Why is this important?
In 2000, the Town of Chapel Hill developed a Comprehensive Plan to guide development. That plan put forth a number of compelling principles, but did not specify a vision for specific areas of town. For example, if density is an important development and re-development strategy for Chapel Hill, what corridors should be targeted? Without a more specific plan in place, decisions about development will continue to be made in a piecemeal, uncoordinated fashion.
What’s the latest?
In May 2009 Mayor Kevin Foy and Town Council formed the Sustainable Visioning Task Force to provide recommendations to the Council on the design and location of future development in Chapel Hill for the next five to ten years. The working group, composed of 26 members, reviewed the goals and objectives of the Town’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan, along with other planning documents. The group reaffirmed many of the guiding principles in the Comprehensive Plan, but disbanded in May 2010 before it could begin developing a more applied vision.
In 2011 the Council began planning for a re-write of the Comprehensive Plan, tentatively to be completed by June 2012. The new initiative is called Chapel Hill 2020.