TO THE EDITOR:
We need Pam Hemminger as mayor for Chapel Hill. The present council members and mayor, despite their good intentions and goal setting exercises, have taken us back to an era of local governance when the Town Council says: “Trust us — we know best.”
Recently the Town asked for public comment on major development plans for the Eastgate-Elliott Road area and the Obey Creek development across from Southern Village.
Citizens and advisory boards spent hundreds of hours working to offer careful analysis, ideas and recommendations to improve these project concepts.
In the end, the Town Council majority adopted the plans that the developers had wanted in the beginning. The most important advisory board and public comments, gathered at great expense by the town, were never discussed.
Town Council’s decisions will have serious implications for the future sustainability of our town. Despite the talk about the need for transit and more affordable housing, these flawed town decisions are causing a growing traffic crisis, an increasingly expensive housing market and spiraling costs for town services.
Most people don’t realize that the expenses associated with the 5,000 approved residential units will cost the taxpayers more than tax revenue those projects will bring in.
We cannot build our way to fiscal sustainability by constructing high-rise residential apartments. We need commercial development that benefits the people of Chapel Hill. When someone asks you for your opinion and you take the time to give it, you know how it feels when those comments are thrown away.
When a council majority ignores majority opinion, the only recourse for the electorate is to find a new leader who know how to find consensus among diverse opinions. That is why this Nov. 3 election matters.
