The Carrboro Town Council discussed renaming Carr Street, a resolution amending the water and sewage boundary agreement and an update on transportation projects during its meeting on Tuesday.
What's new?
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During public comments, residents spoke about changing the name of Carr Street to Braxton Foushee Street.
- Carrboro resident Lucy Gorham spoke in support of a resolution to rename the street.
- “It is past time for all of us, but particularly children growing up in our town to know the accolades and achievements of Black residents and to feel pride in their accomplishments,” Gorham said.
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Dick Forbis, a Carrboro resident, said if the item stayed on the part of the agenda that the council approves without discussion, residents of Carr Street will not have opportunity to give input on the renaming. He requested for the item to be removed from that portion of the agenda, and Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee agreed.
- Foushee also recused herself from discussion and voting, citing her relationship with Braxton Foushee.
- Carrboro resident Lucy Gorham spoke in support of a resolution to rename the street.
- Carrboro Planning Director Trish McGuire, Chapel Hill Assistant Planning Director Judy Johnson and OWASA Director of Engineering and Planning Vishnu Gangadharan presented a resolution amending the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement.
- The amendment, requested by the Town of Chapel Hill, would expand the service boundary in the southern part of Chapel Hill along the U.S. 15-501 corridor to the Chatham County line.
- Johnson said that the amendment would affect affordability of housing and home diversity.
- “We're hoping to create zoning districts that will get to us what we want — we're looking for, you know, could be triplexes, quadplexes, duplexes, cottage courts, townhomes, that sort of thing,” she said.
- Delores Bailey, the executive director of EMPOWERment, Inc., urged the council to vote yes on the amendment to open the door for more affordable housing.
- Council member Jason Merrill said he is cautiously optimistic about the resolution, but wanted to see a more complete and specific plan.
- Town planning administrator Tina Moon shared an update on Carrboro transportation projects.
- Moon presented updates on the Bicycle Loop Detectors Capital Improvement Project, The Morgan Creek Greenway Phase One project and the South Greensboro Street Sidewalk Project.
- Moon said the Town is seeking funding for a short sod path along N.C. 54 at the end of Main Street.
- “This is a much needed project, which we have tried to get funded a couple of times, and hopefully we'll do a little bit better this time,” Moon said.
What decisions were made?
- The Town Council unanimously approved renaming Carr Street to Braxton Foushee Street.
- Mayor pro tem Danny Nowell declined an amendment suggested by council member Randee Haven-O’Donnell, which asked that the renaming be delayed until Town staff speaks with residents about it.
- Foushee moved to approve the resolution to the boundary extension, and the council voted 4-2 in favor of the motion.
- Council members Haven-O'Donnell and Jason Merrill voted against the extension.
- Nowell motioned to accept the transportation updates with the amendment that the council would like time updates on each of the projects before the summer recess.
What’s next?
- The next Carrboro Town Council meeting will be a work session on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. The next regular Town Council meeting will be on Feb. 20.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said the council's approval of the water and sewer boundary extension was unanimous. The resolution actually passed 4-2. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error.
