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Regulatory Issues

Northwest Chapel Hill Development Hearings Scheduled by Town Council
The Chapel Hill Town Council has opened a public hearing, to continue January 14, on a set of development guidelines for northwest Chapel Hill. A second hearing on extending the moratorium past its January 31 expiration could happen at the following Council meeting on Wednesday, January 23. Citizens and Council Members have spoken against the town planning staff's rezoning recommendations for key properties in the area, but neither staff nor the Council could identify a better option for rezoning. For the full story, click here.

Chapel Hill Bans Pine Straw as Landscaping Material
In late October, the Town of Chapel Hill adopted an ordinance banning the use of pine straw or pine needles as landscaping material within 10 feet of any commercial or multi-family building. This ban is in effect for buildings made of combustible material including wood, vinyl, plastic, or other burnable materials. There have been a number of fires caused by discarded cigarettes being tossed into pine straw this year and the fire department has found that pine straw burns at a rate four times faster and three times higher than any other landscaping material. The fire department will not begin strict enforcement of the ban until February 1st, 2008 in order to allow property owners time to change the mulch. For more information, click here.

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Schools

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Request $6.5 Million
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School officials are requesting $6.5 million, a 12-percent increase from current funds, to support continuing operations next year. "[The continuation budget] really is the basic necessities -- there's no expansion component, nothing new, nothing different, nothing better in what's being discussed at this point," schools spokesperson Stephanie Knott said. Anticipated new costs include salary and benefit increases, the opening of the area’s 10th elementary school and increased enrollment at Carrboro High School. The school board plans to submit the continuation budget to the county commissioners by the end of November. For the full story, click here.

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Orange County

Chapel Hill Holiday Parking Expanded
Courtesy of the Town of Chapel Hill, parking will be free in the downtown on Saturday December 22 at all on-street meters and at Parking Lots 2 and 5. In addition, parking coupons for one hour of free parking in the Wallace Parking Deck or Parking Lot 2 will be distributed by downtown merchants. The coupons will be valid through December 30. For more information, please contact the Town of Chapel Hill Parking Services at (919) 968-2758.
Source: Chapel Hill eNews

Council Funds Parking Study
The Chapel Hill Town Council approved a payment of $27,000 to the Downtown Partnership for a parking study to be completed by the end of February. Rich and Associates were hired to undertake the study, a group that has done a number of similar studies throughout the United States. Rich and Associates spent all of Thursday, November 8th studying parking demand and will examine demand on December 17th to see how demand shifts when students are not in town. Chamber staff is participating on the Parking Study Advisory Committee hosted by the Downtown Partnership. For the full story, click here.

Civilian Labor Force Grows
According to the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina, Orange County’s civilian labor force grew fastest in the Triangle compared to numbers from 2006. The following figures are for resident workers in each county.

	September 2006 Number of People Employed	September 2007 Number of People Employed	Increase	Percent
Chatham	31,153	31,921	768	2.47%
Orange	66,085	67,714	1,629	2.47%
Durham	131,175	134,408	3,233	2.46%
Wake	414,607	422,122	7,515	1.81%

Source: Triangle Business Journal

County Steps in to Help Courtyard
Spencer Young, owner of The Courtyard in Chapel Hill and P.H. Craig, owner of the parking lot associated with the Courtyard have not been able to reach a lease agreement over 56 of the 79 parking spaces. Last week, Young and the Orange County Commissioners reached an agreement to allow Young use of the Skills Development Center and Visitor’s Bureau parking lot located across from The Courtyard. The lot will be available to Young for a monthly fee of $125 and will be open to Courtyard patrons on Friday, Saturday and Sundays between 5 pm and midnight for the next six months. For the full story, click here.

‘Anti-lingering’ Rule Passed in Carrboro
The intersection of Jones Ferry and Davie roads is now under an ‘anti-lingering’ ordinance, adopted by the Board of Aldermen in a 4-1 vote. The ordinance would prohibit people to "stand, sit, recline, linger or otherwise remain within the area ... between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 a.m. [the next day]." While the area is primarily used by day laborers, mainly Hispanic men waiting for rides to construction or farm jobs, residents say that non-day laborers cause a disturbance in the area. Former Alderman Mark Dorosin and Alderman John Herrera oppose the ordinance. For the full story, click here.

Transfer Station Search Reopened
The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted in a November meeting to re-launch the search for a new solid waste transfer site. The Commissioners also decided to hire a consultant to identify and evaluate potential sites. The transfer station is currently located near the Rogers/Eubanks neighborhoods and was a heated topic in the recent election. Some members of the community have claimed the site is an injustice and a sign of environmental racism. Going forward, the Commissioners are recommending the transfer site be located in the southern portion of the county since that area generates most of the waste. For the full story, click here.

Chapel Hill Town Council to Vote on Campaign Financing
Chapel Hill may be on its way to creating the state’s first General Assembly-approved municipal public financing program. If passed in time for the 2009 election, supporters say the public financing ordinance and the subsequent campaign spending limits could level the playing field between average candidates and their wealthier counterparts. Details of Chapel Hill's system haven't been worked out yet, but public financing programs typically require candidates to raise private money before receiving public funds. For the full story, click here.

Chapel Hill Town Council, Carrboro Board of Aldermen Sworn In
On December 3rd and 4th, the Chapel Hill Town Council and Carrboro Board of Aldermen were sworn in after the November election. Two newcomers, Matt Czajkowski in Chapel Hill and Lydia Lavelle in Carrboro, took their seats for the first time. In Chapel Hill, Mayor Kevin Foy said one of his priorities in this term is to find a new location for the homeless shelter. Jim Ward was appointed mayor pro tem as was John Herrera in Carrboro. For the full story, click here.

January 1st Targeted Completion Date for 15-501 Work
Although the projected completion date for work on the intersection of Europa Drive and Erwin Road has passed, the project might be completed by January 1, NCDOT Resident Engineer Donnie Huffines said. The project began July 2006 and is roughly 75 percent complete, Huffines said. Once work on the 15-501 "superstreet" is done, drivers will have to make U-turns instead of left turns to reach either Europa Drive or Erwin Road or to cross 15-501 from one to the other. For the full story, click here.

Chapel Hill, Carrboro, OWASA, Orange County launch emergency alert system
The Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority and Orange County Government are implementing an automated telephone alert system called CodeRED. The geographic data-based system uses street addresses to select phone numbers to receive emergency notification calls and enables local governments and OWASA to send pre-recorded emergency messages by telephone to selected areas or to the entire community about emergencies such as water service interruptions, missing children or severe weather conditions. The CodeRED system can send 60,000 thirty-second messages per hour to telephones including answering machines, cell phones, Internet-based phones and TDD/TTY devices for people with impaired hearing.

A test call on the system is planned for Thursday, December 6. A CodeRED message will have caller ID number 999-911-9999. This is not a working number, and you cannot call this number for information. It is for identification purposes only. If you do not receive a test call, you are not in the telephone database and should register. Residents are encouraged to please register their phone number(s) at any one of the following websites or by calling one of the following telephone numbers:
* Town of Chapel Hill website: www.townofchapelhill.org or call (919) 968-2743 * Town of Carrboro website: www.townofcarrboro.org; or call (919) 942-8541 * OWASA website: www.owasa.org or call (919) 968-4421 * Orange County Government website: www.co.orange.nc.us; or call (919)968-2050.

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The Triangle

Chatham Commissioners Take Steps to Mitigate Growth Impacts
After a 0.4 percent land-transfer tax was defeated in November, Chatham County Commissioners voted to increase the county’s school impact fee from $2,900 to $3,500 at a November 19th meeting. The fee will apply to all new single family homes, including mobile homes. The impact fee for multi-family homes will also rise to $1,100. Currently, Chatham’s impact fees are at their maximum though the county commissioned a study to examine significantly increasing impact fees, according to the county’s website.

Commissioners also voted to approve zoning of a 1,500 foot buffer along both sides of several major highways in the county where zoning did not previously exist. The new zoning with be residential agricultural with lots of one acre or more though the county has exempted existing businesses from the zoning, allowing them to expand. The final measure taken by the Commissioners was a new zoning ordinance to regulate outdoor lighting. With the passage of the ordinance, new residential and non-residential development will have to submit a lighting plan as part of the permitting process. Some specific requirements relating to maximum light levels at property lines and proper installation of floodlamps will have an impact on vehicular canopies with lighting (i.e. gas stations). Businesses with these canopies are required to come into compliance within five years if they replace at least 50 percent of their lighting fixtures. For a full press release by Chatham County, click here.

Chatham Retail Leakage Reported
Early results of a study commissioned by Chatham County’s Commissioners reports, among other things, a sizeable retail leakage in the county. The following table details the amount of sales captured in the county and amount leaked outside the county. All figures are in millions.

Chatham 2004-2005	Captured in County	Leaked Outside County	Total Spending	Leakage Rate
Apparel	$2	$27	$29	92%
Automotive	$74	$72	$146	49%
Food	$134	$88	$222	40%
Furniture	$28	$16	$44	36%
General Merchandise	$110	$182	$292	62%
Lumber and building material	$44	$86	$131	66%
Unclassified	$41	$287	$329	87%
Total	$448	$788	$1,236	64%

Source: Presentation by Jason Jolley, Chatham County Economic Development Summit

Pittsboro Renews Ban on Development
The Pittsboro Town Board unanimously voted to renew a ban on nonresidential and subdivision development in a late October meeting. The ban will be effective for two years as the town tries to build a new water treatment plant. Some local developers have offered to help upgrade the current plant and sped the construction process. Pittsboro’s Town Planning Director says the town is taking that offer seriously. For the full story, click here.

Pittsboro Election Results Referred to State
In the Pittsboro Town Board elections, just six votes separated former Board Member Michele Berger from newcomer Hugh Harrington. However, Tim Keim, the boyfriend of Berger filed a protest citing voter intimidation and other irregularities were a factor in Berger’s election loss. After listening to attorneys debate both sides of the case on December 4th, the Chatham County Board of Election decided to refer the decision about possibly holding a second election to the State Board of Elections. The Board will meet on December 19th to make a decision. For the full story, click here.

Market Review Released by Highwoods Properties
Highwoods Properties’ Third Quarter 2007 Market Survey was released in November and fairly little change in the Triangle’s office and flex market. In Chapel Hill, office vacancy rates declined from 6.68 percent to 6.24 percent. In Durham, the Pavilion East Building was completed adding vacant space to the market causing the vacancy rate to rise from 13.92 percent to 15.02 percent. There was a positive absorption of 20,845 square feet for the quarter. Overall, vacancy rates are down over the past three years throughout the Triangle.
Source: Highwoods Properties 3rd Quarter Market Review

Severe Water Conservation Restrictions Hit Durham
Although water consumption already has dipped about 30 percent in Durham, more stringent water restrictions are aiming for an additional 20 percent reduction. Durham leaders, considering the 52 days of water remaining in the city’s main water supply and the threat of a drought lasting well into next year, announced the decision to go to severe mandatory conservation. The winter season is typically the wettest time of year, allowing sapped reservoirs to replenish, however, a drier-than-normal winter is predicted in 2008. For the full story, click here.

Durham Water Bills Likely to Rise
Mandatory water restrictions and the purchase of pumps and pipes to connect to new water sources will cause water bills in Durham to rise. Water use in Durham has decreased since mandatory restrictions were enacted September 21 and City Manager Patrick Baker said that means the water management department will not meet its revenue projections for the year. Leakages resulting from cracked pipes also costs Durham about 3.3 million gallons of water a day. For the full story, click here.

Durham Rezoning Vote Delayed
Crosland Investments’ request for zoning approval was denied during a recent meeting of the Durham County Board of Commissioners. Chairwoman Ellen Reckhow said the developer needs to reach an agreement with the Department of Transportation on streets that need to be improved in a plan for 1,300 homes, 500,000 square feet of offices and 150,000 square feet of shops in southeastern Durham County near Raleigh's Briar Creek area. For the full story, click here.

Raleigh Mayor Announces Fourth-term Priorities
Mayor Charles Meeker said increased impact fees and improved water conservation and bus service are top priorities for his fourth term in office. Meeker said he wants to more than double the impact fees, charges that the city places on developers for new roads and parks, that Raleigh imposes on new housing. Meeker said his proposed increase would raise an additional $8 to $10 million a year. Meeker said the current drought has shown that Raleigh needs to make changes to its water conservation policies. Meeker said his third priority will be to improve bus service in Raleigh, proposing that buses run more frequently within the city and favoring more options for people commuting from Raleigh to Durham, Chapel Hill and other surrounding areas. For the full story, click here.

Raleigh Mayor Considers Tiered Water Rates
The recent drought conditions have inspired Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker to consider enforcing tiered water rates, meaning residents using the most water would gradually pay more for it. Cary and Greensboro already have tiered water rates in place and report a drop in water consumption as a result. Meeker said the varied rate structure would probably only apply to residential neighborhoods. For the full story, click here.

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State

North Carolina Ranked First by Site Selection Magazine
The state of North Carolina was ranked as the state with the “Top Business Climate” for the third consecutive year by the magazine Site Selection. The state’s selection was also the sixth time it was selected in the past seven years. States are ranked based on two equally weighted factors: 1) a survey of corporate site selectors asking them to rank their “top 10” states and 2) the amount of new plant activity in the state. "A significant number of corporate investors in North Carolina cited the state's quality of life, favorable business climate and access to top-notch academic and research facilities in our recent survey of site selectors," said Site Selection Editor-in-Chief Mark Arend. To view the complete rankings, visit www.siteselection.com.
Source: The NC Chamber: Federation Insider

Governor Appeals for Water Conservation
Governor Mike Easley made his second appeal to North Carolinians to “conserve aggressively between now and the new year.” In October, Governor Easley asked residents to cut their water use in half; statistics show usage was cut by about 30 percent. As of Thanksgiving weekend, 56 counties were considered to be in an exceptional drought, the worst drought classification possible, compared to 25 just a week earlier.
For the full story, click here.

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Nation

Energy Prices Projected to Remain Steady
E Source, an independent research contractor hired by energy companies, released its six month outlook on power and gas prices recently. The report shows that natural gas prices this fall will mimic prices seen last fall. E Source projects wholesale natural gas prices will remain between $7 and $8/MMBtu. E Source also reports that storage levels of natural gas are well above the five-year average. Electricity prices are predicated to continue to rise in 2008 and climb further in 2009.
Source: CurrentLines 2007 Fall Outlook