Concerns about the impact of traffic along Velma Road surround a proposed expansion of the Turkish-American Cultural Center, which was the subject of a public hearing at the Chapel Hill Town Council.

The center would be built at 1609 East Franklin Street on a 2-acre site between Elliott Road and Estes Drive. The site plan includes a cultural center and a guest house. The center would charge below market rate for the rooms.

During a public hearing on Monday night, the Chapel Hill Town Council listened to presentations from Gwen Sancar, owner of the Carolina Turk Evi and President of the Aziz-Sancar Foundation. She says the current facility isn’t big enough.

“We have been severely curtailed in what we could accomplish, because we have been in a 2,800 square foot facility,” said Sancar. “It limits the number of Turkish-American visiting scholars that we can provide accommodations for, as well as the space that we have for celebrations of our cultural events.”

The site plan includes a cultural center and a guest house, which would be two stories and provide a venue for Turkish-American scholars to reside in.

“A big part of our role in housing these scholars is to tell them how things work in the United States,” said Sancar. “How do you rent an apartment on your own? What do you have to do about taxes? How do you get a driver’s license? These things that they really have no information about when they come here.”

A group seeking to place a hotel at 1609 East Franklin Street submitted an application last spring, which was withdrawn.

However, some neighbors expressed concerns about access to Velma Road regarding increased traffic and parking. Resident Jill Blackburn told the council she looked at the plan and sees possibilities for an expanded center to exist while keeping traffic orderly.

“Velma is one of our smaller streets,” said Jill Blackburn. “It’s a very tranquil, quiet street. Having looked at these plans with neighbors, there is a win-win here. I think they can have a boarding house without coming on to Velma. That would eliminate needing parking signs. I think there are some interesting designs we can work on.”

But Sancar says the guest house wouldn’t make Velma Road any less tranquil: she says it would only have four parking spaces, so there’d be almost no impact on Velma Road’s traffic.

Sancar’s husband Aziz won the Nobel Price for Chemistry last year. He donated the entire share of his 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry to the Sancar Foundation in hopes of expanding the Cultural Center.

 

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