ATTACHMENT 2

 

SUMMARY OF PLANNING BOARD ACTION

 

Subject:

Residential-Special Standards-Conditional Zoning District - Zoning Text Amendment

Meeting Date:

August 19, 2008

Recommendation: 

That the Council adopt the Resolution to deny the application.

Vote:

4-2

Ayes:

Del Snow, Michael Collins, Jason Baker, and Andrea Rohrbacher

Nays:

George Cianciolo and John Ager (Reason:  Believed that the amended rezoning district was a useful, applicable tool for future projects and as a conditional rezoning district, receives additional scrutiny. Both Board members did not want to hold up the review process for the application.)

Discussion:

Board members voting in the affirmative expressed the following reasons for recommending denial of the proposed Text Amendment:

 

1) The Residential-Special Standards-Conditional district was initially intended to apply only to developments that proposed 100% affordable housing;

 

2) The proposed change to increase the floor area ratio from 0.4 to 1.1 does not maintain the spirit and intent of this affordable housing district;

 

3) The creation of a district that permits high residential development should be coordinated with the a Council sub-committee’s discussion to implement several small area studies along the Town’s major corridors; and 

 

4) The creation of this district appears to be in direct response to the proposed Residences at Grove Park developments and therefore may not be well suited for other areas of town;

Additional Recommendation

That the Board wanted to communicate to the Council that they continue to support the Special Use Permit application but not the associated Text Amendment or Zoning Atlas Amendment.

Vote:

6-0

 

Ayes: George Cianciolo, John Ager, Del Snow, Michael Collins, Jason Baker, and Andrea Rohrbacher (Reason: The Board felt that the Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment and Rezoning applications could be viewed as setting a precedent for creating special zoning districts for individual projects. )

 

Nays:  None

Prepared by: 

George Cianciolo, Chapel Hill Planning Board Chair

Gene Poveromo, Development Manager