UNC Could Buy 2 Lots for Expanded Parking

Final investigations into the purchase of two adjacent lots, located on the corner of South Graham Street and Cameron Avenue, are under way.

A real estate agent representing former UNC housekeeper Rebecca Clark, the owner of the property for whom the Cheek-Clark building is named, approached the University with the proposal to buy the lots located at 602 Cameron Ave. and 128 S. Graham St.

"It was an unsolicited request from the owner's real estate agent," said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for planning and construction. "We have been looking to solve the problem of parking for some time, and this is an opportunity we really have to take advantage of."

The University is interested in this property because maintenance shops located on main campus are being relocated to the Cheek-Clark building, he said.

Tommy Griffin, chairman of the Employee Forum, said extra employee parking on this area of campus is needed to accommodate the growth of the Cheek-Clark building. "There is not enough (parking) in some areas of campus, but it is even worse out there," he said.

The building now is being renovated to accommodate new maintenance shops. The number of employees working at the facility will increase from about 100 to 150 when the renovations are completed next spring.

"(A new parking lot) won't be a fix," Griffin said, "but it will be a help."

Runberg said he plans to meet with neighbors to discuss how to incorporate a parking lot in a residential area.

He said the University will work to develop a proper amount of buffering that will consist of trees, shrubs and fences. "We want to make sure it is not offensive," he said.

But Cam Hill, a Chapel Hill resident for 25 years who ran for mayor in 2001, lives near the property and said he does not want to live next door to a parking lot. "This is just one more erosion of a neighborhood in Chapel Hill by the University," Hill said.

Though the land is in a residential area, Runberg said, "There is a parking lot right across the street. It is not as if this is something new."

The sale price and exact size of the property is waiting on property appraisals, said Stephen Condrin, University property officer.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.