AGENDA #5a

TO:                  Chapel Hill Town Council

                        Trustees/Chancellor

FROM:            David Owens

RE:                  Addressing Issues Raised in Town Review of Carolina North Development Proposal

DATE:            November 18, 2008

The Town/University Joint Staff Work Group (JSWG) recommends that you address three points regarding how the Council and Trustees will address the issues raised by the Carolina North development proposal:

1. Confirm whether the general process described below is the way you would like to discuss and address the issues.
2. Review and adjust as needed the JSWG’s initial categorization of the issues.
3. Determine which of these issues you would like to address first.

1.  Process for Addressing Issues

The Council and Trustees agreed in your October meeting to use the Horace Williams Citizen Committee (HWCC) and Leadership Advisory Committee (LAC) reports as starting points for identifying key issues and potential principles, goals, and strategies for the development of the Carolina North project.

You further agreed to a general process for Council-Trustee discussion of these issues and the potential terms of a development agreement. The JSWG will prepare briefing papers on the issues for discussion at future Council-Trustee meetings. For each issue, a paper will:  (1) identify and summarize the issue; (2) note the HWCC, LAC, Town, and University positions and recommendations regarding that issue; and (3) include options for resolution of the issue, with staff analysis of the pros and cons of the options.

To make the most effective use of your time, the JSWG proposes dividing the issues to be addressed in the development agreement and ordinance amendments into two general categories. First are those issues for which additional Council-Trustee discussion is needed to provide guidance in drafting proposed development agreement or ordinance provisions. Second are those issues for which prior discussion indicates there may be sufficient agreement on general policy direction to allow staff to proceed with drafting development agreement provisions for your review and discussion. The general process of staff prepared issue papers presented to the Council-Trustee group for discussion will be followed for both categories. The JSWG felt that this categorization would allow you to focus your time on the most critical issues while retaining full oversight of entire range of issues to be addressed.

2.  JSWG Initial Categorization of Issues

Using the Horace Williams Citizen Committee reports as a starting point and supplementing that with the LAC and subsequent staff discussions, the JSWG examined the list of potential issues and placed the items in the two categories noted above. For ease of reference these issues are numbered in the list below, but they are not listed in priority order.

Group I – Issues Needing Additional Policy Discussion

1. Scale of project covered by initial development agreement; Length of development agreement;Phasing
• How much development should be included in the initial development agreement?
• How long should the development agreement last?
2. Area to be rezoned
• How much of the Horace Williams tract should be rezoned?
3. Range and mix of uses permitted in the zone
• What are the uses to be included in a first phase of the development?
4. Parking/Transit/Traffic/Road Issues
• How much parking and transit should be included in a first phase? 
• What is the timing/trigger mechanism for improvements and investments? 
• To what standard should internal roads be designed and built and what should their location be?
• Who will own the internal roads? 
5. Housing
• Who will live at Carolina North? What is the right mix of graduate student, employee, and market housing?
• What is the timing/trigger mechanism for provision of housing? 
6. Fiscal impact: fees, payments, taxes, indirect benefits
• How should fiscal neutrality for the Town be calculated and measured?
7. RCD and stormwater utility issues
• What RCD regulations or requirements will apply to Carolina North?
• What will be the development’s relationship to the town’s stormwater utility?
8. Neighborhood/Community interface
• How will the neighborhood and community connect at Carolina North?
9. Parks and recreation facilities
• What kind of facilities will be provided at Carolina North and who will use them?
10. Land preservation (undeveloped areas of the site)
• How will the areas not subject to the initial development agreement be zoned?
• How will uses on those areas (e.g. trails) be managed?
11. Energy generation on site, cogeneration
• What kind of energy will power Carolina North?
• Where will the source be located?
12. Air quality
• How will air quality impacts be measured and mitigated?
13. Cumulative impacts
• To what extent should management of the cumulative impacts be an overarching goal of the new zone?
14. Sustainability Principles
• How will sustainability be defined at Carolina North?
• What kind of sustainable water management and wastewater treatment and re-use will be at Carolina North?
15. Current understanding on SUP submissions
• How long with the University continue the informal agreement not to request additional SUPs within the Carolina North?

Group II – Issues for Which the JSWG Can Begin Drafting Development Agreement Provisions for Review and Discussion by the Council and Board of Trustees:

1. Design standards
• The University will develop design standards for Carolina North that support the mission of a mixed-use campus.
2. Stream buffers
• Streams will be appropriately buffered at Carolina North.
3. Stormwater management on site
• Carolina North will employ a variety of best management practices for stormwater management control in order to achieve appropriate reduction and quality goals
4. Sedimentation
•  Construction at Carolina North will be subject to appropriate soil and erosion control measures and State oversight.
5. Water use and reclamation
• Carolina North development will include water conservation and reclamation measures.
6. Energy conservation, carbon credits
• Buildings at Carolina North will include overall energy conservation or carbon reduction goals.
7. Solid waste management
• Solid waste will be managed by the University with appropriate reduction and recycling goals for construction and occupancy.
8. Remediation of landfill
• Development of certain areas of Carolina North may require landfill remediation consistent with the planned use.
9. Police/fire/EMS facilities and services
• The plan for Carolina North will address the needs of appropriate service providers.
10. School site
• A school site will be provided as part of the Carolina North development.
11. Recreation facilities
• Carolina North will include recreation facilities appropriate to the mixed-use campus including fields, trails, and greenways.
12. Trees, landscaping
• Carolina North will include significant street, landscape and natural plantings and landscaped areas and tree protection measures.
13. Greenways, connections
• Pedestrian and bike connectivity will be a key component of Carolina North. 
14. Neighboring lands: compatibility, buffers
• Development at Carolina North will be compatible with adjacent development and appropriately buffered.
15. Noise
• The Chapel Hill noise ordinance will be in effect at Carolina North
16. Lighting
• The Chapel Hill lighting standards will be in effect at Carolina North.
17. Public art
• Sites will be identified and/or reserved for public art.
18. Historic, cultural features
• Important historic and cultural features on the site will be appropriately identified and protected.

3.  Initial Issue to Address

The JSWG suggests that it would be appropriate at your December meeting to discuss the scale and scope of the project to be included in the development agreement and a potential rezoning in order to provide staff guidance relative to the materials to be submitted in January. These are items (a) and (b) in Group I above. It would also be useful to discuss the appropriate fee structure for review of a development agreement (assuming the standard fee for a rezoning application would be applied).

Two background items previously distributed are attached for ease of reference. Appendix 1 is the preliminary list of issues to be addressed that was distributed in October. Appendix 2 is the matrix distributed in September that lists each of the principles from the HWCC report, how those issues were addressed during the LAC work, and the status at completion of the LAC work.