The Town of Chapel Hill is beginning early stages to drain and remove both the pond and dam at its property off Legion Road, setting the stage for construction to start on an affordable housing community and new park in the coming years.
The local government issued an update in its weekly newsletter on March 20 following a staff memo being shared with the Chapel Hill Town Council about a timeline for the project. The town is set to begin permitting approvals for the dam breach and removal of the pond toward the center of the 36 acres — a necessary step after the dam was deemed a high hazard over its structural integrity. Chapel Hill staff said following those permits, bidding for contractors to conduct the breach and remove both the dam and pond will take place over the summer. Full removal is expected to be finished in late 2025, which would allow the town to meet construction-related requirements ahead of the 2026 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) application deadline.
The memo said once cleared, the pond and dam area of the property will be temporarily used for construction equipment staging and sediment containment as contractors begin to construct the 168-unit affordable housing community. Staff weighed several options — including building a wetland for stormwater containment before building the housing — but are moving ahead with that staging to reduce the overall cost of the wetland and decrease further risks to downstream properties in addition to helping serve its LIHTC application.
Additional work on the 1714 Legion Road Property in 2025 includes an endangered species assessment, which will influence the approach to the pond removal and preparation for a future wetland, and engaging Chapel Hill community members on their preferences for the future park. The affordable housing component of the project will front Legion Road and use a maximum of nine acres, while 28 acres of land will be dedicated for park use and connect to the back of the 12-acre Ephesus Park.
This aerial rendering shows the general layout of Chapel Hill’s future affordable housing and park at the 1714 Legion Road property. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.)
The March update said, assuming the town earns financial assistance through the LIHTC program, construction on the affordable housing community will tentatively begin in late 2027 or early 2028 and aim to be completed by 2029. Once construction on the buildings is finished, the town and contractors will then construct the wetland area.
The plan is the vision of several years of coordination and consideration by the town government, which featured years of engagement with residents and research by staff. It culminated in a Chapel Hill Town Council vote in Dec. 2022 to include both town-owned affordable housing and a park at the site compared to dedicating the entire 36 acres as park land. The town bought the land from the Chapel Hill American Legion Post No. 6 in 2016, with the intention of determining how to best utilized one of the last undeveloped tracts of land in the area east of Franklin Street and Fordham Boulevard’s intersection.
During her “Conversations with the Mayors” segment on 97.9 The Hill, Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson said she and town staff recognize the change will be difficult for some community members who are attached to the pond on the property. But she added the safety assessment of experts indicate it presents a significant hazard if the dam were to fail.
“The pond has been deemed a risk and we want to make sure that, any time we can, we’re limiting impacts to nearby residents,” Anderson said. “There was no way to remediate the pond, so it was something we’ve known would be coming for a long time. I know it doesn’t make it any easier for the people who have enjoyed the pond over the years. But I’m really hoping that the plans for the wetlands will have a lot of exciting benefits [and] give us something to look forward to as well.
“I think, overall, once when we get to the end of things, it’s going to be a really great place,” the mayor added about the site.
Leading up to the start of construction, people will still be able to access the town-owned site. Chapel Hill said the current driveway on the property, which leads to the StudioA Dance Arts school, will be accessible until at least late 2026. While the American Legion building is also accessible by the road, the facility is closed entirely to the public and will eventually be demolished in favor of the park site.
Community members with thoughts or questions on the project are encouraged to use the town’s engagement website, which added a page for the Legion Road property ahead of its newsletter alert. The full town staff memo to the Chapel Hill mayor and town council can be read here.
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Chapel Hill Shares Latest Pond Removal, Construction Timeline for Legion Road Housing and Park Project Chapelboro.com.
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