Agenda #3a(2)
memorandum
to: Mayor and Town Council
from: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
subject: Proposed Process for Development of a Small Area Plan for the Rogers Road Neighborhood
date: January 12, 2006
The purpose of this memorandum is to propose a process for development of a Small Area Plan for the Rogers Road neighborhood, including the Greene Tract. Please see Attachment 1 for a map of the area.
The attached resolution would appoint members of the Council to initiate discussion with elected officials from the Town of Carrboro and Orange County regarding a Small Area Plan Process for the Rogers Road neighborhood, including the Greene Tract, and request that the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Orange County Board of Commissioners appoint representatives for this purpose.
At the Council’s Work Session on October 12, 2005, the Council discussed the need for a Rogers Road and Greene Tract Small Area Plan and asked the Manager to prepare a process to develop such a plan for discussion at the January planning session.
The Greene Tract is a 169-acre parcel owned jointly by Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County. An Interlocal Agreement from 1999 (amended in 2000) provides guidelines for division of the property located at the eastern terminus of Purefoy Road, adjacent the railroad.
Regarding the Greene Tract, on November 11, 2002, the Council adopted a resolution endorsing a concept plan for the portion of the Greene Tract in joint ownership with Carrboro and Orange County (please see Attachment 2). This resolution established that 85.9 acres would be set aside for open space protected by conservation easements and 18.1 acres for affordable housing. The resolution also stated that Chapel Hill would conduct a Small Area Plan for the residential area west of the Greene Tract (Rogers Road, Purefoy Road area), including the affordable housing site on the Greene Tract. Specifically the plan is to include a more detailed look at the impacts of providing public services in the area, especially the extension of sewer, and the impacts on the area of developing an affordable housing site.
On June 27, 2005, we provided a report responding to the Council’s request to identify how a Rogers Road Small Area Plan could be accomplished (please see Attachment 3). The report stated that we would begin a Rogers Road Small Area Plan in June 2006, after completion of the four Neighborhood Conservation Districts currently underway.
The Council has asked the staff to begin a Small Area Plan process for this neighborhood this summer, following completion of the four Neighborhood Conservation Districts. As previously reported, typically the Small Area Plan Process would involve an intensive community participation process led by the Town’s Planning Board with neighborhood representation and supported by Town staff, followed by Council review and ultimately, a formal public hearing process. In the past, the Small Area Plan process has taken 18 months to two years to complete.
The Rogers Road neighborhood is partially in the Chapel Hill planning jurisdiction, partially in the Carrboro planning jurisdiction, and partially in the Orange County planning jurisdiction. Because of these jurisdictional overlaps, we believe it will be necessary to approach development of a Small Area Plan through a multi-jurisdictional task force.
To initiate this work, we recommend that the Council request the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Orange County Board of Commissioners to appoint representatives to join Town Council representatives in developing a plan for a joint planning task force.
Alternately, the Council could authorize a separate Small Area Plan process for the residential area of the neighborhood in the Chapel Hill Planning jurisdiction, excluding the Greene Tract. Work would begin this summer as planned, following the completion of four Neighborhood Conservation Districts currently underway.
We have been contacted by Orange County staff members who would like to discuss the Small Area Plan process. The Council has also been contacted by the Town of Carrboro to discuss a request from a resident to transfer some of the property in the Rogers Road area from Chapel Hill to Carrboro’s jurisdiction. This item has been referred to the March 30, 2006 Assembly of Governments meeting.
We have been working with a group of students from the University of North Carolina Department of City and Regional Planning to begin some of the preliminary analysis of the neighborhood. We will provide additional information to the Council when we receive the students’ report.
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that the Council consider appointing members of the Council to initiate discussions with elected officials from Carrboro and Orange County regarding a Small Area Plan Process for the Rogers Road neighborhood, including the Greene Tract and requesting that the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Orange County Board of Commissioners appoint representatives for this purpose.
1. Area Map (p. 5).
2. November 11, 2002 Memorandum to the Mayor and Town Council (p. 6).
3. June 27, 2005 Memorandum to the Mayor and Town Council (p. 15).
