The UNC Board of Trustees approved the development agreement for Carolina North at its meeting Thursday morning.

The university’s satellite campus will be located two miles north of downtown. The campus will cover 250 acres of the Horace Williams tract and will be built in phases over the next 50 years. It's expected to bring in thousands of jobs for the state and will focus on research and innovative technologies.

The development agreement was created between the town and UNC and hashes out details of how to proceed with the development and growth of Caroilna North. Citizens had expressed some concerns early on about the amount of traffic and parking problems it could bring with it. In the agreement, UNC said it will make sure the proper infrastructure in place before people start moving into the buildings. In addition, the university said it will focus on making the campus bicycle and pedestrian friendly in part by developing a trail that will lead from Carolina North to the main campus.

"We're committed to making Carolina North as independent of single person automobile traffic as possible," said Roger Perry, UNC Board of Trustees Chair. "The fact of the matter is that (driving) is still the main way people in this area get around, so we've got to figure out a nice balance to make sure that over time, as transit options become available, we hopefully can get folks to shift from driving their cars so much." 

Perry said getting to this point has been a long process but that it was productive for both the university and the town. He said he believes that years from now Carolina North will have transformed the state's economy.

"It gives us the space and area to continue to grow the mission of research and discovery and teaching that's been the hallmark of this university for 216 years," Perry said.

He said he's looking forward to moving on to the next step in the process.

"Get through this tough economic times and get the resources necessary to begin the Innovation Center and the Law School and actively begin development at Carolina North which will hopefully come in a reasonable amount of time," he said.