Seated around a large, circular conference table, council members and commissioners discussed future plans for the Greene Tract.

The Greene Tract was purchased by the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill and Orange County back in 1984. Since then, the three governments have continually debated the rights and usage of the 164 acres of land.

Last week, all three local governments passed legislation to prepare for an environmental assessment on the land. With the resolutions passed, the main discussion revolved around how to draw up a new MOU, short for the Memorandum of Understanding.

Travis Myren, Orange County deputy manager helped to explain the legal document.

“An MOU, we can call it an MOU, we can call it an inter-local agreement, is an agreement between or among governments,” Myren said. “The end goal of that document is to have some time frame and decision making framework for things that happen where we might not agree and how those disputes get resolved.”

The current MOU is from 2002. Attorney for Orange County Board of Commissioners, John Roberts, said this outdated document has contributed to the large delay in progress when it comes to the Greene Tract.

“Right now were at this juncture because all three parties under the current system are required to agree to something before it can move forward – and without all three agreeing, it doesn’t go anywhere – and it’s not gone anywhere for a significant period of time,” Roberts said.

The collective assembly is hoping each local government’s attorney will have a MOU draft up for review by mid-February. Ultimately, all this discussion regarding the creation of a new MOU may culminate in a development proposal toward progress on the Greene Tract.

This progress includes deciding where a new school site will be and what percentage of the land should be preserved. Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle said this is a task easier said than done when it involves a unanimous decision made by three governments.

“This at once complicated and not complicated,” Lavelle said. “It’s not complicated because we all have the goal of affordable housing and the open space and connectivity and we’ve been working on this for twenty-plus years. It’s complicated because three of us are joint owners of this property and one of us is the permit-issuing authority.”

After reviewing information obtained from the environmental assessment, the Assembly of Governments plans to evaluate initial development proposals by June 7. After that, they are hoping to formally review the status of the MOU and the environmental assessment together by mid-August.

(Photo courtesy of Orange County Government) 

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