Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2016 10:34:50 -0400
From: Mike Watkins
Subject: Pittsboro to appoint Public Community Review Committee
Unanimous: Mayor and all five Town Board Commissioners agree.
Great News: Pittsboro Matters is very pleased that Pittsboro Mayor Cindy Perry and all five of the Town Board Commissioners have agreed to appoint a public community advisory committee to review Chatham Park plans from now on. This is something Pittsboro Matters has sought from the very beginning. The unanimous agreement surprised us and gives us hope that we can all work together going forward. We look forward to it.
The board also agreed on something else we’ve been working toward – they will hire expert consultants to help them and the citizens committee review the draft Additional Elements for Chatham Park, the Small Area Plans, and other plans. Chatham Park Investors (CPI) had already pledged to give the Town up to $300,000 a year for this kind of professional assistance. The Town Board will discuss further details about the committee and the consultants at its next regular meeting on Monday June 27 at 7 pm at the Town Hall.
For a summary of what was discussed please visit our website at http://www.pittsboromatters.
Meanwhile Pittsboro Matters is grateful for the unanimous commitment to this process, and we have a few recommendations:
- Hire expert consultants and a facilitator: The Town should spend the CPI funds to hire independent expert consultants on all of the areas addressed in the Elements, as well as “exceptional design” (which CPI has promised), sustainability, and the big-picture issues that remain, such as the need for assessments concerning the overall project’s environmental impacts, economic feasibility, and local economic impacts. It would also be good to hire an expert facilitator to help the committee process engage the public in the most productive and democratic way possible.
-
Seek nominations from the County, the School Board, and the public at large: The Town should appoint the members of the Committee, but they should solicit nominations from the County Board of Education and the County Commissioners because Chatham Park will affect schools and county taxes, as well as Pittsboro. The Town should also solicit applications from the public at large, to give anyone with the appropriate qualifications an opportunity to apply.
-
The committee should be inclusive. Committee members should include at least one each of the following: adjacent property owner, ETJ resident, Pittsboro resident, downtown business, persons knowledgeable about local economic development, transportation (including transit, bicycling and pedestrian), recreation and parks, public schools, environmental issues, affordable housing, arts and culture, public education, equity and social justice.
-
While the committee should be balanced, all members must be knowledgeable and involved on key local issues. The goal should be individuals who can provide substantive, evidence-based knowledge on the issues at stake. These kinds of citizen committees usually would not include the developers, because it is their application that is under review and that would represent a conflict of interest, and their involvement could intimidate other members and hurt the credibility of the committee process. The developers have had, and will continue to have, many opportunities to present information to the Town, which may include presentations to this committee, but not membership.
We look forward to the Town’s official adoption of a good process for this committee, and to the substantive discussions that it will make possible.
For Pittsboro Matters,
Mike Watkins, Treasurer