Add your signature to the letter advocating for a better location for new police building.

by | Oct 6, 2020 | Petitions

Add your name to this letter to the Council:  request to sign at info@chalt.org
October 6, 2020
Mayor Hemminger and Chapel Hill Council Members:
 
We, the undersigned, call on the Mayor and the Town Council to heed the concerns of your constituents and  reject the proposal to locate a new Municipal Services Administration Building at the northern edge of town near I-40.  We ask you to reject this proposal because:

  • The 2-acre buildable portion of this site is not large enough to accommodate what the Town needs to build, especially given its close proximity to established neighborhoods and perrenial streams.

  • The small buildable area will make it difficult, if not impossible, to provide adequate buffers for adjacent neighborhoods or to adequately mitigate  the impacts of flooding from stormwater, noise and traffic;

  • A government administration building should be centrally located; and

  • This site is better suited to other uses, such as affordable townhomes.

We are aware of the Town’s need for a new police station and upgraded offices for the Parks and Recreation Department.  However, we do not believe this need justifies singling out one neighborhood to bear the brunt of the impacts of this project, especially if other, more suitable sites can be found. 
We therefore urge the Manager and staff to redouble their efforts to identify and procure a workable site for the municipal services building. Specifically, we suggest that you:

  • Investigate costs of removing the present police department structure from its MLK site, capping the buried coal ash and building new offices under the Brownfields program. (The Town’s application for this program has been accepted.)

  • Continue negotiations with RAM  to secure land for a Municipal Services Center at University Place.

Thank you!

Signed, Julie McClintock, David Adams, Anne and Bill Brashear, Linda Brown, Silvia Clements, Deborah and Arthur Finn, Lindsay Garrison, Joan Guilkey, Cheri Hardman, Tom Henkel, Bruce Henschel, Charles Humble,  David Kiel, Fred Lampe, Jun Lian, Rita M May, Molly McConnell, Amey Miller, John N. Morris, Michael Murphy, Alan Snavely, David Schwartz, Renuka Soll, Dan Sissors, Del Snow, Terry Vance, Diane Willis and Neva Whybark

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