AND THE
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS PLANNING COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 23,
1999 AT 5:30 P.M.
Mayor Rosemary Waldorf called the meeting to order
at 5:30 p.m.
Council Members present were Flicka Bateman, Joyce
Brown, Joe Capowski, Pat Evans, Kevin Foy, Julie McClintock, Lee Pavão, and
Edith Wiggins. Staff members present
were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and
Florentine Miller, Assistant to the Manager Ruffin Hall, Transportation
Director Bob Godding, Planning Director Roger Waldon, Long Range Planning
Coordinator Chris Berndt, Transportation Planner David Bonk, Current
Development Planner Bev Kawalec and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
Mayor Waldorf introduced Jonathan Howes, Chair of
the UNC Executive Steering Team, to present the Campus Master Plan.
Mr. Howes stated that the University was at the
early stage of a very extensive and intensive process to produce a new master
plan for the campus. He introduced
Project Manager Linda Convissor.
Mr. Howes noted that the University’s effort was
like the Town’s in that both were developing plans to deal with growth in a
limited area for development and both had physical heritages that they wished
to preserve. He said that the Town and
University were inextricably linked and that the Campus Master Plan was
strategically timed because of the significant increase in enrollment over the
next ten years. Mr. Howes also stated
that the University was beginning to look at the kinds of activities that could
go on in the 970-acre Horace Williams tract in the northern part of Town.
Mr. Howes explained that the University wanted to
develop this plan in an open and transparent process of planning. He added that having a Master Plan was
critical when trying to integrate factors such as enrollment increases,
intellectual climate, development of Horace Williams, and the overall growth of
the University. Mr. Howes said that the
University ought to arrive at a Master Plan that would last for 20 to 50 years,
with an update in about 10 years or so.
He noted that the Plan was proposed for completion by December 1999, and
would then go through appropriate channels on campus to ultimately reach the
Board of Trustees for consideration and adoption.
Mr. Howes stated that the University intended to
make this an open planning process involving many community members, including:
Mayor Waldorf, on the Executive Steering Team; and Council Members Pat Evans
and Kevin Foy, and, occasionally, Mayor pro tem Joe Capowski, on the Design and
Operations Team. He also said that
Transportation Director Bob Godding,
Planning Director Roger Waldon, Planning Board Chair John Hawkins, Chamber of
Commerce President Joel Harper, Downtown Commission Director Robert Humphreys,
OWASA’s Ed Holland, School Superintendent Neil Pedersen, and neighbors Kimberly
Brewer and Baird Grimson were formal participants in the planning process.
Mr. Howes reported that the University had
established a design studio in the Morehead Building so that people could walk
through and see ideas as they came along.
He also said that UNC had set up a Website for the public to track the
planning process (www.unc.edu/depts/design/plan).
Mr. Howes then introduced the team from Ayer Saint
Gross: Consultants Adam Gross, Lu Ann Green, Chris Rice, and Transportation
Consultant George Alexiou.
Adam Gross explained that Ayer Saint Gross has had
more than 400 meetings with hundreds of people within the Chapel
Hill/University community since first meeting with the Town last summer. He stressed that even with all that input
everything he was about to present was still in the conceptual stages. Mr. Gross emphasized the value of continuing
the dialogue in an open way in order to ferret out the best ideas that had been
collectively put together and to eliminate the worst.
Mr. Gross, quoting from the children’s book, Madeline,
said the University planned to “smile at the good and frown at the bad.” He stated that in many ways his firm’s job
was to identify what the community loved and cherished about the University and
use that to improve what people think was problematic. Mr. Gross added that implicit in that was
the idea that growth was good and could repair things that were bad if it
respected the University’s wishes and that of the surrounding neighbors.
Mr. Gross reminded the audience that Ayer Saint
Gross worked for colleges and universities.
He explained that many academic institutions tell them early on that
they want to decide what they are going to do before telling the
community. Mr. Gross, pointing out that
UNC had done the opposite, said that the first group his firm met with in
Chapel Hill was the press. He added
that every meeting since then has involved members from the community, and noted
that such openness is unusual.
Mr. Gross said that current University facilities
would be inadequate even if the University did not add any more students. He gave a slide presentation which he called
“Campus Planning 101.” He said that the
secret to creating beautiful campuses was to have buildings of an appropriate
scale flanking one another—usually perpendicular or parallel—and have a balance
of grass and hardwoods.
Mr. Gross said that his firm went through the
observation phase of planning last summer.
He said during that time they tried to develop a sense of the University
by walking around and observing and by meeting with groups and
individuals. Mr. Gross said this led to
the development of the conceptual plan, which was what they were finishing
now. Mr. Gross explained that the
conceptual phase was to the Master Plan what a sketch was to a painting; it
gave an idea of how the campus might organize itself as it grows.
Mr. Gross explained that any problems in the plan
would be worked out in the precinct studies phase, where the team would look at
sectors of the campus in finer detail.
He noted that this phase would develop into the final plan throughout
the summer—June - September.
Mr. Gross said that among the good things that
distinguished the University and Town was the balance of natural and built
environment. He pointed out that this
bucolic looking campus was more complicated than it appeared. Mr. Gross noted the constant concern was
that growth would change the character of Chapel Hill due to more traffic, less
parking, and more students in neighborhoods.
He acknowledged that the planning team agreed that these were real
concerns for Chapel Hill.
Mr. Gross suggested that planning should be based on
four guiding principles: 1) to satisfy the mission of the Campus Plan in terms
of teaching, research and service; 2) to enhance the intellectual climate by
providing spaces that foster intellectual exchange; 3) to respect the past by
preserving historic areas, such as Polk and McCorkle Places; and, 4) to provide
comprehensive regional solutions to issues such as transportation and
parking.
Mr. Gross said that these principles evolved from
what his team had heard from the UNC/Chapel Hill community and had learned from
studying the history of the campus. He
pointed out that graduating classes over the years have always thought that the
campus was just right and should not grow any bigger. He said that his firm frequently used Franklin Street as a good
example when working with other college towns.
He said that the power and beauty of the campus had grown out of its
relationship with the Town.
Mr. Gross displayed a master plan that the
University had developed in the early 1900s which had buildings parallel and
perpendicular to one another. He noted
that the hospital was later built at a scale that fit in with the University
plan. But then, Mr. Gross pointed out,
perpendicular and parallel planning was forgotten as modern urbanism, avoiding
all the good lessons of the past, lead to the mid-rise and high-rise dorms
built on south campus. He added that
the big boom in Health Affairs and other funded research also lead to a large
expansion of buildings into the south campus area.
Mr. Gross compared the campus’ natural systems—topography,
vegetation and water—with the built systems that humans had created there. He praised the natural systems at UNC
beginning with topography, remarking that UNC had the best natural vegetation
of any American campus. Mr. Gross
noted, though, that the natural system was in retreat, particularly as one
traveled farther south, and now needed to be enhanced.
Mr. Gross stated that the best barometer of the
health of a region was the water and showed a drawing of the campus which
included streams which were now gone, except for a small remnant by the bell
tower. He said that his firm also
looked at three aspects of the built systems—
circulation, buildings, grounds—and said that he was impressed by the clarity
and simplicity of the pedestrian, vehicular, and bicycle circulation on
campus—except in the area below South Road which had only three paths. Mr. Gross, noting that the University was
zoned in a positive way, proposed incorporating more of a variety of uses in
the southern campus.
Mr. Gross suggested that the
essence of UNC that people love was everything north of South Road and repeated
the Guiding Principles:
1.
The
campus plan must allow for the University’s physical growth to serve its
threefold mission of teaching, research and public service.
Mr. Gross argued against
growth into Horace Williams because of the impracticality of departments having
to be “evicted” there. He said it would
be better to keep what was essentially a college together on contiguous land.
2.
Improve
intellectual climate by removing barriers to intellectual life while creating
new venues for an intellectual community to flourish.
3.
Respect
the past by creating a campus plan that preserves and exports the essence of
Polk Place and McCorkle Place to make sure that growth enhances the physical
appeal of the University and the Town.
4.
Create
regional solutions, for example, campus plans for housing, parking, transit,
utilities and growth must be coordinated with the Town and the region.
Mr. Gross said that they began developing the
conceptual plan based on these principles.
The first step, he said, was to get everyone, including trustees and
community, to agree on the physical boundaries of the University, and then to
introduce more of a network of two lane roads, with bike paths, trees and
sidewalks. Mr. Gross said that once the
circulation was working planners could start thinking about extending green
spaces down to the Dean Dome and adding open spaces around the southwestern
area near the Medical School building.
Mr. Gross said the plan was to replicate north
campus as best they could, with streets as beautiful quadrangles under the same
kind of tree canopy. Mr. Gross said
that after creating the network of roads and open spaces, the team would layer
in buildings to frame the open spaces.
He explained that the goal was to increase student housing, as well as
space for research and teaching, without bringing in more cars.
Ayer Saint Gross Consultant George Alexiou noted
that growth could bring certain challenges.
He emphasized that the University explicitly supported alternative ways
of getting to campus other than driving cars.
Mr. Alexiou referred to the Regional Transit Plan, and said that phase
one, a rail system from Raleigh to Durham, should be up and running by
2004. He explained that the next phase
would include a rapid transit connection down U.S. 15-501 into Chapel
Hill. Mr. Alexiou explained that the
University was trying to accommodate possible transit systems by reserving
right of way in the planning stage.
Mr. Alexiou explained that the community was
exploring ideas about where transit should go, what kind it should be, and what
characteristics were appropriate. He
added that there were new types of bus technologies that could be appropriate
for this corridor, for example, electric powered buses and/or those which could
travel with and without a rail. He
noted that rail was a very strong favorite for this regional system.
Mr. Gross again reviewed the conceptual plan,
repeating that there were bugs to be worked out. He showed maps of what existed today and explained that the high
rises would eventually be phased out as the University developed new
housing. Mr. Gross said that the
University might create a couple of new villages, limit the size of buildings
along the edge of campus, push high buildings back, and draw a line regarding
medical growth.
Mr. Goss noted that the amount of service parking on
campus was an important issue. Mr.
Gross showed a slide of Emory University when it was choked with asphalt and
said that his firm had converted the parking lot there into a grassy quadrangle
and were building a separate parking garage that would be served by
transit. He showed a variety of other
innovative buildings, such as bridge-buildings, multi-purpose parking decks,
and parking garages buried under quadrangles.
An audience member asked how they would keep people
from parking in the neighborhoods around campus. Mr. Gross replied that there were things that his team could
recommend, implement, and to a certain degree control as a team of
consultants.
The same audience member said that he was more
concerned about whether there would be satellite parking lots. Mr. Gross replied that bus service in Chapel
Hill had been successful beyond expectations.
He added that his firm was not recommending decreasing the number of
cars on campus but was recommending building decks within campus and not adding
more cars.
Betsy Pringle, a member of the Historic District
Commission, asked if the lots would be big enough to handle 6,000 more
students, plus faculty and staff. Mr.
Gross replied that the lots in the center of campus, plus remote lots, would
be. Mr. Alexiou added that planners
were looking at satisfying the total transportation needs of all the commuters,
not just students. He added that they
were working with the Town on these issues and probably would need more park
and ride lots.
An audience member asked if there would be a rail
system going through Mason Farm Road to the Dean Dome. Mr. Gross replied that this was one of the
areas where a potential train line could go.
He pointed out that light rail was quiet, did not pollute, and would be
far from people’s front yards. Mr.
Gross said that the entire region was going to be faced with democratic
solutions to traffic problems.
An audience member asked why the consultants had not
walked through the Northside Community, and asked how and when they would
accommodate student housing. Mr. Gross
answered that he would walk through Northside.
Mr. Howes explained that that had not been arranged yet because the
north campus area was the last precinct that they were going to look at. Mr. Gross explained that the Office of
Student Life was beginning to develop a plan for how many beds they would be
trying to bring on-line each year. He
said that the first increment would be about 1,000 beds in low-rise,
three-story housing south of the football stadium. Mr. Gross added that he did not see any significant growth in
student housing on the northern campus.
An audience member asked what steps were currently
being taken to develop student housing on campus as opposed to pushing it out
into the neighborhoods. Dean Bresciani,
Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Services, replied that if the number of
students increased by 6,000 there would be a higher percentage of students
living on campus than before, an increase from 24-27% to 31-34%. He said that the plan was to have a bed for
every new student, adding that the percentage of off-campus housing would not
increase if these plans came to fruition.
An audience member asked that, if the approach was
taken that growth was a good thing and would heal what was not functioning well
with the campus, then where was the commitment to going beyond accommodating
anticipated growth to including more students, faculty, and staff in
housing. Mr. Gross said that he agreed
with the questioner, adding that there were some wonderful models in this
country and abroad where students and faculty lived together. He said that Ayer Saint Gross’ charge from
the University (and to themselves morally and ethically), was to establish the
responsible capacity of the land. Mr. Gross
noted that they might tell the University that it could not accommodate all
6,000 student on that land, but added that they hoped to accommodate even
more.
An audience member asked why the Horace Williams
tract was not being looked at as part of this master plan, since it could
relieve the pressure for housing.
Mr. Howes replied that the Chancellor had
established a committee to look at the kinds of programs that it might
establish at Horace Williams. He said
that Ayer Saint Gross would look at that too, but that right now they were looking
at the main campus.
Art Werner, a member of the Comprehensive Plan Work
Group, asked at what point the consultants would be able to estimate the number
of additional students that would be housed on campus, the additional students
who would need off-campus housing, and estimates of additional staff and
faculty. Mr. Howes replied that he
would give the Work Group that information as soon as he had it, which should
be soon.
Council Member McClintock asked how the transit
system would link up with the Triangle Transit Authority’s plans, which seemed
not to include a plan to put rail in between Chapel Hill and the Research
Triangle Park. Mr. Alexiou replied that
it was true that there were no plans for rail, but there were plans for express
bus service. He said that the planners
were currently focusing on the campus and trying to keep options open in terms
of technology routes. Mr. Alexiou added
that transit systems would not solve traffic problems, but would provide
alternatives for people who did not want to deal with driving and parking.
Yani Chapman, a member of the Martin Luther King
Coalition, said that the community had not heard from University planners about
the devastating impact that already had taken place on affordable housing. He said that growing elitism had caused the
price of housing in Chapel Hill to skyrocket, adding that neighborhoods were
being destroyed because family homes of working class people were being bought
by developers and turned into student housing.
Mr. Chapman said that he did not think the University’s planning process
had been particularly open, pointing out that many in the Coalition had not
heard about tonight’s meeting. He
requested another public forum to address how the University was going to right
the wrongs of the past and how it could act in such a way as to absorb the full
impact of all of growth—not just the 6,000 students, but also faculty and
staff. Thirdly, Mr. Chapman asked how
the people he represented could be represented in the planning process. Mr. Howes replied that the University wanted
to open the process as much as it could to everybody who wanted to be part of
it. He said that they would post times
and would meet with whatever groups Mr. Chapman suggested. Mr. Howes further stated that the University
needed Mr. Chapman’s ideas about the very questions that he posed.
Mayor Waldorf thanked everyone for coming, and noted
that there might not have been enough time to answer all questions. She suggested that people send their
questions to her, and offered to try and get answers from the University.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
The minutes of
February 23, 1999 were adopted on the 12th day of April, 1999.
__________________________________________
Joyce A. Smith, CMC
Town Clerk