I petitioned the Town Council recently to enact a moratorium on development along N.C. 54. N.C. 54 was identified in 1995 as an essential entranceway into Chapel Hill, one whose character would create the first impression of our town for visitors and residents alike, and that it should be protected from excessive growth.

The petition that was submitted is important on many levels and I believe is worth taking some time for the Town Council and all of us to consider.

At the street level, it's all about traffic -- both auto and pedestrian. As it is now, nearly a mile or more of automobiles stack-up on N.C. 54 at peak hours as some people are driving to the university, the hospital and downtown businesses while others drive to Research Triangle Park and Raleigh. I know all about it --- until recently I was a daily commuter for two years.

N.C. 54 is one of the most congested roads in the state, yet there is no ready solution to the problem. So even modest traffic increases will only make the situation worse. And any project that creates more than 5,000 trips per day should not even be considered for this fragile entranceway.

Crossing N.C. 54 as a pedestrian is a challenge at any intersection and not even an option at Meadowmont. Yet you can see attempts being made all the time, and someday soon someone will be hit and killed. New thinking about pedestrian connectivity between shops and homes is needed, and all town roads need to be crossable at a walking pace. Too often, pedestrian safety is sacrificed in favor of the swift movement of vehicles. This approach needs to change, and the Active Living by Design organization recently made such a presentation to elected officials.

At another level resides the character of Chapel Hill. Some critics have said we are no longer a village and we need to accept a transformation into a city. I don't agree with this perspective. Learned men and women have worked for decades to develop a university community with a set of values that has sculpted the environment around us, and we need to honor the vision that has made Chapel Hill a desirable place to live. This means the look and feel of our neighborhoods, the scale of the buildings we live and work in, and the spaces we create for contemplation and recreation.

Re-development is the manner in which the town will change. The response can no longer be one of Not In My Back Yard, but What's In My Back Yard. Where NIMBYs were viewed negatively, WIMBYs will be seen as essential watchdogs of the town's character, people whose voices should be heeded. It's an important role for citizens to help our elected officials decide how we want our village to change.

Re-development is nearly always an attempt to make land more profitable by those who own the land. Land rights are important, but Europeans long ago decided that landowner rights are of less concern when measured against the greater good. Proposed re-development requires a reasonable balance between landowner rights and what's good of us all. That balance is missing in the Woodmont proposal and Glen Lennox concept plan, each of which are of such enormous scale that they pose a real danger to the character and safety of Chapel Hill.

A moratorium on development along the N.C. 54 corridor can help citizens take a step toward developing a stronger sense of that balance than we currently have.