The public will get a chance on Tuesday to share their views on a community kitchen in downtown Carrboro, a decision that has divided opinions in the town.
The Carrboro Board of Alderman will consider a zoning text amendment that would allow the Inter-Faith Council to build a community kitchen at 110 West Main Street. The proposed site is already home to the IFC’s administrative and community services offices and a food pantry.
Last year the IFC split up their men’s shelter and community kitchen at 100 West Rosemary Street. The IFC opened a new transitional housing facility on Homestead Road. The community kitchen still operates on Rosemary Street.
Michael Reinke, director of the IFC, said that plans to move the community kitchen to the Carrboro location have been in the works for 13 years.
“We are now ready to look at how to bring our community kitchen and our food pantry programs together and with one location,” said Reinke.
If approved, the text amendment would allow the IFC to apply for a conditional use permit to operate its food pantry and community kitchen at the same location. Board member Bethany Chaney says that application would still need to be reviewed by staff before potentially coming to the Board of Aldermen and that process could take close to a year before a final decision is rendered.
“We believe that we have an excellent location, in terms of 110 West Main Street,” said Reinke, “but in talking with the local business in downtown Carrboro, they asked us if we would go and take a look, are there any other locations that might be even better?”
In January the IFC proposed that Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools consider a new building that would host a new community kitchen in conjunction with a health clinic on the Lincoln Center Campus.
But since the IFC is already operating in downtown Carrboro, Reinke thinks it is the best site for the kitchen.
“A while ago someone said, would you be interested in a better site if one were available? And I think just about everyone would say that if you can give me something that’s better than what I already have then of course I’d be very interested in taking a look at that,” said Reinke.
Some downtown businesses and home owners have voiced concern over things such as security and crowds.
In an editorial published in the Chapel Hill News, Carrboro Alderman Jacquelyn Gist said that after Tuesday’s meeting she would like for the town to facilitate a series of meetings with members of the community that are both for and against the text change.
The proposed zoning text amendment would add “social service provider with dining” as an accepted land use.
The public hearing will be held at the Carrboro Elementary Auditorium on Tuesday March 22 at 7:30 pm.
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