storm

Residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the campus say they understand the University's need to grow but are concerned about the environmental impacts of the proposed changes.

Residents are worried that the increased campus development will lead to a higher volume of stormwater running into their neighborhoods. But planners say the Master Plan shows a net decrease in the amount of impervious surface - ground that cannot absorb water.

"Less impervious surface is better for stormwater management," said Roger Waldon, Chapel Hill planning director.

Planners contend that a reorganization of the space for parking on campus will decrease the net impervious surface.

Reducing the number of surface parking lots will lead to more water-absorbing ground, Godschalk said.

Additionally, grass might be planted on top of some of these new parking decks, creating more water-absorbing surface.

There are also plans to build decks below ground or beneath buildings.

But Hope C. Taylor, executive director of the Clean Water Fund of North Carolina, disagrees with some of the planners' conclusions about the Master Plan's potential environmental impacts and effect on stormwater management.

"The University should be modeling improved stormwater management practices for the region and state before it considers further increases in impervious surface on campus," she said.

But drainage is not the only concern.

In the House of Noise and Light?

Issues of noise and light pollution also have surfaced, as some residents already find living near the massive medical research buildings on Manning Drive and South Columbia Street overwhelming.

"(Residents) had been concerned prior to even seeing the Master Plan due to all of the massive buildings being built that did not seem to be in perspective with the north side of the campus," said Elaine Barney, a resident of the Westwood neighborhood.

Barney said she was concerned that additional construction of biomedical research buildings would mean more noise and light pollution. She, as well as residents and planners, said there should be a clear boundary between the town and the University. But the exact nature of this boundary remains undetermined.

When the Smith Center was constructed, a provision of the Chapel Hill Town Council special-use permit stated that there would be no other construction in that area within 200 feet of the University border. The goal of the provision was to create a buffer between the University and the Mason Farm neighborhoods.

Jonathan Howes, chairman of the Master Plan's Executive Steering Team, concedes that the University will ask the Chapel Hill Town Council to decrease the size of the buffer. But some residents say the buffer should stay as it is. "If they remove the buffer of the trees that act as a sound as well as visual barriers, that will affect the people whose homes are on Mason Farm Road," Barney said.

Town Council members said no decisions have been made at this time.

Travelin' Blues

No matter where people park their cars on campus, they still have to get there, and that worries residents.

Barney said she is worried because more cars on campus means an increase in traffic through her neighborhood, something that isn't addressed in the plan.

Planners are aware of these concerns and are trying to decrease the flow of traffic through neighboring communities by encouraging park and ride and creating a new road that would pass though part of the Mason Farm neighborhood.

But this proposed new road, one of three options being considered by the planners, has been one of the most contentious issues of the Master Plan. Its creation would lead to the destruction of eight private homes.

Residents contend that there are other ways to reduce traffic that don't involve the sacrifice of their neighbors' homes. Many would like to see the University's Horace Williams property and its developable land near the Friday Center given further consideration.

Overall Outlook

Planners see this blueprint as something that will preserve the surrounding neighborhoods. "In the long run, we think these changes will protect these neighborhoods," Howes said.

While there are disagreements about the specifics of the plan, all concede that the future of both the town and the University are inexorably linked.

"I think that the town's interests and the University's interests are the same," said Town Council member Bill Strom. "It is not productive to look at things in black and white. There are many scenarios that benefit both the town and the University as the plan goes forward, and it behooves the town and the University to look for these areas of agreement."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.