CHAPEL HILL – Less green space and increased storm water runoff were two of the main worries expressed by people attending Thursday’s public information forum on the Ephesus-Fordham Small Area Plan.
The lunchtime presentation and Q-and-A at Chapel Hill Public Library was moderated by Chapel Hill Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives Mary Jane Nirdlinger.
“We know that traffic continues to be a concern in this area – that it’s difficult to get through,” Nirdlinger said during her opening remarks. “We know that stormwater and flooding are also a concern. And those points were considered during the small area plan.”
She and other Town staff members spoke to citizens about plans to re-develop 123 acres of commercial area between Franklin Street, Fordham Boulevard and Ephesus Church Road over the next decade.
They were joined by Todd St. John of Kimley, Horn and Associates. The design consulting firm is working with the town on stormwater issues related to the project.
St. John said the goal is to reduce, or at least, maintain current peak discharges in storm events rated on a scale of 24 hours-to-25 years.
But after showing the current percentage of impervious surface in the district is 57 percent, he raised some eyebrows in the room when he reported future projections.
“We expect the re-developed impervious cover to go somewhere between 63 and 68 percent for the whole district,” he said. “So, going from 57 up to 63-to-68 percent.”
Later in the meeting, someone in the audience asked how increased impervious surface can be called “renewal,” which got murmurs of agreement from others.
Chapel Hill Stormwater Engineer Chris Jensen told a questioner that while he’s not going to make false promises about future flooding, the re-development will ultimately make a positive difference in Chapel Hill’s efforts to get a handle on stormwater issues.
“You know, there’s still going to be flooding,” he conceded. “It’s not going to fix the problem from the whole Booker Creek Watershed. There is a stormwater master plan for the town that does have a component for watershed studies in it.
“And Booker Creek is one of those. The information we find from this, and what we do to learn about this district will help to inform the development of that master plan as funding becomes available for it.”
Stormwater improvements would account for $1.2 million of the $10 million improvement plans. The rest would go toward traffic improvements.
The Town wants to finance the plan by combining it with the $900,000 Town Hall Repair & Renovation Project, and Capital Improvement Plan projects worth $800,000.
The total $11.7 million dollar debt would be financed using the Town Hall property as collateral, and paid for, in part, by projected future revenues generated by the re-development project.
The next public meeting of The Chapel Hill Town Council is on March 24.
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