The document discusses a small area plan commissioned by the Town Manager for the Ephesus-Fordham district of Chapel Hill. This plan included proposals for new street connections within the Village Plaza commercial center to facilitate higher density redevelopment, including a new "Burger King Connector" road. However, the proposed connector's intersection with Elliott Road raises safety concerns due to limited sight distance and proximity to another intersection. While developers may benefit from a traffic signal at this intersection to access Elliott Road, it could negatively impact traffic flow for others. The document calls on the Town Council and Manager to remove the Burger King Connector from the plan.

1. The Small Area Plan and the Burger King Connector
In the Modern Age, buzz-words have become code to make new agendas seem cool or smart, even
when they're not.
For instance, a few years back, the Chapel Hill Town Manager, through his economic development
officer, initiated the Ephesus-Fordham Small Area Plan, and commissioned engineering consultant
Kimley-Horn to conduct a traffic study, which culminated in a 43 page report in 2011, with possible
street widenings and extensions for re-developing the Ephesus-Fordham District, including
“connectivity” in the Village Plaza commercial center along Elliott Road.
Meanwhile, the Manager commissioned another consultant (this time from Texas) to create parameters
to initiate Form-Based Code development in Chapel Hill as a means to speed up the municipal approval
process, because FBC is based only on the form of new, higher density zoning, with little to no regard
for everything else that is already here (at least outside the historic district).
Then, last year, the Manager hastily pushed Council to adopt this recommended Form-Based Code to
facilitate 7-story, high-density development throughout Ephesus-Fordham, starting with the Village
Plaza Center, and with no adequate consideration for pre-existing, problematic conditions like flooding
and traffic.
The Manager's Office uses hip, cool expressions like “energy efficiency”, “sustainability”,
“environmentally friendly” as well as the aforementioned “connectivity” to promote its Comprehensive
2020 Re-Development program. And although the first 3 of these 4 popular expressions were
completely ignored in council's green lighting the Ephesus-Fordham re-zoning initiative, the manager
has facilitated connectivity in spades, thanks to his interpretation of the Kimley-Horn report.
When readers consider the term connectivity, they no doubt imagine improved openness, inclusion and
accessibility for all: that we will become better connected. They may perceive that our town manager
has improved our community through such connectivity, which will introduce another hip buzzword
into our community lexicon- “vibrancy”!
When you, however, consider what the Manager’s E-F Small Area Plan requires East-West developers-
in their soon to be deployed Village Plaza Apartments- as well as any subsequent Village Plaza
developer who chooses to avail Re-Development around this approved connectivity (multiplied by
increased urban density) you will come to know a different, more exclusive, less public-oriented kind
of connectivity being brought to the traffic patterns along Elliott Road, Franklin Street and Fordham
Boulevard.
The Manager’s Small Area Plan illustrates 3 new dedicated unnamed street segments within the Village
Plaza Re-Development scheme which I will herein take the liberty of calling: “Staples Street”, “Red
Hot and Blue Boulevard” and “The Burger King Connector” (BKC). Please note that Staples Street and
the Burger King Connector appear as 1 through-road in SAP drawings.
These 3 segments converge behind East-West partners’ proposed Village Plaza Apartments Parking
Deck and its 463 automobile-dedicated parking spaces. While Red Hot and Blue Blvd and Staples
Street offer sensible, centrally located vehicular passageways at locations of optimal sight distance, the
Burger King Connector imposes itself onto Elliott Road at a location of questionable sight-distance and
unreasonably close proximity to Fordham Boulevard with the potential

2. The Small Area Plan and the Burger King Connector
1,000+ new daily vehicle trips which will be generated by VPA alone, and many thousands more with a
fully re-developed Village Plaza.
So why would any potential Village Plaza re-developer accept the Town Manager’s connectivity
requirements to place its traffic in such a problematic, unacceptable and potentially dangerous location?
Could it be that developers can easily reason that BKC will be so onerous to the existing stop sign
controlled curb connection that the Town Engineer will need to install a new traffic signal to manage
the significant influx of traffic brought by their projects to this location?
And why would proposed Village Plaza re-developers want a traffic signal at Burger King/Elliott?
Maybe because a BKC/Elliott traffic signal will provide future Village Plaza residents and customers
exclusive access to Elliott at this near proximity to Fordham, even while it imposes a significant
disruption to the rest of Elliott/Fordham traffic?
I petitioned the Town of Chapel Hill to remove the BKC from the responsibility of Village Plaza re-
developer(s). Then, on January 14th, a Town engineer responded stating that adequate sight distance
exists at the proposed BKC/Elliott intersection, if considered at the posted speed limit of 25 mph (it is
more likely many vehicles travel at speeds of 35 mph+), and that the Town might consider installing a
median in Elliott Road to prevent left turns onto it from the proposed BKC, which, ironically will also
prevent left turns into Village Plaza at this location- a real blow to the Manager’s stated SAP
connectivity goals. The Engineer’s letter also states there is but 348 ft. to the Elliott/Fordham vehicle
stop bar from the BKC/Elliott intersection and that 500 feet is the minimum allowable distance
between traffic signals (greater distances are desirable), but that the Town had the “flexibility” to
consider a traffic signal when safety becomes an issue.
Safety is an issue, but so is access to travelways. Exclusive access to Elliott Road is the only reason to
introduce a signalized Burger King Connector, and the proposed Village Plaza re-developments are its
only logical beneficiary(s), while this poorly-conceived potential signal/intersection will become a huge
negative impediment to all others using these existing neighborhood streets.
Tell the Town Council and Manager Roger Stancil (919) 968-2743 to remove the Burger King
Connector from the Small Area Plan and re-development in the Ephesus-Fordham district. And as
responsible citizens, we must give lucid discussion to what “connectivity” really means.