News Release

Third round of Carolina North community meetings set for May 29

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites local residents, faculty, staff and students to participate in a third round of community meetings about Carolina North on Tuesday, May 29.

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.

University representatives will present two revised conceptual drawings with possible approaches to issues including open space, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, utilities, and land use 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. After a brief presentation, attendees can discuss the plans and programs with UNC staff in small groups. The feedback will continue to support the university’s efforts to develop a concept plan for Carolina North.

Presenters will include Jack Evans, executive director of Carolina North, and Joe DeSimone, William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Carolina and N.C. State University. DeSimone is also the director of the NSF Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes and the Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology.

Comments from the community in March and April influenced the ideas that will be shown 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. Another two community meetings are planned for June 21. Details on those will be announced later.

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 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 UNC Board of Trustees has directed the administration to submit a plan for Carolina North to local governments by next October. Trustees are expected to see a draft concept plan at their July meeting.

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