Residential lots aren’t park-and-ride lots or decks — and they shouldn’t be treated as such. But the Northside and Pine Knolls Community Plan goes too far in pursuit of this goal with its proposal of a four-car limit. This plan makes no secret of its targeting of students who must, in some cases, share a house more than four ways to pay Chapel Hill’s high rental prices.
The proposal is representative of a larger failure by the community to understand that Chapel Hill is a college town fueled by students. Moreover, it represents a failure to grasp the realities of living in Chapel Hill, and the high costs low-income residents like students must pay to live here.
This plan comes in response to a petition by the Sustaining OurSelves Coalition, a group composed of residents, religious groups and other community groups interested in making more cohesive neighborhoods. In June, the group also supported a moratorium on development in the same two neighborhoods that will last until January.
Chapel Hill already has an ordinance on the books limiting per-home occupancy to four unrelated individuals. Earlier this year, the town stepped up enforcement of the rule, which was implemented to cut down on noise and other nuisances.
While such concerns are occasionally warranted, limiting parking to four cars per home is a roundabout attempt at enforcing an already questionable ordinance. Nuisance complaints can merit punitive action regardless of a home’s occupancy.
In the past, parking rules have also been implemented in response to residents’ concerns that congested streets might block emergency vehicles from reaching their destination.
Rather than a blanket policy of limiting occupants and vehicles, the town can enforce disturbances of the peace on a case-by-case basis. And neighbors can often avoid these run-ins with a simple knock on the door and an understanding of what is expected of one another.
Worse yet, there are no special situations recognized in the current language of the proposal. Thus far, the proposal overlooks the likelihood that friends or family would visit a person’s home in the community.
Rae Buckley, a member of the Chapel Hill Planning Department, said that violators of the parking limit could possibly face a property fine — and that the limit could eventually be applied to the entire town. The possibility of fining someone for visiting a friend or family member’s home shows that the concept for this limit is overly simplistic.
