What is Aura? Aura is a major housing development proposed by Trinsic Residential Group, a Texas based developer, for the clear-cut land (15 acres) on the northeast corner of the Estes Drive and MLK Jr. Blvd. intersection. Trinsic’s permit application describes 3-4 story, multi-building complex that is 98% residential composed of 419 residential units – 361 rental apartments, 58 for-sale townhouses – a small amount of retail and office space totaling 11,600 sq ft, and 650 additional parking spaces. The Town Council approved the permit in a second vote on June 26th.
Here are 5 reasons Aura does not measure up to the kind of development Chapel Hill needs.
Estes Drive users, neighbors and parents could not convince a Council majority that the Aura development project would fail to protect public safety and ensure a mobile Estes Drive.
The Mayor and Town Council voted 5 – 3 a second time on June 23rd to approve the Aura permit. Unfortunately, many Council members who voted for the project were reassured by an imperfect town-wide traffic model that lacked data and validation and contained inaccuracies, such as streets that cannot feasibly be built. While the Council expressed concerns about stormwater runoff from the 15 acre tract, Trinsic, the developer, refused to make more than minimal concessions to reduce impervious surfaces, the most common cause of flooding.
Council members who voted 5 – 3 for Aura were Jess Andersen, Tai Huynh, Michael Parker, Amy Ryan and Karen Stegman. Allen Buansi, Hongbin Gu, and Pam Hemminger opposed the measure. Those Council members who supported the permit believe that the several thousand future residents will leave their cars behind and ride the yet to be built proposed bus rapid transit bus running north and south on MLK Blvd. Jr. Future traffic counts on Estes Drive will help us evaluate if they are wrong.
Here are 5 reasons the Aura project does not measure up to the kind of development Chapel Hill needs:
1. Aura speeds climate change: (1) increases carbon emissions by allowing 650 parking spaces for vehicles; (2) uses massive amounts of concrete and pavement that will raise temperatures via heat island effect; (3) reduces carbon capture by radically reducing tree cover.
2. There is no Town traffic plan in place to manage future development on Estes Drive, an important east-west connector. Aura allows 650 parking places that will contribute 3000 trips a day that add to current congestion. The official Traffic Impact Analysis study showed that even with all planned road improvements in place, congestion will be worse at the majority of Estes intersections after Aura.
3. The project design includes a dangerous 3 lane full access entrance on Estes Drive that will permit traffic turns causing potential fatalities and injuries involving vehicles and pedestrians on the multi-use path. The Town Transportation and Connectivity Board recommended denial of Aura for this reason.
4. Aura provides mostly expensive rentals ($3000 a month) that we don’t need. Subsidies agreed to for the 15% of owner occupied units are minimal. None of the rentals or townhouses will be affordable to those making the Orange County $15/hour “living wage”.
5. Impervious surfaces are so large for this site that even the engineered solution will allow 3 times as much run-off as the present. The proscribed six foot planting strip is not wide enough to grow trees needed to provide shade for walkers nor will the slender ribbon of soil soak up even 1% of the stormwater runoff.
Why do we want to track what happens now?
The Town staff will spend almost a year working and reviewing detailed drawings for this large apartment project. A number of conditions were added to the permit involving stormwater, buffers and trees. The details of the final design will matter to the appearance and safety of the final built project.