James Merritt

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1.) Will you make economic development, job growth and employer retention top priorities for you during your term in office?

DeHart

Rich

Y

2.) Is increasing the commercial tax base in Chapel Hill a top priority for you?

DeHart

Rich

Y

3.) Do you support current staff-led, Council-supported efforts to improve the predictability of the development process and shorten the time to get to project approval/denial?

DeHart

Rich

Y

4.) Will you actively support creating, by ordinance, a set of criteria for desirable development projects and then expediting the approval process for projects that meet the Council’s established objectives?

DeHart

Rich

Y

5.) Will you vote to set a final and firm lease expiration date or a deadline for the IFC Homeless Shelter to vacate the old municipal building downtown and move to its new location on Homestead Road?

DeHart

Rich

Y

6.) Do you support land use regulations and regulatory practices that promote the construction of office, retail and workforce housing along transportation corridors?

DeHart

Rich

Y

7.) Will you play an active role in advocating for the extension of water and sewer to the long-identified Orange County Economic Development Districts so that they can be developed?

DeHart

Rich

N

8.) Will you vote to continue or increase the Town’s financial support of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership?

DeHart

Rich

Y

9.) Do you believe that downtown parking policy and management decisions should be made to facilitate economic development and downtown business success rather than as a means of generating general fund revenue for the Town?

DeHart

Rich

Y

10.) Will you vote to fund the Town’s Economic Development Office at an amount equal to or in excess of the Chapel Hill Public Art Commission Budget?

DeHart

Rich

Y

11.) Do you support modifying the Town’s panhandling ordinance to be more restrictive of the locations where people may panhandle in the downtown?

DeHart

Rich

Y

12.) List up to three specific things you would do to make Chapel Hill a better place to start and grow a business.

DeHart

Rich

Currently, Chapel Hill Parking services nets around $140,000 a year after expenses. In this year’s budget, those funds went to the Town’s General Fund. Would you support dedicating those funds for the benefit of downtown including economic development? If yes, please suggest how this money might be used for downtown. If no, please explain why you don’t support this idea.

The current operating cost of the Chapel Hill Public Library is around $2.5M a year. If the library expansion is completed, annual costs including debt service will rise to around $4M a year. Forty percent of library users are not Chapel Hill tax payers. Orange County is contributing $250K a year to library operations. What will your approach be to library service and how to fund it over the next several years?

The current affordable housing system is creating many new units of permanently affordable housing, but most new units are not appropriate for families. Moreover, the long term costs of maintaining these units will be substantial and currently they are not fully budgeted for. Would you promote modifying our current program, and specifically, do you believe that the Council ought to be more creative in its payment in lieu policy or in allowing affordable housing to be located in off-site neighborhoods rather than all at the site of a new development?

How would you address concerns that our community lacks opportunities and facilities for young people to safely socialize in a supervised environment after dark, and would you be willing to lead an inter-governmental task force to address this issue during your time on the Council?

In the Chamber of Commerce written survey, all of you indicated that economic development was a high priority. What, specifically, will you do to recruit and retain employers and where, specifically, would you like to see additional commercial development or redevelopment?

In the last 18 months there have been a surprising number of violent and property crimes throughout the community. Do you think that we have a problem and if so what you will do to increase safety and the perception of safety?

How as a Council member will you balance or integrate the need for successful economic development downtown with the fragility of the surrounding neighborhoods?