Chapel Hill Town Council approves development on Elliott Road, weighs progress

The Chapel Hill Town Council voted on April 9 to approve the rezoning of a section of South Elliott Road next to the Blue Hill District for mixed-use development.

Rockwood Development Group plans to build residential and retail spaces on the property, in addition to a parking deck and recreational areas, said McAdams Land Planner Jessica Hardesty. A multi-use path will also run through the site connecting South Elliott Road to Couch Road.

There is not yet a guarantee that the project will be built, as the developer still needs to find a contractor to break ground on the project, Town Council Member Melissa McCullough said.

Town Council Member Theo Nollert said the development will bring needed housing to the area.

“Chapel Hill's financial challenges come basically from the fact that the demand to live here is way, way, way higher than the capacity to live here,” Nollert said.

Affordable housing was a major topic of discussion throughout the April 9 meeting.

Rockwood Managing Partner Susana Dancy said the developers could not cost-effectively carve out the number of affordable housing units the Town asked for.

When the Town Council push for more affordable housing, Dana $2 million payment in lieu to address the issue. would be a payment made directly to the Town by the developer for the purpose of funding affordable housing in place of building a required portion of dedicated affordable units.

Town Council Member Elizabeth Sharp said that, while she is generally opposed to the option of payment in lieu, she found this offer to be compelling. The Town Council voted 7-2, Council Members Adam Searing and Camille Berry opposing, to approve the rezoning shortly after this offer was made.

Another sticking point expressed in the meeting was the lack of a connecting road from South Elliott Road to Couch Road.

Searing said he could not support the project because it was inconsistent with the Town’s connected roads plan. Sharp said she wasn’t expecting to support the development, but her mind was changed during the meeting. 

“You could completely see the reason to do it both ways, and I just decided to err on the side of what we want to see in the future,” Sharp said.

Dancy said in an email statement that, while the car-centric design of South Elliott Road poses a challenge to the development, the project will provide a pedestrian and cyclist connection between East Franklin Street and South Elliott Road and connect people to local and regional transit, as well as walkable amenities.

Bill Darragh, who owns the Casual Pint, a bar across the street from the development, said he’s optimistic about how many people it will bring in, but concerned about how the construction will affect his business. 

“What we're afraid of is, when they're doing construction, that it’s going to put us out of business before those 300 people get there,” Darragh said.

Darragh also said he’s worried about how construction would interfere with outdoor seating at the Casual Pint.

“There's dust, there's debris, there's noise, and no one wants to sit outside when you're getting hit with dirt, or you’ve got to hear cranes or people jackhammering and stuff like that,” Darragh said.

Darragh said he is concerned about whether South Elliott Road is big enough to sustain the traffic that will be brought in by the new development.

“The best thing the Town could do is redesign Elliott Road in ways that slow traffic and makes it better for all users, especially pedestrians and bicyclists,” Dancy said.

McCullough said high density mixed-use developments bring in more tax revenue than either retail or single family developments. She added the Town can use these funds for projects such as affordable housing, public parks and improving road infrastructure.

“If we don’t do this right now, it’s going to be at least five years before anything goes there, and right now I think we need the housing,” McCullough said.

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