A large clearing of trees has caused concern among some Chapel Hill residents.
If you have recently driven down Estes Drive, you have likely noticed a large clearing of trees between Phillips Middle School and Somerset Drive.
The nearly seven-acre site is the future home of a retirement residence in Chapel Hill, which received approval from the Chapel Hill Town Council in March 2017.
The tree clearing has prompted residents in the neighborhood near the development to voice concerns to the Chapel Hill Town Council. An April 8 letter, which was signed by nearly two dozen residents, asked the council several questions from apprehensions over traffic, the tree clearing and potential rock blasting by the contractor. Residents wrote that they feared the blasting could damage their homes.
Town staff wrote in response to the questions that blasting seismographs have been placed near residences “to monitor ground vibrations during all blasting operations. Crack monitoring will be done on existing nearby structures with existing cracks documented prior to blasting.”
While the developer was granted modifications allowing less tree buffer adjacent to Estes and Somerset drives, the town’s tree ordinance says the town “desires to maintain the maximum practical tree canopy cover across all land uses.” Residents said they were concerned because nearly all of the land had been clear cut, but town staff responded that a total of 22 replacement canopy trees would be required to be planted as part of the development in order to comply with town standards.
Residents took their concerns directly to the Town Council with a petition at the council meeting last Wednesday night.
The retirement residence proposal is scheduled to have 152 units with construction set to begin by March 20, 2019 and concluding two years later. You can get more information on the retirement residence project by visiting the town’s website.
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Thank you, Blake Hodge, for posting this information about the deforestration on Estes near the school. I was shocked when I saw it. I would like to see the names of the town leaders who approved this wholesale destruction. I vote, and I recognize evidence of wholesale political corruption. Maybe the minutes of their meetings should be posted, or a 90 second part of NPR — The State of Things. Better yet, how about some real investigative journalism.
Rowena Bowman
A neighbor living near by.
How can you say you vote yet don’t know who your elected officials were in March 2017 and don’t know anything about this? I don’t even live in CH anymore and I know who your elected officials were/are and about this approval. Come on.
This looks utterly terrible.
Also, while the construction of senior housing is admirable. Philips and Estes are in utterly deplorable condition. A new campus could have been built here, and senior housing could have risen in a different location.
The trees are being cut down all over our beautiful town of Chapel Hill. This is the first time I hear protest!!! What is going on here ? Who is approving these attacks to the foundation of our beautiful town?