Tag Archives: Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path

Carrboro’s Public Comment Process At Town Council is Inequitable and Must Change

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The Carrboro Linear Parks Project has brought significant attention to the need to complete the Bolin Creek Greenway (BCG) in recent months, and it appears that the Town Council may take up a process to re-start the design and engineering of the BCG in 2023.

Given this development, and that one of the founding pillars of the Carrboro Connects plan is Racial Equity, I spent two evenings this week re-watching the last two major public meetings about the BCG from 2016, when the Chapel Hill High School-Homestead Path portion of the BCG was a hot topic in town.

A recent study in greater Boston, where white residents make up 80% of the population, found that over 95% of speakers at public meetings were white. How representative of Carrboro were the speakers at the last two BCG meetings? While I had impressions of those meetings in my mind, as I attended and spoke at both, I wanted to get hard data.

A Target for Representative Input: Carrboro Town Profile
Some quick Carrboro stats from the 2020 Decennial Census and 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year estimates for the Carrboro population:

Renting/Owning a Home
▪ 58% of Carrboro residents are renters
▪ 42% are homeowners

Race/Ethnicity
▪ 12.8% of Carrboro residents are Hispanic/Latino
▪ 10.0% of Carrboro residents are Black
▪ 62.2% of Carrboro residents are White
▪ 8.8% of Carrboro residents are Asian
▪ Approximately 6% of Carrboro residents are multi-racial

Income (Earnings in Last 12 Months, 2021)
▪ 6% of Carrboro residents earned less than $25,000
▪ 37.2% earned $25,000 to $49,999
▪ 19.2% earned $50,000 to $74,999
▪ 13.2% earned $75,000 to $99,999
24.2% earned $100,000 or more

Age
▪ 21% of Carrboro residents are age 19 or younger
▪ 24.5% are age 20 to 29
▪ 16.1% are age 30 to 39
▪ 11.8% are age 40 to 49
▪ 11.5% are age 50 to 59
▪ 8% are age 60 to 69
▪ 7.1% are 70 and up

Looking at these stats, a representative set of speakers at a Town Council podium would be mostly renters, about 4 out of 10 would be non-white, primarily under age 40, and 60% would earn less than $75,000. What did I find?

Like Boston, Public Commenters in the Last Two Carrboro BCG Meetings Were Almost Entirely Wealthy Older White People

Example 1: BCG Public Comment Stats from May 10th, 2016

▪ All 16 of the speakers were white. I was able to confirm that 14 of the 16 identified as Non-Hispanic or Latino White on their voter registration.
▪ Using Anywho.com and Spokeo.com, I was able to get ages for all but one speaker. The average age of the speakers was 54, the median age was 57, and other than one 17-
year-old, the youngest speaker was 41. 10 of the 16 speakers were over age 50.
▪ Using voter address data and the Orange County Land Records system, I learned that
100% of speakers were homeowners, and none were renters.
▪ Using Zillow.com and home value as a proxy for income/wealth, I learned that the median home value in 2022 for speakers is $635,700. Assuming a household could afford a $63,500 down payment, they would then need an annual household income of over $154,000 to buy such a home.
▪ Video documentation of this meeting is available here – Carrboro Granicus 5-10-2016
Town Council Meeting

Example 2: BCG Public Comment Stats from May 17th, 2016


▪ 7 of the 8 speakers were white, one identified as Latino in their voter registration.
▪ The average age of the speakers was again 54, the median age was 52, and the
youngest speaker was 42.
▪ Again, 100% of speakers were homeowners, and none were renters.
▪ The median home value in 2022 for these 8 speakers is $662,650.
▪ Video documentation of this meeting is available here – Carrboro Granicus 5-17-2016 Town Council Meeting

Three Interesting Tidbits

TIDBIT 1: The most fascinating finding for me in this exercise was that in both meetings, the person who lived in the most expensive house took the most time speaking at the
podium!

No, I’m not kidding. In the May 10th meeting, it was a homeowner in a house currently valued at $1.07 million who spoke the longest, and on May 17th, the longest speaker spoke at the podium for 19 painful minutes. They have since moved away, but the house they lived in is presently valued at $1.8 million.

TIDBIT 2: Like in NCAA sports, there is apparently a NIMBY Transfer Portal! The lengthiest anti-greenway speaker at the May 10th meeting apparently got a great NIL deal or something, and moved out to La Quinta, CA, where they promptly joined La Quinta Residents for Responsible Development and recently killed a proposed wave pool resort near their home.

TIDBIT 3: In both meetings, multiple members of a single household spoke. On May 10th, 2016, there were two sets of adults who lived in the same home who spoke, as well as one mother/son pair who spoke. On May 17th, there was another pair of adults living in the same home who spoke. These multi-household-member-with-similar-opinion comments further narrow an already limited demographic pool.

Carrboro Must Stop Holding Public Comment Sessions Like This
For a town that says it is making Racial Equity a foundational element of its decisionmaking
going forward, it’s hard to think of a reason that this type of engagement process should
continue at all.

It took me about 8 hours to document these two meetings and research the characteristics of the participants. While I am sure a labor-intensive effort could turn up meetings prior to the very intentional Carrboro Connects process that had slightly more representative socio-demographic voices from the town speaking at a podium, the truth is what is documented above is much more the status quo norm than any unusual occurrence.

People shouldn’t have to sit in a specific room at a certain time of day, and wait for hours to
speak for 1-2 minutes in order for their input to matter. This is unfair to parents who put small
children to bed in the early evening, people who work second shift, and those who depend on transit services that shut off for the night before a lengthy meeting may end.

People shouldn’t have to be subjected to an intimidating environment and be heckled when
they speak a view not shared by others in the audience. I was yelled at while speaking in both of my comments, which you can see in the videos. Others I know who supported the CHHS path did not attend the second meeting because of the environment in the first meeting. We can’t let that happen the next time we discuss the BCG.

A more equitable public input process going forward might include a time period (one week?) prior to a Town Council decision point for residents to submit their demographics and videos or voice recordings up to 1 minute in length from their mobile phones, and then allow town staff to curate a representative set of remarks that reflects the broader community, and not just a few voices with a lot of free time, and lasts no longer than 10 minutes in a meeting setting.

The staff would also spend time presenting opinion data from larger efforts with higher data
validity, like the 2021 Carrboro Community survey and the Carrboro Connects planning
process.

Sharing data and insights from events out in the community that were attended by Town staff would also be valuable.

Stopping Doing the Wrong Things Is Still Progress Even If The Right Thing Isn’t Entirely Clear Yet
Recently our neighbor Chapel Hill has had some pretty good breakthroughs under the
facilitation of Canadian planner Jennifer Keesmat. With that in mind, I’d like to share a slide
from former Vancouver chief planner Brent Toderian that I like.

The Steps Toward Better City Building 1. Doing the Wrong Thing 2. Doing the Wrong Thing Better 3. trying to have your cake and eat it too 4. doing the right thing badly. 5. doing the right thing well.

I am sure that the question of “what does equitable engagement that supports racial equity look like in Carrboro?” will not be easy to answer, and that there will be some trial and error along the way.

But we know public comment as currently practiced in Town Council meetings in Carrboro is
broken and built for privilege, just as it is in most other communities that use podium comments to shape decisions. Before we open another public discussion on the BCG, or any other important community issue, let’s find a way to eliminate or minimize the importance of podium comments in Town Council meetings, and jump from item #1 to item #4 in the slide above.

Meeting our ambitious Racial Equity goals demands nothing less.

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Carrboro Likely To Approve Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Path for Construction

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Near the end of their May 10th meeting, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen affirmed their commitment to see the Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path move forward to construction this summer.

Compromise Recommended by the School System Staff and Town of Carrboro Staff

Early in the meeting, Todd LoFrese of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System took to the podium to describe a compromise that had been worked out between school staff and Town of Carrboro staff regarding the Multi-Use Path. That compromise took the following form:

  • Reduced the number of Multi-Use Path crossings of the Cross-Country trail from three to one.
  • Proposed looking at alternative surfaces (such as ADA-compliant rubber instead of concrete) at the remaining crossing.
  • Explore creating as much separation as possible where the multi-use path and the cross country trail parallel each other.

 

staggered-fenceOne citizen brought forward an interesting photo (at right) showing staggered gates on a greenway designed to slow riders approaching a potential conflict point. To address concerns of runners worried about bicycles crossing the cross-country trail at speed, particularly during meets, these may be a potential solution to maximize safety.

Citing not only the financial implications, but also years of participation by many Carrboro residents in the process, and the town’s values in support of providing transportation choices and addressing climate change, the Board of Aldermen asked the town staff to explore how to address some remaining engineering questions about what types of alternative surfaces could be feasible and report back one week later, with an eye towards the Board passing a resolution to move forward affirmatively at their May 17th meeting.

What the Town Residents Will Be Getting From This Project

Lest the big goals of this greenway get lost in all the discussion of process, I want to remind everyone of the big, game-changing amenity the town will get when this project is complete- a safe, low stress way for up to 1,000 children living north of Homestead Rd to walk or bicycle to the three schools south of Homestead Rd.

I went out and shot some video (with audio) on the Morgan Creek Greenway and Fan Branch Trail Greenway in Chapel Hill yesterday. We rode about four miles in all, got pizza and did some grocery shopping, and took in all the great natural enjoyments found along the greenway. We saw squirrels, deer, many kinds of birds, and heard a barred owl calling nearby in the woods in the early evening. In a world where we hear talk of “nature-deficit disorder” among younger generations and childhood obesity, imagine what a joy it would be to get to ride to school on a facility like this every day.

You can hear many of the sounds we heard in the clip below, but you can’t smell the honeysuckle- you’ll need to get out there yourself to enjoy it.

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Tell the Aldermen: Carrboro Needs The Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path

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mup-typical-sectionThe town of Carrboro has been working steadily for seven years to plan for the Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path. The greenway would provide a safe way for hundreds of children to walk or bike to not one, not two, but  THREE(!) different schools (Chapel Hill High, Smith Middle, Seawell Elementary)  from the Claremont, Winmore and even Lake Hogan Farms neighborhoods. For so many reasons, which I will detail below, it needs to be built, and Carrboro residents need to let the aldermen know this is the case. You can email the Carrboro Board of Aldermen by clicking this link, right now.

The Recent Controversy

Up until last week, work crews were likely to break ground for construction of the Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path on May 16, 2016, or soon thereafter. Concerns about impacts to the Chapel Hill High Cross-Country (X-C) trail led to lots of complaints to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. I’m not going to recap the controversy any further, but here is a report from WCHL.

Benefits of the Homestead-Chapel Hill High Multi-Use Path

There are several benefits the construction of this greenway offers to the community:

  • A direct, safe route to multiple schools from neighborhoods that have almost 1,000 children who otherwise must cross a dangerous road with 40-45 mph traffic to get to school by bike or on foot today. (The 2014 American Community Survey reports nearly 500 children aged 6 to 11 and over 450 children aged 12 to 17 live in Census Block Group 1, Census Tract 112.02, just north of Homestead Rd)
  • Students can use it for daily transportation, and when they do, they get to hear birdsongs projecting from the canopy and the rustle of rodents on the forest floor, sensory experiences that are blocked by an enclosed automobile or a noisy bus.  When they do, they get to be surrounded by trees rather than motor vehicles zooming by at speeds in excess of 35 or 40 mph.  They get to pass under that road, hearing the rush of the creek, rather than nervously crossing at grade with a wary eye toward aggressive turning movements of hurried parent chauffeurs.  They get to have daily fresh air and exercise as part of their trip.
  • A route for joggers, roller skaters, moms and dads pushing strollers, and people in wheelchairs.
  • A zero-emissions transportation option in an area where the barriers to such options are high.
  • Access to the natural beauty of Bolin Creek and the surrounding forest, including access for community members with disabilities who can’t physically go there today.

 

This is Not  a “New” or “Surprise” Project- The Planning for This Greenway Has Been Going On For Years, With CBOA Oversight

  • After a Greenways Commission recommendation, the Board adopted the Concept Plan on December 8, 2009 (Supported by current CBOA members Gist, Haven-O’Donnell, Lavelle & Slade, votes on page 11 of 14) Dec-2009-CBOA-Meeting-Minutes(PDF)
  • Former Carrboro Transportation Planner Jeff Brubaker, who spent hundreds of hours working on this project up through 2014, stated today:

  •  This direction was included in the adopting resolution: “Adopt the recommendation for Phase 1A and 1B (1B would not extend any further south than Jolly Branch), and Phase 2.” To follow the Board’s direction to stay north of Jolly Branch, the preferred route came to resemble what is shown as Alternative Route 3 (the “green route”) on p. 71 of the Concept Plan (Concept-Plan-BCG-Phase1b).  The merits of the green route were much discussed at Greenways Commission and Board of Aldermen meetings.  The route of the Homestead-CHHS Path closely resembles it, and so it has already gone through significant public vetting.

  • The CBOA unanimously approved an agreement with NCDOT to design the greenway on March 1, 2011. (Supported by current CBOA members Gist, Haven-O’Donnell, Lavelle & Slade, votes on page 3 of 14)  March-1-2011-CBOA-Meeting-Minutes (PDF)
  • On June 9, 2015, in a motion made by Alderman Gist and seconded by Alderman Haven-O’Donnell, the CBOA authorized the Town Manager to sign a contract for Construction, Engineering and Inspection services to build the greenway. It passed 6-0 with all current board members in favor save Alderman Slade, who was absent. Minutes-CBOA-June-9-2015 (PDF)
  • On November 24, 2015, all board members attending the meeting voted together to approve a contract amendment for the project. (PDF) Minutes-CBOA-November-24-2015

 

The Price of Changing Projects at The Eleventh Hour

One of the challenges of transportation projects is that they take time- land must be assembled, engineering work and environmental work must be done, and then finally, construction drawings of a greenway like this one are ready. If you want to make changes to a project, the later you make them, the more expensive it is to make a change, and the harder it is to introduce a change without unraveling much of the work you have already completed because the engineers need to tear up some of their drawings and start over, and then depending on the extent of the changes, all the environmental work must also be redone.

For a project seven years in the making, delaying another year, or frankly, even three to six months –  is simply unacceptable. Asking all the people who participated in prior public meetings, sat in Greenway Commission and CBOA meetings to discuss this project over those seven years, to wait further (or maybe forever) because of concerns brought forward when construction was about to begin, is to say that all the planning that came before matters little in the face of late-breaking complaints. This is a terrible way to make decisions.

Unless the Aldermen want to turn those seven years of public dialogue into a complete waste of time and call into question the validity of all other future public processes the town hosts, the construction of this game-changing project for people who walk and bike needs to get moving.

What The Carrboro Board of Aldermen Should Do

Given how close this project is to being able to be built, and to respect the time put in by ALL citizens who contributed to the development of this project, over the past seven years, and not just those expressing their concerns for the first time in these past few weeks, the first and primary option for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to resolve the controversy should be to see if the cross-country trail can be modified as part of the construction process to eliminate the two crossings south of the westernmost tennis court.

If this cannot be accomplished without also adjusting the greenway design, the town of Carrboro and its taxpayers will certainly incur costs in time and money- the only uncertainty is how much. These costs should be minimized, and Chapel Hill High School should be asked to contribute to the cost of any changes.

The second and less desirable option is to come up with a design that minimizes impact to schedule and budget for the greenway while adjusting both the greenway and the cross-country trails slightly to eliminate two crossings.  It probably looks something like this, where the blue dotted line would be the modified greenway path, and the pink dotted line would be the modified X-C trail. Engineers working for the town would get input from the cross-country coach about appropriate guidelines for the turn in the pink section, and follow best practices used along the remainder of the greenway design up until this point to provide the best geometry for bicycling given a slightly more northern passage. Working within a narrow portion of the already design project to explore solutions that meet the town’s goals and the cross-country team’s goals gives us the best chance to get a win-win without a massive hit to project cost and time loss to completion. (click to enlarge):

There is a proposal on the Facebook page of the Friends of Bolin Creek organization that suggests abandoning roughly half of the design and re-routing the trail towards the north side of the tennis courts, and it should not be considered as a way forward. This is one of those late-breaking changes that is likely to cost a lot more than either of the approaches discussed above, simply because a path so different from what has already been drawn up would contain significantly more re-work on the engineering side. Pursuing this approach is more likely to indefinitely delay the greenway or render it fiscally infeasible, which would be a tremendous failure on the town’s behalf.

In Closing: Carrboro Needs the Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path

In a world where we hear daily about the challenge of climate change, see data showing rising childhood obesity, struggle with equity issues, and parents worry about “nature deficit disorder,” the Homestead-Chapel Hill High School Multi-Use Path is the rare public investment that can address four such issues at once. Kids get more exercise on their way to school, walking or riding through nature instead of being strapped into a five-point harness in the back of a car. More facilities like this one mean more trips that are emission-free, promoting public health through not only pollution prevented, but also through increased physical activity. Finally, there are lots of people with mobility impairments for whom a multi-use path allows an exploration of nature that a dirt or gravel surface will simply not allow.

Carrboro has made this greenway a priority since 2009, and a majority of the board have cast several votes in favor of it in response to citizen recommendations over the past seven years. It’s time to build this excellent facility. You can let the Carrboro Board of Aldermen know you agree by emailing them when you click this link.

Thanks for reading!