News Release

Fourth round of Carolina North community meetings set for June 21

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites local residents, faculty, staff and students to participate in a fourth round of community meetings about Carolina North on Thursday, June 21. These meetings are the last ones scheduled before a draft plan is submitted to the university’s Board of Trustees in July.

The meetings will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Room 2603 of the School of Government’s Knapp-Sanders Building. Presentations will be repeated at 5:30 p.m. in the same location. Parking is available in the N.C. 54 visitor’s lot and the Rams Head deck. The School of Government parking deck is available only for the 5:30 p.m. meeting. Chapel Hill Transit service is available via the RU, G, S and V routes. See http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.asp?NID=399 for timetables of these routes.

Jack Evans, executive director of Carolina North, and other university representatives will present a draft conceptual drawing and an overview of potential first areas of development on the UNC-owned property.  

Officials plan to follow a similar format for these community meetings that they used when the monthly series kicked off in March. Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions and share comments. The feedback will continue to support the university’s efforts to refine a concept plan for Carolina North.
Comments from the community in March, April and May influenced the draft that will be shared this month. All of those comments have also been posted to the Carolina North website, http://carolinanorth.unc.edu, along with materials shown at those sessions.

Evans has emphasized that the primary driver for Carolina North is the university’s mission – education, research, public service – and a responsibility to help meet the state’s economic development needs. Carolina North is what Evans calls a “growth campus,” one that can provide space for university activities that no longer fit on the main campus and to develop partnerships with the private sector to accelerate economic development.

An ecological assessment is helping guide UNC’s efforts toward sustainability principles and goals at Carolina North. Other input includes a report from the Leadership Advisory Committee that made recommendations for guiding principles for development.

Carolina North is envisioned as a vibrant, compact, mixed-use academic development on the university’s 900-plus-acre tract. The Board of Trustees has directed the administration to submit a plan for Carolina North to local governments by October. Trustees are expected to see a draft concept plan at their July meetingand take action on a plan in September.

News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415 or susan_houston@unc.edu