FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Compilation of Council Comments on the Horace Williams Property
DATE: April 9, 2001
On March 26, the Town Council discussed UNC’s draft proposal for development on the Horace Williams tract. The Council had asked that materials be collected for that meeting, and we re-submitted to the Council on that night the following documents:
1. Town-Gown Committee Presentation report, dated February 5, 2001.
2. Materials related to MX-150 zoning.
3. Excerpt from September 1998 JJR report, “Outlying Parcels Land Use Plans Summary Report.”
4. Final Report: Assessment of UNC’s Land Use Plans for the Horace Williams and Mason Farm Tracts, dated January 21, 1997.
5. Excerpt from “A Guide to Physical Development”, published by the University of North Carolina, dated March 1991.
The Council discussed issues regarding development of this property, and asked that those comments be compiled for review.
The requested compilation of comments is attached.
We understand the Council’s intent to be to record the compilation of ideas that grew out of the Council’s discussion about the Horace Williams property on March 26; and to transmit that compilation to the University for consideration as planning continues for the tract. Accordingly, we recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution, transmitting this set of comments to the University.
A RESOLUTION TRANSMITTING COUNCIL COMMENTS REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF THE HORACE WILLIAMS PROPERTY (2001-04-09/R-11)
WHEREAS, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has indicated its intent to develop property known as the Horace Williams Tract; and
WHEREAS, University officials presented a draft plan for the Horace Williams property to the Town Council; and
WHEREAS, development of this property will be accompanied by significant impacts on the surrounding community; and
WHEREAS, the Chapel Hill Town Council discussed the potential development of this property on March 26, 2001;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the attached Compilation of Concerns, Questions, and Interests, dated April 9, 2001, represents comments that have been expressed by members of the Chapel Hill Town Council, and that the Council asks the University to consider these concerns and questions as planning for this property continues.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council requests the Town Manager to transmit the attached list of comments to the University, along with a copy of this resolution.
This the 9th day of April, 2001.
Meeting of March 26, 2001
· Plans for the Horace Williams tract should be tied to the plans for the main campus, and there is a specific linkage between the two. There is possibility for allocation/re-allocation of potential square footage between the sites.
· Plans for designated open space are not yet fully defined. Attention is needed on how to permanently preserve that open space, and not allow it to be space for potential development in future years.
· The policies and plans for the airport need to be explicitly defined and considered as plans for adjacent development go forward.
· The proposed transit corridor needs careful, Town-wide traffic impact analysis.
· There is a need to define what the impact will be of 8 million square feet of development in terms of environmental, stormwater, air quality, traffic trips, schools, and other impacts.
· What will be the impact of this scale of development on the capacities of OWASA facilities?
· What are the possibilities for a plan to become a binding document?
· A desirable feature of the proposed plan is preservation of open space, and the compact way the University is proposing to use the 1,000 acres at the Horace Williams tract.
· It is highly desirable for the Town and the school system to be getting the equivalent of tax revenues from the private businesses that may locate on this site.
· Growth on the main campus and the Horace Williams tract should be considered in tandem.
· As plans are considered, the impact on schools needs attention.
· It is hoped that the Town’s request for extension for ten years on the property it leases from the University could be acted upon very quickly, since the Horace Williams tract plan would not ready for presentation for some time.
· What sort of mechanism would be put into place to indicate the capacities of all of the Town’s natural systems and its public facilities, and the ability of those systems to sustain the impacts of the University’s growth? Fiscal equity is only one measure. All of the University’s growth should to be considered comprehensively.
· There is a need for information on the status of groundwater contamination from the abandoned landfill.
· If at some point in the future the airport were relocated, would the Town have the ability to absorb use of that property for development?
· How would safety plans for airports and general aviation affect development plans? The buildings on the plan seem very close to the airport there should be a set of standards.
· The Town’s current policy with regard to the airport is that there not be any increase in level or type of use.
· A previous Town-Gown committee had developed a draft zoning district (Called MX-150) that possibly could be applied to this property. The ideas contained in that draft should be revisited to see if that would be a good way to approach this plan.
· How many employees are projected in the plans? How they will get to their jobs and where they would live—how many car trips, and how many parking spaces?
· How would the number of employees that would result from the development of the Horace Williams tract compare to the numbers of employees already at the University and the Hospital on the main campus?
· To what extent would agreements by the Town and the University made at the present time become commitments for future chancellors and Boards of Trustees?
· What floor area would be permitted under the MX-150 zoning?
· What is the status of the chemicals located at the Horace Williams site?
· A citizen living on property bordering the Horace Williams tract, had previously addressed the Council stating that he had asked questions of the University for which he had received no response. A response is requested. Those questions are:
1. What are plans for buffers for adjacent properties?
2. What will be the nature and function of roads shown on the plan?
3. There is a 200-year-old graveyard on the property, with 2 dozen graves. What will happen to that?
4. A creek runs through the Horace Williams tract. What are plans for preservation of the creek?