AGENDA# 4d
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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director Loryn Clark, Housing and Neighborhood Services Coordinator |
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SUBJECT: |
Status Report and Recommendation Regarding the Coker Hills Neighborhood Conservation District Process |
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DATE: |
April 11, 2007 |
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the Council with an update on the Coker Hills Neighborhood Conservation District Process.
Adoption of the attached resolution would direct the Town Manager to poll the affected households to determine if there is at least 51% support for a Neighborhood Conservation District in the Coker Hills neighborhood as proposed by the Consensus Committee.
On May 15, 2006, the Council opened a Public Hearing regarding the enactment of a Neighborhood Conservation District overlay zoning district for the Coker Hills neighborhood. On June 12, 2006, the Council passed a resolution to recess the Public Hearing until September 27, 2006. This was done to allow the neighborhood to continue discussions about the possibility of enacting a Neighborhood Conservation District. The Council requested that staff provide a point person for the neighborhood and that the Planning Board be included if the neighborhood took any future action.
On September 27, 2006, the Council received a progress report from the staff reporting that the Coker Hills residents were still in discussions about a Neighborhood Conservation District for their neighborhood (see Attachment 1). The Council passed a resolution to recess the Coker Hills Neighborhood Conservation District Public Hearing until March 5, 2007.
On March 5, 2007 we presented a status report on the activity with the Coker Hills Consensus Committee to the Council. The Council also passed a resolution to recess the Coker Hills Neighborhood Conservation District Public Hearing until April 11, 2007.
Prior to the March 20, 2007 Planning Board meeting, the Coker Hill Consensus Committee decided it needed additional time to complete its recommendations for Neighborhood Conservation District guidelines for the neighborhood. Therefore, on March 20, 2007, the Planning Board decided to postpone its decision on recommendations for a Neighborhood Conservation District for this neighborhood until its April 3, 2007 meeting. In addition, we notified the neighborhood by mail that the public hearing would be rescheduled for April 23, 2007.
At the March 20 and April 3, 2007 Planning Board meetings, the Board heard comments from residents supporting and opposing the process used by the Consensus Committee to develop its recommendations. Some of the Planning Board members also expressed interest in determining the level of support for a neighborhood Conservation District in this neighborhood. Therefore, the Board voted 7-2 to recommend that the Council defer immediate action on the proposed Neighborhood Conservation District for Coker Hills and that a procedure be developed using staff to poll the affected households to determine if there is at least 51% support for a Neighborhood Conservation District as put forth in the proposal by the Coker Hills Neighborhood Conservation District Consensus Committee.
We offer several options for the Council’s consideration:
1. The Council could accept the recommendation from the Planning Board and direct the Town Manager to poll the affected households to determine if there is at least 51% support for a Neighborhood Conservation District as proposed by the Consensus Committee. Once documentation of support was received, we could return to the Planning Board to determine next steps. A public hearing would not be held on April 23, 2007.
2. The Council could ask the neighborhood to return to the Council when it is able to document that there is at least 51% support for a Neighborhood Conservation District proposal. At that time the Council could adopt a process for proceeding that would include scheduling a public hearing. A public hearing would not be held on April 23, 2007.
3. The Council could proceed with a public hearing on April 23, 2007 and request citizen comment on the recommendation presented by the Consensus Committee.
We recommend Option 1. We believe that this option would respond to the concerns raised by the Planning Board about proceeding with a Neighborhood Conservation District for this neighborhood without data to document neighborhood support. It would also allow the neighborhood to the neighborhood the opportunity to discuss this matter further amongst themselves.
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution to direct the Town Manager to poll the affected households to determine if there is at least 51% support for a Neighborhood Conservation District as proposed by the Consensus Committee.
1. March 5, 2007 Memorandum to the Mayor and Town Council (begin new page 1).