What Kind Of Downtown Does Carrboro Want — And Need?

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

Can downtown Carrboro be a dynamic, fun, desirable place to live and do business without gentrification squeezing long-time residents out?

That’s the hope behind the town’s downtown area master plan, which maps out the character and ideal development of different downtown areas. If you have opinions on the subject, the town is holding several meetings this month for residents to give feedback before the town council puts the plan to a vote.

Work on the plan began a year ago, based on the goals in the town’s 2022 comprehensive plan. Carrboro budgeted $200,000 to work on the plan over the past year and began soliciting public opinion from the get-go. The suggestions received last year included enforcing speeding rules, not allowing bicycles to use bike lanes in the wrong direction, adding shade trees and closing Weaver Street to cars. The draft plan is now available online.

The plan covers the commercial section of downtown, surrounding residential areas and the Jones Ferry Road corridor. As this part of Carrboro isn’t a homogenous block, the plan breaks it down into four sectors, each with a different look and feel and with different roles in the plan.

Downtown core

The core area includes downtown’s primary commercial areas, mostly along Jones Ferry Road, Main Street, Weaver Street and Greensboro Street. The goal for the area is to enhance the commercial sector. Future development should be two to five-story buildings with a mix of affordable housing, retail, office space, restaurants and bars, entertainment and night life. Carrboro should make special consideration for businesses that meet the daily shopping needs of local residents. Development should be bicycle and pedestrian friendly with parks, open spaces and plazas.

Core extension

The Core Extension area includes the Jones Ferry Road corridor and the active railroad corridor just outside the core. The plan says future development should expand the downtown and would have similar allowed uses, but the extension should also allow a gradual transition to the uses of the other areas. Buildings above five stories might be appropriate in some locations.

Surrounding neighborhoods

The downtown core’s adjacent neighborhoods are predominantly residential, with a mix of predominantly one or two story buildings including single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes and apartments. These areas largely exclude nonresidential uses. They’re popular because they’re bikeable, walkable and close to the downtown. The challenge is to preserve their “quirky downtown neighborhood” character while encouraging new infill development.

The plan envisions continued medium-density residential development, possibly with home businesses and “neighborhood scale commercial businesses.” Parking maximums have been in place for these areas since 2023. New development should fit the existing neighborhood character.

Lloyd-Broad Neighborhood

The last sector in the plan, the Lloyd-Broad Neighborhood, includes the historically Black and African-American neighborhood along Lloyd Street, Broad Street and Starlite Drive. It’s a residential area that includes some long-time businesses and the Piedmont Community Health Center. Growth in this area should maintain its existing character and support the provision of affordable housing.

The plan says Carrboro should consider the effects of downtown growth on the Lloyd-Broad Neighborhood: how traffic circulation changes could worsen congestion at neighborhood exits and how new development will affect affordability and quality of life in Lloyd-Broad.

Thoughts for the future

The draft plan lists several points the town needs to keep in mind:

Lots under 1.5 acres work well for infill residential development. Commercial or mixed-use developments may have to consolidate several lots to be profitable.
Infill and other new development should preserve the character of the surrounding neighborhood.
The Carrboro community wants to see more outdoor public gathering spaces downtown. As Carrboro has little land available for that, the town will have to encourage developers to contribute “quasi-public” spaces.
The town needs incentives to encourage solar panels, rain gardens, pervious pavements, green roofs and other sustainable building practices.
The town needs strategies to ensure that if property owners redevelop, affected residents and business owners have opportunities to stay downtown rather than being gentrified out.
Carrboro should support businesses that residents can use for daily shopping, not just those that draw people to downtown from further away.

Make yourself heard

Carrboro held its first neighborhood meetings on the plan August 1 and 2. If you missed them, there are more coming up. The first is this Saturday, August 9, at the Community School for People Under Six from 12 to 4 p.m. The next is August 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Royal Park Apartments. The final review will be at the Fiestas en las Calles Aug. 24, from 12 to 6 PM. That will be the last community-engagement session before the town council holds a public hearing on adopting the plan.

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocalReporter.press