Chapel Hill staff, council considering 360-unit apartment complex within Parkline East Village

GOVERNMENT; GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

By Adam Powell
Correspondent

CHAPEL HILL—Chapel Hill Town Council is reviewing a concept plan for a 360-unit  neighborhood to be added to the Parkline East Village community off Old Durham Highway near Interstate 40. 

The plan for the complex, along North White Oak Drive, came from ZOM Living, a Florida-based residential developer. John and Anne McKee own the land. The neighborhood would be constructed on nearly 12 acres of land in four parcels in the Durham County part of Chapel Hill. Three parcels border the eastern side of North White Oak Drive, while one parcel is farther west along North White Oak Drive. 

According to ZOM’s application submitted to town staff, the project calls for between nine and 12 apartment buildings. Town planners have recommended four-story buildings, while the developer has asked for four- to six-story buildings. It will include both apartments and townhouses.

The apartment complex will include market-rate rental apartments, with at least 10 percent of the units set aside for residents at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) for Chapel Hill. 

The current site is mainly forested and has no flood hazard zones. ZOM said it intends to maintain at least 30 percent of the existing tree canopy on the site, which it said should provide plenty of natural shade and privacy throughout the neighborhood.

ZOM indicated to town staff that it plans not to disturb an existing stream and its buffer except to provide any required road or utility improvements. Down the road, pedestrian greenway crossings may be needed. The developer will create surface parking on the site for residents.They plan to create access points intended to minimize disturbances to the stream, buffers, and natural areas surrounding it. 

According to a presentation made by town staff to the council on June 12, a multi-use trail is planned adjacent to the apartment complex along North White Oak Drive. This trail will also be a part of the Meridian Lakeview development, which the council approved last year. 

The fate of the Ruth-Sizemore Store, an old gas station, pool hall, and social gathering place dating back to the 1920s, remains to be decided. 

According to town presentation materials provided at the June 12 meeting, back in 2015, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) determined that the Ruth-Sizemore Store structure is eligible for National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) designation.” 

“In 2022, staff conducted a site inspection of the structure. Staff are ready to aid any future developer to appropriately manage this historic resource,” read the town presentation. It is unclear if the town plans to leave the structure in the presentation.

The concept plan for the proposed multi-family community calls for a minimum of three buildings, all at least four stories, with one of the buildings sitting to the immediate north of the East Lakeview apartments on Old Chapel Hill Road, and the other two buildings to the east of White Oak Drive, with surface parking around the buildings, but kept sufficiently away from the buffer and stream that hugs the middle of the 11-plus acre property. One of the two buildings would be directly across the street from the Meridian Lakeview Gateway community.

Adam Powell is a reporter on local news and sports and an education communications professional. A 2001 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Powell has served as managing editor of multiple local publications, including the Mebane Enterprise, News of Orange County and TarHeelIllustrated.com. The public information officer for Rockingham County Schools in Eden, N.C., Powell is the author of four books and lives in Mebane with his wife and two children. This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocal Reporter.press