Carrboro knows it wants a library — but that is about as far as local officials have gotten in the decision process. The Carrboro Board of Aldermen are having trouble finalizing and prioritizing what criteria the library’s future site must meet.
After the 210 Hillsborough Road site for the Orange County Public Library’s southwest branch was rejected on Aug. 23, the Aldermen decided to rework the criteria used as they search for a new location.
At their Tuesday night meeting, the board agreed the Orange County Board of Commissioner’s criteria needs alterations before a new site can be selected.
The criteria provided by the Orange County Board of Commissioners breaks down into three phases, upon which locations will be scored.
Phase one will assess the visibility, capacity and accessibility of the site. Phase two will look into centrality, condition, cost and availability of the site, and phase three discusses the stakeholders’ opinions, whether to purchase or lease the property, and partnerships.
The Board of Alderman expressed concerns about the structure of each phase.
Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton emphasized that the new site would need excellent access to existing public transportation, saying that if the bus line has to be extended, residents will pick up the cost.
Alderman Dan Coleman said the cost should be transferred from phase two to phase one.
“That ought to be the number one criteria. We shouldn’t waste our time looking at sites that are more than they can buy,” he said.
Phase three discusses stakeholders’ opinion but does not explicitly include residents, which Alderwoman Jacquelyn Gist said could be a problem.
“Any hint or suspicion that public input would be somehow limited will be counterproductive,” Gist said. “A library could be a storefront. That’s where I think having citizen input is important.”
At the end of the meeting, the Board of Aldermen decided to rework the criteria to better suit Carrboro and revisit the proposals at a future meeting.
“I think each of us has places in mind that might be good locations,” Gist said.
Notable
At the meeting the Aldermen voted and passed a motion to celebrate the work of the Friends of Carrboro Library and another to hold early voting at town hall.
Quotable
“The most efficient way to go would be to work with the county to identify the sites,” said Planning Administrator Patricia McGuire.
“We have to consider the rezoning if it’s a residential district,” said Alderman Dan Coleman about the location of the library.
“It may be limiting to suggest that it has to be visible,” said Alderwoman Lydia Lavelle about the requirements for the library’s new site.
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