Since Chapel Hill’s purchase of nearly 36 acres off Legion Road in 2016, the local government has eyed using the property to address critical needs for the community. On Tuesday, a town committee shared initial recommendations for how the site could be used to bring significantly more park land and affordable housing to the area.
In May, several town council members brought a petition requesting Chapel Hill begin forming options for what to do with the site, which the town purchased for $8 million. After initial discussion by elected officials, a committee of council members, town manager’s staff, and representatives from the affordable housing, town planning and parks departments was formed to do just that.
An aerial map and legend of the current zoning around the Legion Road property, which is owned by the town government. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.)
During that time, a website and sign campaign from some community members started pushing to leave the land undeveloped. The site consists of a grass field where the old American Legion building stands, a pond and woods surrounding a stream. Despite the space not technically being designated as a park, residents in nearby neighborhoods and from around town say they enjoy using it for casual recreation.
At Tuesday’s public information meeting, which saw dozens of people gather at the Chapel Hill Public Library, about half of the speakers voiced their desires for the town-owned property to exclusively remain its natural landscape. Among those who said this was Chapel Hill resident Diane Willis. Willis, who has ties with the advocacy group Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town (CHALT), read from the local government’s 2013 Comprehensive Park Plan and highlighted one particular shortcoming that’s still true today.
“‘The eastern section of Chapel Hill is not served by a community park,’” recited Willis. “And yet, it is eastern Chapel Hill that has all these new apartment buildings with thousands of new residents within a mile of the Legion [Road] property. And yet you’re planning to take away ten of those acres of open space that is the only open space left [in the town]?”
According to the recommendations shared Tuesday night, however, the committee’s aim is to significantly increase the official park land – while also pursuing affordable housing options on the property. The group suggests Chapel Hill staff and elected officials take steps to seeing whether 8 to 9 acres along Legion Road could be developed for affordable housing, while combining the remaining 27 acres with the bordering, 10-acre Ephesus Park. The recommendation would also be for the town to retain ownership of the full site – instead of selling part of the land for private development, which was part of the initial petition.
Chapel Hill’s affordable housing deficit has been well-documented and long acknowledged by the local government. According to the town’s latest quarterly report on affordable housing, there are more than 5,000 affordable units needed to address the demand for community members at 60 percent or less of the area median income (AMI).
Chapel Hill resident Chinita Howard spoke in favor of the affordable housing inclusion, saying she lived unsheltered when she first moved to the town years ago. Howard, who also works with the Community Empowerment Fund organization, said she’s confident the town’s staff will make an informed decision based on data and responses from the public.
People gathered in the Chapel Hill Public Library’s meeting room to examine the display by town staff and to make public comment on the Legion Road Property.
Town staff spoke directly with community members before Tuesday’s information meeting got underway. One of the boards on display showed amenities of Ephesus Park, which would be expanded if the town follows recommendations made by the Legion Property Committee.
“And we’re hoping that they can take these considerations and include them all,” said Howard. “But to leave out humanity, to even think about a pickleball court without thinking about where people sleep…I slept in my Jeep for three months. Not by choice, but by force. So, I stand in alliance for affordable housing, beginning with those at 30 percent [AMI] or less.”
Part of the community advocates in attendance spoke to how affordable housing for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) is a critical need. The town has considered several projects that could include units for such community members, but Dotty Foley said more guaranteed ones would make a difference.
Foley, who is a parent to an adult with I/DD and a co-founder of the housing advocacy nonprofit HOPE NC, said that population dreams of living in their own space but can’t afford to locally.
“There was a poll done a few years ago: over 60 percent of adults with developmental disabilities want to live in their own home or apartment,” Foley said.
“They want to come to the housing table,” she added. “We all can have that voice – [but] they don’t have that voice.”
While many of the comments took sides on whether to include affordable housing on the land, many agreed it was frustrating to feel as if the issue was pitted against the prospects of a top-notch community park. Part of those feelings stem from this being some of the only remaining open spaces available to fit the intense community desires for both.
Dan Levine, a resident of the nearby Colony Woods neighborhood, said that result partially stems from the town’s “own creation.” He pointed to past policies and current resistance to change as some of the biggest barriers, but said he thinks this set of broad recommendations could be a key step in the right direction.
“I also think we have a moral obligation to build affordable housing and parks,” Levine added, “and we should be able to do both [on this property]. This shouldn’t be a difficult conversation, as some of you have said.”
The full recommendation document from the Legion Property Committee, as displayed at the public information meeting on November 30, 2022.
The Legion Property Committee’s recommendations are for the Chapel Hill Town Council to consider reserving affordable housing space, preserving some of the forested areas in potentially combined park land, and to advise town staff on appropriate next steps. On Tuesday, town staff confirmed to 97.9 The Hill the specific placement and acreage for potential affordable housing development will be based upon the council’s decisions, including whether to drain or downsize the pond near Legion Road.
The recommendation document is expected to be on the town council’s agenda for its December 7 meeting.
For more links and resources to the town-owned Legion Road property, visit the Town of Chapel Hill website.
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