Update: The Town Council approved this project.
The new owner of properties at 1200 and 1204 MLK is asking Town Council for a rezoning. However, it seems no one likes the proposed project. Council members, the Community Design Commission and the Planning Commission oppose a proposal by Stackhouse Properties LLC. According to Dan Jewell, who is representing Stackhouse, a rezoning is sought that would allow three main uses: mobile homes, a Sheetz gas station, and a self-storage facility.
The Sheetz station would front on MLK where a bus rapid transit stop is being planned by the Town. It would be a safety hazard for any bus stop, both for vehicle and foot traffic. Another gas station is not desired by the neighbors and others, as evidenced by their posting signs along MLK objecting to it and their communications with the Town.
A self-storage building about the size of a football field would be built behind the Sheetz. The building proposed is 3 stories tall and spans the width of the property, save for a narrow access to/from the mobile homes which are spread over the remainder of the 13.9 acres. The storage facility literally looms over the homes behind it. Like most storage buildings, it has few windows (unlike the model show,) nor attractive features for a residential area.
Some of the existing mobile homes are believed to be too old to survive a move or reconfiguration.The 70+ residents are mostly families who have lived there several years, built a community, and have neither the interest nor resources to move. They very much wish to continue living in the Park which is convenient to their jobs and to schools. Because Chapel Hill has no significant affordable housing remaining, Park residents cannot transition to low-rent apartments, townhomes, other mobile homes, or single-family houses. Some do not have cars and cannot live in the county or in another county. Some say they cannot afford the cost of a move of any type.
According to Jewell, the former owner of this mobile home park (Tar Heel Mobile Home Park) wanted to sell the Park to someone who would save as many of the homes as possible. However, the new owner (Stackhouse, as of last year) has told Council that if he does not get approval for a rezoning from R-4 to O+I, which allows for the storage facility, he will turn the residents out.
At the same time, the owner proposes to create a set of covenants which would guarantee the families a 15-year lease. It supposedly would regulate rent increases during that time. Families are dubious of such a guarantee, given the track record of the owner on maintenance issues to date and the high cost of contesting a covenant breach.