Southern Village HOA

Dear Southern Village Residents,

It’s Luminary time again!

Last year, even though we weren’t able to light the luminaries because of the drought, we raised over $10,000 for the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill—the largest amount raised by any neighborhood in town for this fundraiser and a significant portion of the $70,000 total. Thank you for your overwhelming generosity!

Let’s show the Ronald McDonald House what we can do this year. Please send in your contributions with the form which you should already have received in the mail, and which is attached to this e-mail. Also, please come out on December 6 to help assemble, distribute, light and enjoy the luminaries.

We look forward to making this the most successful year yet for the Ronald McDonald House!

Southern Village Luminaries Team

From D.R. Bryan and John Fugo

Updated conceptual drawings will be presented at the Chapel Hill Town Council meeting November 17, 2008 are now posted here. We will receive concept plan review from the Town Council. “The concept plan is a preliminary step toward the preparation of a formal development plan” (from the Chapel Hill Development Ordinance p. 90). This is the beginning of the review process and not the end.

These new drawings depict a four-story hotel with both structured parking and open parking. They are preliminary. We will receive comments from the town council on Monday. We expect to modify this design in response to the council’s comments. We also expect to modify the design as we receive suggestions from the Southern Village Parking
Lot Committee.

Drawings visible at http://svcenter.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your interest.

We will be electing one new director to the five-person SVHOA board at the association’s annual meeting early in 2009. Consequently, the Nominating Committee is seeking names of possible candidates.

If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in this important volunteer position, please email nominations@southernvillage.org to learn more about the opportunity.

Dear Southern Village residents and business owners,

For some time we have been considering building an architecturally distinctive hotel to “complete” the Village Center and provide economic support to our existing local businesses.

This letter has 3 purposes:

(1) To SHARE our thinking on this proposed project.
(2) To invite you to a presentation and discussion meeting on Thursday, November 6th at 6 pm in Ascension Hall of Christ Church.
(3) To invite you to tatake a tour of other village centers in the Triangle area on November 6th, noon – 5 pm. Please sign up with Elaine Hudspeth by calling 933-4422 or emailing hudspeth.bryan@mindspring.com by November 4th.

We are still in the idea stage, and we welcome your ideas, questions and concerns.

Thank you,
D.R. Bryan and John Fugo
For updates visit www.svcenter.blogspot.com

The October 23 meeting of SVHOA’s board was unusually exciting. About 70 Southern Village neighbors gathered at the church for the event and we extended our normal 30 minute period of open comment to more than two hours of lively discussion.

The first topic was a presentation from East West Partners to provide us with preliminary information on the proposed development of 146 acres directly across 15/501 from us. Two broad options are being considered for the property: to develop all of it as low-density single family homes, or to develop the 43 acres closest to the road with high density mixed use buildings and leave the remainder of the property as parkland. The presenters were looking for initial reactions and ideas from our community, and were seeking to begin an extensive dialog to ensure that whatever they may finally propose to the Town of Chapel Hill will have our support. From the presentation and question session it emerged that:

– High density development requires that the Town rezone the land
– This will probably happen as a result of a broad zoning review the Town already has in process
– A mixed development would probably include office, retail and homes
– All ideas for features are under consideration at this stage
– The development could include a pedestrian subway under 15/501
– The parkland could be passive (e.g. woodland trails) or active (e.g. sports fields)
– Given the Town’s development process it will likely be at least three years before construction would begin
– There will be multiple opportunities for public comment during the process

The second topic of the evening (which drew most of the meeting participants) was a presentation from DR Bryan outlining Montgomery Development’s plan to build a hotel in place of the Market Street parking lot. From this presentation and question session it emerged that:

– The developer wants to create a “third anchor” to draw business to Market Street in the way that Weaver Street and the Lumina do
– The current proposal is to do this by building a 100-room boutique hotel with restaurant
– To include 100 rooms the building needs to be 4 or five stories high (about the height to the base of the church steeple)
– Ground-level parking for Weaver Street might be retained, particularly if the Town would permit Aberdeen to be closed between the two sides of Market Street
– Putting a condo building on the site would be a lower risk option from the developer’s point of view, but would not provide the desired third anchor
– Although there were comments from the floor both in favor of, and against, the proposal an observer could confidently say that the prevailing response to the plan was negative
– The most commonly voiced concerns were the building’s relatively massive scale, its impact on traffic and parking, its inconsistency with the immediate surroundings, and its potential for introducing crime
– After 90 minutes of discussion it was apparent that more dialog is needed if the whole community is to agree on the best use of the land in question

Hence, the board proposed that we create a new body – the Parking Lot (or Not) Committee – to work with the developer and try define a mutually acceptable way to proceed. The developer readily agreed to this idea and fourteen of the meeting attendees signed up to be members of the committee, including Jason Luna who is a board member and will be the group’s liaison with SVHOA. If you have questions or comments you can contact the committee at parkinglot@southernvillage.org.

Not quite exhausted by all the excitement, the board then proceeded to conduct the rest of its business, ending the meeting at 11p.m.

Thanks to everyone who turned out for the event. It was a wonderful example of community energy in action. Our developer should feel justifiably proud of creating such a vibrant community, even while rueing the fact that it’s complicating life right now.

Volunteers from SECU Family House will be having a fundraiser on Friday, October 31st starting @ 4:00pm. SECU volunteers will be stationed at the entrances to Southern Village, some in Halloween costumes, politely asking residents & visitors to make a small donation to SECU Family House. Please consider supporting this important group.

SECU Family House provides a home-away-from-home for families with an adult patient being treated for a critical illness or injury at UNC Hospitals or its affiliated clinics. Open since March, Family House’s mission of housing, healing, and hope includes free shuttle service to and from UNC Hospitals, laundry facilities, a help-yourself pantry with snacks and food staples, access to a library with Internet resources, and family support programs that offer education, resources, and respite for patients and caregivers. In addition to these practical amenities, staying at SECU Family House offers something perhaps even more significant — a nurturing and compassionate community. To find out more about our mission, make a donation, or volunteer: call 932.8000 or visit our website at www.secufamilyhouse.org.

The North Carolina Symphony proudly offers the residents of Southern Village discount admission to its Holiday Pops concert held on Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 8pm at Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill. Tickets are only $25 with this special offer.

Holiday Pops with the North Carolina Symphony makes everything bright with joyful music and the much-loved audience carol sing-along. Gather friends and family for this jolly holiday event!

To purchase discount tickets, click on Discount Tickets to NC Symphony Holiday Pops, select “Find Tickets” and enter the special offer code of Southern Village. Please ‘Create an Account’ (even if you have a previous account with the North Carolina Symphony) to receive a password. Once completed, you will be able to purchase your discounted tickets!