Before putting the issue in front of the Chapel Hill Town Council, the town held an informational meeting about possible changes to the form-based code in the Ephesus Fordham District.

The meeting held Tuesday night was in response to two petitions from the public.

“What we have here tonight are just eight items that were identified as potential short-term changes,” said planning and sustainability executive director Mary Jane Nirdlinger. “This is the first meeting about these possible changes.”

The form-based code was approved in 2014 and is intended to foster mixed-use developments and pedestrian-friendly districts by specifying certain aspects of a possible building’s appearance.

Some of the possible changes include enforcing a maximum building-block length and width, a minimum building height and requiring green spaces visible to the public.

“The discussion was really about how you create a district that has some permeability, that’s not all one giant block of a building,” Nirdlinger said.

While many residents praised the effort to change code, many thought other issues needed to be addressed as well.

“I think it’s the intention of the planning commission and the CDC and other advisory boards to forge ahead and come up with a comprehensive transportation plan that has where your bus stops are and where your bicycle paths are and so on,” one resident said. “It seems to me you really need to have that in place before you go about approving these projects.”

Other concerns raised included the addition of green spaces that residents could use and the possibility of traffic problems that could result from adding the kind of development the town is looking for.

Nirdlinger said the town was unable to get these issues on the agenda when the council will open a public hearing on March 14, but they will continue to look for solutions.

In the hearing the council will evaluate the eight changes Nirdlinger outlined.

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