AGENDA #3(a)1

To:  Chapel Hill Town Council

From:  Marc LaBranche

            President, Coker Hills Neighborhood Association

March 7, 2005

Dear Chapel Hill Town Council,

Tonight I bring before you a petition from the residents of Coker Hills to establish our neighborhood as a Neighborhood Conservation District. 

Coker Hills has historic significance through its ties to UNC’s first botanist, Dr. William C. Coker, and his student, Dr. Henry R. Totten.  The two, of course were instrumental in creating what has become known as the North Carolina Botanical Garden. 

In 1960, Coker College for Women in South Carolina made available the tract of land where our neighborhood now is.  The Coker connection comes from the fact that Dr. Coker was a son of the Coker College founder, while Dr. Totten served as agent for the college trustees in developing the land for home sites.  Dr. Totten took prospective buyers on tours of the area, and served on the committee that reviewed building plans to ensure proper home placement on the terrain and building designs that were harmonious with others in the neighborhood.  Even our neighborhood streets were all named after famous botanists.  

Coker College created a set of restrictive covenants for the neighborhood, some of which were different than the R-1 zoning we currently are under, particularly the minimum lot sizes and building setbacks.  These covenants are the basis of the petition that we bring before you tonight.

To date, we have collected signatures representing 134 out of a possible 226 homeowners, or 59%.  We are expecting additional signatures to continue to come in.

I thank you for your time and attention.

            Sincerely,

                        Marc LaBranche

                        President, Coker Hills Neighborhood Association