Summary of the October 16, 2003 Meeting of the Northside Neighborhood Conservation District Advisory Committee

Present: Committee Members: Chair Delores Bailey, Linda Convissor, Tim Dempsey, Helen Galbreath, Josh Gurlitz, Estelle Mabry, Velma Perry, Tom Tucker.

Staff: Than Austin, Loryn Barnes, Chris Berndt, Emily Dickens, and Roger Waldon

Absent: Ed Caldwell, Jeff Caiola, Jane Farrar, Esphur Foster, Sally Greene, Mae McLendon, Mark Patmore, Rick Perry, Matthew Robbins, Sydalg Severe, Ruby Sinreich, R.D. Smith

The Northside Neighborhood Conservation District Advisory Committee held a meeting on October 16, 2003 at 6:30 pm at the Hargraves Gym Meeting Room.

A quorum of the Committee was not in attendance. The Committee did not approve the minutes from the October 2, 2003 meeting and did not take a formal vote on any items discussed.

Planning Director Roger Waldon reviewed staff recommendations for maximum floor area ratio, maximum house size, and impervious surface with the members of the Committee. The Committee Members present made the following comments:

Maximum Floor Area Ratio (Staff Recommendation: .25)

• It would be difficult to build a large house with a .25 Floor Area Ratio
• The proposed maximum floor area ratio might help achieve the Committee’s goals as stated in its Vision Statement.
• Adult children may want to move back to their parent’s homes, may want to expand the house but could not because of the .25 floor area ratio.
• Adult children are not moving back to the neighborhood
• If this component was approved, an addition would have to meet the guidelines of the Neighborhood Conservation District. If a house already exceeded the maximum floor are ratio, an addition could not be added to a house.
• The members present agreed with the staff recommendation of .25 floor area ratio.

Building Height (Staff Recommendation: Primary – 20 ft, 25 ft in TC-2; Secondary 35 ft, 90 in TC-2)

• 25 ft. building height would limit the intensity of development on W. Rosemary Street
• Three stories is not too high for the West Rosemary Street section of the Neighborhood Conservation District.
• Three story buildings are not desirable close to the residential area of the neighborhood.
• Because of the lot sizes in the neighborhood, it is not likely that a building would be able to reach 90 feet. 50 feet is about the highest a building could be.
• Too many building restrictions may prohibit businesses from locating downtown.
• The proposed floor area ratio is not too restrictive: could still have commercial with apartments on top.
• Underground parking would not effect building height and would be very expensive.
• The members present agreed that 2 sets of recommendations should be considered – TC-2: primary 25 ft, secondary between 25 and 44; residential area: 20 ft primary, 35 ft secondary.

Maximum House Size (Staff Recommendation: 2,000 square feet)

• 2000 square feet may be too small – especially for a family
• Consider 2,200 or 2,500 square feet vs. 2,000 square feet
• Consider that the ratio of bathrooms to bedrooms must be less than 1
• This could reduce the large houses that are being built with a bathroom for each bedroom.
• Since most lots in the neighborhood are small, the floor area ratio will limit the size of the house and may not be able to achieve the 2,000 square foot maximum.
• The members present agreed that the maximum house size should be 2,500 square feet

Impervious Surface (Staff Recommendation: no change)

· The members present agreed that the current 24% impervious surface maximum is reasonable.

Chair Bailey noted that Sydalg Severe is moving from the neighborhood and resigned from the Committee.

The next meeting will be on October 30, 2003 at 6:30 at the Chapel Hill Public Library. This will be a joint meeting with the Planning Board.