Agenda - 10-15-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 Commissioner Pelissier said the Brewer Lane and 300 Main would involve 2 amendments to the previously approved master plan by the town of Carrboro. She 3 asked what this would involve. 4 Jeff Thompson said, in talking with the developer, it seems that this would be 5 little more than an administrative process. 6 Realtor Ms. Van Zandt said the Brewer property was acquired late last year and 7 by incorporating it into the 300 East Main Development, it allows for expansion of the 8 parking deck on to this property. She said that the reconfiguration of the buildings 9 requires a modified permit from the town of Carrboro; however it is a minor modification 10 that does not require public hearings. 11 Commissioner Gordon asked about the boxy buildings designated as 12 placeholders. 13 Ms. Van Zandt said this refers to the boxy buildings in the second tier with no 14 windows. 15 Commissioner Gordon asked if there is any particular place at the Brewer Lane 16 site that is being considered for a library, and she asked for details on the parking 17 arrangement. 18 Ms. Van Zandt said property will consist of one building and the ground floor will 19 be non-residential. She said the top floor would be condos, and the library would be on 20 the bottom floor. She said there are currently 500 spaces in the deck that will be open 21 to the public, and there is room for a third bay that would add another 250 spaces. She 22 said this gives 750 spaces in the deck and she plans to work together with the town to 23 devise the best plan for use. 24 Commissioner Gordon asked if there would be a lease arrangement with parking 25 and the library. 26 Ms. Van Zandt said this is flexible and could be done either way, lease or 27 purchase. She said with the library there may be a preference for leasing versus 28 ownership early on. 29 Commissioner Gordon asked how this would work with the parking. She asked if 30 the county would be able to have particular spaces at particular costs. 31 Ms. Van Zandt said staff will work with Orange County on this issue. She said 32 the Arts Center and the Cat's Cradle are also there, but the Cat's Cradle does not really 33 operate until after the library is closed, so sharing of spaces does make some sense. 34 Commissioner Gordon asked about a review of the Shetley property on 35 Hillsborough Road, and she asked about the utility easement on that site. 36 She said she is not interested in seeing a library on the Shetley property. She 37 said there had been discussions about swapping properties with Carrboro, so that the 38 library would be on the Carrboro owned property. She questioned whether the 39 Aldermen are interested in a swap, and if not, she feels this site is not suitable for a 40 library because of site limitations, including the utility easement. 41 Frank Clifton said nobody on County staff would recommend the library be put 42 on the Shetley property. He said there were some discussions at one point with town 43 staff regarding a joint project that would involve a County library site on the street 44 frontage of the park property. 45 He said that, it is best to do more study to make sure a library can be built on 46 these sites before proposing them to the public. 47 Commissioner Gordon said her point is that the Board needs to find out if the 48 Aldermen are even interested in a swap. 49 Commissioner Rich asked why the Board should invest in sites with no 50 guarantee that the town or the public want them. She would like to see more public 51 comment first. She asked if staff is considering that Brewer Lane has close proximity to 52 a lower-middle class neighborhood. 53 Jeff Thompson said yes. He said this is true for Brewer Lane as well as Fidelity.