business: Triangulator, Indy Week

Carrboro Family Dollar hits another snag

Billy Ball — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:46:08 -0400

Carrboro planners may have rebuffed a Family Dollar developer's designs for settling in an Alabama Avenue historic neighborhood, but local opponents of the discount store aren't breaking out the party hats and streamers just yet.

"We've been having these small victories," said community resident Anissa McLendon.…

Study shows growth in NC nonprofit arts & culture

Byron Woods — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:04:00 -0400

North Carolina’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $1.24 billion in direct economic activity, and the Triangle region led the state, accounting for just under a third of the total amount in 2010. Moreover, in a time when economic growth has been scarce, jobs in the state’s creative industry have grown by more than 3.5 percent since 2006.…

Durham's first Super PAC has ties to Southern Durham Development

Lisa Sorg — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:02:00 -0400

If you’re a Durham County resident, you may have received campaign mailers supporting the slate of Michael Page, Brenda Howerton, Joe Bowser and Rickey Padgett for county commissioner. Here's the mailer:

mailer_no_address.pdf

That mailer was paid for by the innocuously named Durham Partnership for Progress.…

Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA ends formal discussions with YMCA of the Triangle

Joe Schwartz — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:56:00 -0400

Young man (and other concerned parties), there's no need to feel down. The Chapel Hill Carrboro YMCA announced Friday that it ended its pursuit of a formal relationship with the YMCA of the Triangle.…

In "Carrboro Commune" CVS takeover, no arrests, no SWAT team, plenty of controversy

Joe Schwartz — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:39:00 -0500

A group of 20 anti-capitalist protesters occupied CVS-owned in property in downtown Carrboro for three hours Saturday night before walking out at the strong encouragement of town police and Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, who each told them they would be charged with breaking and entering if they did not leave.

The demonstration concerned a forthcoming rezoning application from CVS to build a two-story, 24,000 square foot building at 201 N. Greensboro St., to house a 24-hour drug store and office space.…

Breaking: Anti-capitalist occupiers say they've taken new Carrboro CVS

Joe Schwartz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:24:13 -0500

Press release below. More to come, I'm sure.…

N.C. DOT holds public hearing Tuesday on new billboard law

Samiha Khanna — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:23:00 -0500

The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 13, regarding a new state law that allows billboard companies and other outdoor advertisers to clear more trees around their signs.

The law has already been passed.…

Rowand art gallery vandalized; personal art collection to be auctioned

Lisa Sorg — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:24:00 -0500

Update: The Joe Rowand Art Gallery was vandalized Saturday, Nov. 26, according to a Chapel Hill police report. Two large flower pots were broken, the business' banner sign was torn and the building was spray painted.…

Group calls for end to Carrboro's anti-lingering ordinance

Joe Schwartz — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:27:00 -0400

Three dozen Carrboro community members, including social justice activists, day laborers and elected officials, assembled in solidarity at the corner of Davie and Jones Ferry roads Tuesday morning and called for an end to the town’s anti-lingering ordinance.

The controversial local law, which passed in 2007, forbids anyone from standing, sitting, reclining, lingering or otherwise remaining on that corner after 11 a.m.…

Chapel Hill food truckin’, What a long strange trip it’s been

Joe Schwartz — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:52:48 -0400

Chapel Hill inched closer to allowing food trucks within town limits Monday night at a Town Council public hearing.

Council members received a proposed ordinance, already approved unanimously by the town Planning Board, which would:
-allow food trucks to be located downtown in private lots, at least 100 feet away from a restaurant entrance, as long as the trucks and the lot owner each have a permit;
-allow one food truck per 30 parking spaces in other commercial districts, with permits;
-require food truck vendors to comply with local, county and state tax regulations and to display health permits at all times;
-require food truck vendors to dispose of all trash and grease, and forbid them to offer seating;
-restrict food truck signs to those permanently attached to the vehicles and a portable menu sign smaller than 6 square feet.…

Commissioners to consider 751 South sewer service request at Sept. 26 meeting

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:04:00 -0400

County commissioners have asked for more information by their Sept. 26 meeting so they may decide whether to commit sewage treatment services to the proposed 751 South development, a large project planned for almost 170 acres near Jordan Lake.

An engineer for Southern Durham Development has asked commissioners to allow the development to connect to county pipelines and send up to 600,000 gallons per day of wastewater to the Triangle Wastewater Treatment Plant on N.C. 55.…

A year on, Chapel Hill still doing prep work on food trucks decision

Joe Schwartz — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:47:00 -0400

If Chapel Hill were a restaurant, it would be dawdling in the kitchen while diners impatiently waited for their meals.

After 11 months of deliberation, town officials still may not decide on legalization of food trucks until an Oct. 17 public hearing, at the earliest.…

Challengers join the fray in Orange County elections

Joe Schwartz — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:46:32 -0400

The candidate-filing period opened with a flourish Friday in Orange County as mayors from Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough all signed up to defend their seats and challengers emerged in the Chapel Hill Town Council and Board of Alderman races.

In Chapel Hill, Lee Storrow and August Cho filed as expected, and Laney Dale, a tech entrepreneur who moved to town four years ago, joined the race for the four open positions on the nine- member, including the mayor, council.…

Greenbridge set for June 27 auction

Rebecca Collins — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:26:00 -0400

The “best life in town,” as the commercials promised, is being sold to the highest bidder on June 27, when Bank of America plans to foreclose on Greenbridge—the 10-story, 217,000 square foot residential and retail development on West Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill.

The property will be put up for public auction at the Orange County Courthouse at 10 a.m. that day, following months of financial troubles for the developers.…

Together N.C. holds send-off party for North Carolina's progress

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:29:00 -0400

Cloaked in Hawaiian T-shirts with tongues planted firmly in cheeks, leis around necks, cone-shaped party hats on scalps and noisemakers in mouths, members of the progressive Together N.C. coalition threw a send-off party to North Carolina on Wednesday morning on the Halifax Mall, bidding adieu to the state’s ability to thrive, they said.

Standing around a table with a banner reading “Farewell to NC’s Progress,” members of the coalition decried the decrease in public education funding, the jobs cut, which the N.C. Budget and Tax Center has estimated at 30,000, slashes made in health care, early childhood education and public safety and the "shameful" midnight manner in which the House voted to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto.…

When it rains, it pours: more leaks for Greenfire?

Samiha Khanna — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:23:20 -0400

Three weeks after the collapse of the roof at Liberty Warehouse on Rigsbee Avenue, two more properties controlled by Durham-based Greenfire Development could be under scrutiny for leaky roofs.

The city's building inspectors received a report Thursday about water leaks at two warehouses on Foster Street, said Rick Hester, assistant director of Durham Neighborhood Improvement Services.…

Telecommunications giants 1. People 0. Perdue lets HB129 become law

Joe Schwartz — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:21:00 -0400

Governor Bev Perdue will let House Bill 129, the anti-municipal broadband bill become law today, opting to neither sign nor veto the legislation before the midnight deadline.

She issued a statement (full text below) saying she both wants every North Carolinian to have Internet access and seeks rules to prevent cities from having “an unfair advantage over providers in the private sector.”

Her decision is a crushing blow for Internet access advocates, who have fought bills for four years arguing that broadband must be viewed as a valuable public utility that the government should provide as it does for water, sewer and mail.

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Revised Senate bill nixes digital billboards but would expand tree cutting

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:22:29 -0400

This blog entry has been edited and updated from its original version to include additional content.

A Senate bill expanding the law on outdoor billboards cleared a Senate committee Wednesday, but only after the bill was stripped of language that would have allowed billboard companies to replace traditional signs with electronic or digital ones.

Had the language remained and passed this legislative session, it would have superseded any local policies against digital billboards, including any opposition from Durham city leaders, who voted unanimously last summer not to permit such signs.…

State investigating dry cleaning chemical contamination near Weaver Street business

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:23:32 -0400

UPDATE, 4/7/11: Carrboro town officials released another statement Thursday afternoon to note that N.C. DENR will soon announce a public information session on the contamination issues. N.C. DENR will also contact property owners, businesses and residents of potentially affected properties to coordinate additional environmental testing and mitigation measures at no cost.…

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Tar Heel state passed over as Kansas City wins Google fiber project

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:57:00 -0400

Google announced today it selected Kansas City, Kan., for a free fiber-optic network that promises Internet speeds 100 times faster than those currently available to most homes and businesses in the U.S. It's a project worth millions. The news likely dashed the hopes of the more than 600 communities across the country that asked to be considered for the project, including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro.…
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Senate bill to allow digital billboards remains in committee after Wednesday talks

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:34:40 -0400

Several state senators expressed concern Wednesday over a bill that would allow digital billboards across the state’s interstates and highways, regardless of local rules that might prohibit them. The bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown of Jacksonville, said he just wanted feedback Wednesday, and no vote was taken.…
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Chatham residents, Wake mayors, business leaders debate pipeline

Joe Schwartz — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:54:37 -0500

(This story was updated Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.)

MONCURE—More than two dozen people spoke before the Chatham Board of County Commissioners Monday night at a public hearing a plan to run an 8.1-mile underground pipeline from Western Wake County through Southeastern Chatham County.

Western Wake Partners—the towns of Apex, Cary, Morrisville and Research Triangle Park-South—are constructing a $327 million wastewater treatment plant in unincorporated New Hill, but they need to build the pipeline to funnel treated wastewater to the Cape Fear River.…
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N.C. House passes bill to block portions of federal health care reform

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:17:50 -0500

RALEIGH/LEGISLATIVE BUILDING—The N.C. House voted 66-50 in favor of House Bill 2 on Wednesday, supporting legislation that would exempt the state's citizens from the federal health insurance mandate and force Attorney General Roy Cooper to join legislation that challenges the law.

The vote broke down party lines after a fierce three-hour debate that focused on the constitutionality of the federal law and the rights of citizens to spend their dollars as they chose compared to the need for universal health coverage that doesn’t add to the deficit.…
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Tea Party warns N.C. Republicans: "You're on probation"

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:54:35 -0500

RALEIGH—In case the Republicans who took officially took control of the N.C. General Assembly on Tuesday thought they had arrived, Raleigh resident Frank Ragsdale reminded them, “We are watching you. You are on probation.”

That was the message he orated to three dozen Tea Party supporters who rallied in the rain Tuesday on the Halifax Mall, a few hundred yards away from the N.C. Legislative Building on the opening day of the session.…
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Hundreds dress in red to oppose Crabtree Quarry expansion

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:02:00 -0500

RALEIGH—Passionate neighbors dressed in red and overflowed from the Raleigh City Council chambers Tuesday night to urge the council and planning commission to deny a rezoning request that would allow Hanson Aggregates to expand its Crabtree Quarry operation.

Unfortunately for him, Chris Ward, the vice president and general manager of Hanson Aggregates Southeast, didn’t get the dress-code memo.…
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