AGENDA #4f

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Expedited Treatment for Special Use Permit Modification Application to be submitted by Village Plaza Theatre

 

DATE:             January 26, 2004

 

 

On January 7, 2004, the Town Council received a petition from Wayne Hadler, attorney for Eastern Federal Corporation, regarding a modification to stipulation #4 of the Special Use Permit for the Village Plaza Theatre.  The petition was referred to the Town Manager for review and recommendation.  The petition requests expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application. A copy of the petition is attached.  The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application. We recommend adoption of the resolution.

 

BACKGROUND

 

Expedited processing grants priority status for review at every step of the process, and grants priority status in being scheduled on agendas of advisory boards and the Town Council. A Special Use Permit Modification application would normally take nine months to a year to be reviewed by all the required boards and commissions and to be heard at a Public Hearing.

 

Following approval, an application normally takes three to four months to obtain approval of detailed construction drawings and final plans, prior to obtaining a Building Permit. The review process is often long because of the breadth and depth of review and analysis, and because many projects are usually being reviewed at any given time.

 

DISCUSSION

 

Request:  The petition requests Expedited Processing status of a Special Use Permit Modification application.  The application proposes modification to stipulation #4 of the Special Use Permit approved by Town Council on January 27, 2003.  Stipulation #4 requires the applicant to make off-site driveway improvements necessitating an agreement with an adjacent property owner.  The applicant is unable to reach an agreement with the adjacent property owner.  We have not received a formal application.

 

Expedited Processing:  We have generally followed the criteria listed below in making recommendations to the Council on requests for expedited processing:

 

1.      Recommend expedited processing only in cases where there is a public interest or public objective involved.

2.      Recommend expedited processing only when a project that involves public interest would be harmed by following normal rules of procedure.

3.      Avoid expedited processing in situations where other applications that do not carry this special status would be delayed.

 

Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s Public Hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for the Village Plaza Theatre application is that one less space would be available on the Council’s schedule for which other applications are competing.

 

Projects that have been granted expedited processing are identified in Attachment 1.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

Manager’s Recommendation: We recommend that the Council adopt the following resolution that would:

  1. Authorize expedited treatment for a Special Use Permit Modification that would remove the stipulation requiring off-site driveway improvements. 
  2. Scheduling the required public hearing for March 15, 2004 with consideration for action on March 22, 2004. 
  3. Reduce the normal application fee, in view of the limited nature of the issue involved, and limit the fee to costs of notice and production of materials.
  4. Narrow the scope of review to modification of Stipulation #4 only.

 

ATTACHMENT

 

1.      List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 4).

2.      Petition requesting Expedited Processing (p. 6).

 

 


A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT MODIFICATION APPLICATION FOR VILLAGE PLAZA THEATRE (2004-01-26/R-6)

 

WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from Wayne Hadler, attorney for Eastern Federal Corporation, for expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application seeking removal of stipulation #4 of the approved Special Use Permit; and

 

WHEREAS, the Town Council believes it is in the best interest of the Town to grant such expedited review;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby:

 

1.      Authorizes expedited review of said application.

2.      Schedules a public hearing on the application to be held on March 15, 2004, with consideration of action on March 22, 2004.

3.      Reduces the normal application fee, in view of the limited issues involved, and limits the fee to costs of notice and production of materials.

4.      Narrows the scope of review to modification of Stipulation #4 only.

 

This the 26th day of January, 2004.

 


ATTACHMENT 1

 

List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing

January 26, 2004

 

After receiving staff recommendations based on these criteria, since 1993 the Council has approved expedited processing for:

 

Ø      Intimate Bookshop,

Ø      Erwin Village Subdivision,

Ø      Ruth Faison Shaw Museum,

Ø      Chapel Hill Public Library,

Ø      Chapel Hill Public Housing,

Ø      Culbreth Park Subdivision,

Ø      East Chapel Hill High School,

Ø      Orange County Southern Human Services Center,

Ø      Hargraves Gymnasium addition,

Ø      Transitional Housing on Clark Road,

Ø      Chapel Hill Day Care at Southern Village,

Ø      Bolin Creek Greenway Phase II,

Ø      Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Transportation Center,

Ø      WUNC Tower request,

Ø      Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center,

Ø      Pavilion,

Ø      Southern Village Elementary School,

Ø      Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity,

Ø      Neville Tract,

Ø      McDade House relocation,

Ø      Freedom House,

Ø      Orange Community Housing Corporation Scarlette Housing,

Ø      Kenan Stadium Expansion,

Ø      UNC Co-generation Facility Boiler Replacement,

Ø      Chapel Hill Internal Medicine,

Ø      Midway Business Center,

Ø      Carol Woods Retirement Community (for Village Charter School use),

Ø      University Mall Redevelopment,

Ø      Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity House,

Ø      Greene Tract rezoning, 

Ø      Manley Estates Housing,

Ø      University Fraternity and Sorority applications (sprinkler projects),

Ø      Carol Woods Retirement Center (for day care addition, dining hall  expansion and new units),

Ø      Church of the Holy Family Expansion,

Ø      Eastwood Lake Project, 

Ø      Chapel Hill Pediatrics,

Ø      UNC Airport Drive Office Building,

Ø      Rams Plaza Renovations,

Ø      Meadowmont School/Park,

Ø      Meadowmont Wachovia Bank,

Ø      Orange County Landfill,

Ø      Rosemary Street Mixed Use Development,

Ø      Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center,

Ø      Rusch Road Habitat for Humanity Subdivision,

Ø      Village Plaza Shopping Center,

Ø      Meadowmont Hilltop and Greenway Condominium,

Ø      Empowerment, 229 North Graham Street,

Ø      Red, Hot and Blue Restaurant at Village Plaza,

Ø      UNC Print Services,

Ø      Town of Chapel Hill Operation Center, and

Ø      Eastgate Shopping Center gas station conversion.

 

Requests for this special application processing by East Franklin Car Care, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, an application for parking and refuse facilities at 317 W. Rosemary Street, The Franklin Hotel, Eastowne 501 Office Building, and Avalon Park Subdivision were not approved by the Town Council.