Town, ASU work

on master plans
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

What’s better than a master plan?

Two master plans, according to local officials.

As timing would have it, both the town of Boone and Appalachian State University are developing respective master plans for future growth.

The Boone Town Council and university administration have acknowledged the opportunity for cooperation and joint planning and, as such, met to discuss the process on Wednesday, March 12.

“We obviously have issues of common concern, and how can we make this process end up reflecting community values everyone can embrace?” council member Lynne Mason asked.

Jim Deal, chairman of the ASU Board of Trustees, agreed with Mason and said such discussions were long overdue. “...The two plans are going to be developed almost at the same time,” he said. “We’re into the nuts and bolts of how we can do joint planning at appropriate intervals and make sure the needs of various constituencies are still being met.”

The question remained, though, in how would both parties accomplish this feat. Deal warned that such efforts could be “planned to death” if those involved were not careful, “and none of us want to do that.”

David Owens, professor of public law and government at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, was invited to the meeting to offer some words and direction.

Owens first introduced himself, saying that as an attorney, he’s worked in land-use law and has served the university for about 20 years. His work at UNC includes training, education, research writing on planning and development, though Owens said he mostly advises local governments with zoning, development regulations and “planning in fair, equitable and legally defensible fashion.”

Owens noted he’s been involved with campus planning and town-gown relations.

“One of the things we have all learned in that process at Chapel Hill... is that there are mutual interests, but different interests, and it’s important for both groups of folks to understand that fully,” he said. “Folks say that, but then they sort of immediately go to the sort of ‘I assume that folks have common interest with me and our missions are the same,’ and they really aren’t quite.”

While such intentions often lap due to common concern and interest, Owens said there are different missions and responsibilities.

“It’s important for the university to recognize there are legitimate concerns the town has in managing growth and development and dealing with the impacts outside the university,” he said.

“And how the university grows and develops and takes care of its responsibility has incredible impacts on the town and the county. It’s important the town realizes the university has a statewide mission, and some of those responsibilities extend beyond the town’s interests and concerns.”

Owens said there should be open communication to make each party aware of the other’s interests. One mistake in Chapel Hill was assuming knowledge of interests between the town and university, due to their close proximity.

“Often, those assumptions are mistaken or incomplete ... and that happens on both sides of the equation,” he said.

Owens said UNC has funded a position that handles the relationship between the university and town, making sure that communication remains constant. Mistakes due to miscommunication or a lack of communication are not soon forgotten, Owens advised. “Anything you can do upfront to avoid those miscommunications and missteps and mistakes pays dividends for a long, long time,” he said.

Town and gown relationships, he explained, are like family relationships.

“You don’t get to choose the members of your family, but you are there, and you are all part of the same family,” Owens said. “Accepting that and figuring out a way to make it work is absolutely critical.”

A useful way to assess the situation is that both parties learn each other’s issues and interests. Once they are identified, Owens said both must communicate the issues among each other.

Issues could include population growth, infrastructure and transportation, as well as the viability of the downtown business district. If this is the case, Owens recommended getting other parties involved, like the chamber of commerce or downtown development association.

“From what I understand ... not surprisingly, you have ... a policy perspective on behalf of the town council and of the university that’s fairly compatible,” Owens said.

Deal agreed, saying the town and university agree about 95 percent of the time:“And we do agree that we need to try to figure out how to work together.”

In the last six months, Deal said, the university has seen a marked improvement in the town-gown relationship, as well as a “dramatic growth in the trust factor.”

One of the long-range issues, he speculated, is where will the university be 30 or 40 years down the road, when, perhaps, a satellite campus could be built 5 miles out of town.

Council member Stephen Phillips suggested establishing areas appropriate for university growth and those inappropriate for such expansion. The zoning process would be simplified for university development in designated areas, he said.

Owens said that is possible, in that the university would have to assess the capacity of the central campus to handle additional growth and development and what can be redeveloped to provide for space.

At Chapel Hill, Owens said all the building sites that could withstand additional construction were identified, and the appropriate density was determined to scale.

“We looked at design, bulk, what sort of setbacks will fit in with neighborly practices, without thinking necessarily about the functions ... just thinking about building capacity on campus and identifying it, so we knew where there was additional capacity,” he said.

From there, a policy basis is set, so projects could be fast-tracked in turn. And if necessary deviations happen along the way, they are dealt with on a case by case basis, he said.

“You’re not going to make everyone happy all the time,” Owens said. “But if a consensus of folks are in agreement most of the time, you’ve accomplished a great deal.”

As for the next step, Owens suggested that town and gown take advantage of the fact that both are undertaking plan and regulatory updates and use the opportunity to run those processes in parallel fashion with full communication between both parties, while sharing technical information and data.

He suggested both consider ways to establish regular policy-level communication, “so that you don’t wait for a crisis ... it’s just going to be a matter of routine.”

“But try to keep in mind that the communication and coordination and maintenance of trust where you have it and restoring it where it might be frayed takes work, effort and commitment in and of itself,” Owens said.

“It won’t happen by itself, and sometimes inadvertent ‘oops’ kinds of things can fray even the best of intentions. Anticipate those will happen and try to minimize the problems when they do.”