If elected, I will:
 

• Promote diverse housing, based on evidence, not ideology and restore single family zoning. Chapel Hill needs a diverse housing stock at a range of prices so that more of the people who work here can live here. Policies to achieve that goal should be based on evidence of what works, not on ideology. For example, the Town government recently changed residential zoning throughout Chapel Hill to allow duplex housing in neighborhoods that previously allowed only one house per lot. While proponents of this change argued it will make housing more affordable, the experience of Chapel Hill and other communities suggest quite the opposite, namely that moderately-priced housing for families will be replaced by expensive student rentals. Moreover, the impact of this change will be borne disproportionately by the residents of Chapel Hill's older, less-affluent neighborhoods. 
   

• Invest in parks and recreation. Provide adequate parkland and green space to those areas that lack it (e.g. northeast Chapel Hill) and maintain and expand public recreation facilities. For example, our public tennis courts are in poor condition, we need more pickleball courts to meet the demand of the growing sport, we've needed a new skate park for over a decade, and we need to expand the town's network of trails and greenways. Let's prioritize these community spaces for our residents. 
   

• Provide safe and healthy housing for all, regardless of income. We should not build affordable housing near highways where residents will be subject to noise and air pollution, in flood plains, under power lines, on coal ash, or in other unhealthy setting. Affordable housing should be built in places where we would consider building market rate housing.
   

• Work with UNC to address our housing challenges. UNC should provide more student housing to reduce competition for moderately-priced units close to campus. In addition, as the Town's largest employer and largest landowner, UNC should help provide housing for its employees, instead of leaving the Town to bear all the burden.
   

• Protect our trees. Trees are a precious resource that cleans the air, reduces temperatures, and lowers pollution. Recently, we have seen the loss of large sections of the town's tree canopy due to the clear-cutting of sites for development. Let's strengthen our tree protection ordinance and work with developers to conserve the canopy so that the Chapel Hill we pass on to our children is as green as the one we inherited.
   

• Welcome citizen participation in development review processes. Chapel Hill used to welcome and encourage citizen participation in the review of development proposals. Not anymore. To expedite development, the Town first eliminated almost all forms of public review for projects in the Blue Hill district. More recently, the Town government eliminated several citizen advisory boards form the review process. Curtailing public review deprives residents from having a say in decisions that affect them and deprives the Town decision-makers of the expertise that local citizens bring to the review process. 
   

• Support local businesses. Growth of our commercial tax base should not come at the expense of valued local businesses, such as the Purple Bowl on Franklin Street. Let's nurture economic development in ways that retain the charm of our downtown district and support the local businesses that give Chapel Hill its distinctive character.