Agenda #6
memorandum
to: Mayor and Town Council
from: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
subject: Consideration of Possible Rezoning of the Mason Farm Neighborhood
date: January 9, 2006
The purpose of this memorandum is to follow up on a November 21, 2005 report provided to the Council regarding a request from the Mason Farm Neighborhood Association to provide protection against certain forms of development.
The attached resolution would initiate a rezoning process for the Mason Farm neighborhood and schedule a public hearing on March 20, 2006.
On October 24, 2005, representatives from the Mason Farm Neighborhood Association presented a petition to the Council requesting that it be designated as a Neighborhood Conservation District. The Neighborhood Association also requested that the following be prohibited during the period when the petition is under consideration: 1) the subdivision of lots; and 2) the construction of new units / remodeling of existing units that would create more than one dwelling unit on a single lot, including duplexes, except for accessory apartments expressly permitted by the Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance.
In a memorandum dated November 21, 2005, we stated that we would return to the Council tonight with an analysis of the neighborhood to determine if a rezoning could address some of the concerns raised by the Mason Farm Neighborhood Association about the subdivision of lots (please see Attachment 1). Also on that night, the Council adopted a resolution authorizing the Manager to request proposals from consultants in July 2006 to develop a Neighborhood Conservation District for the Mason Farm neighborhood. We anticipate that a Neighborhood Conservation District for this neighborhood could be in place as early as the Spring of 2007.
The majority of the Mason Farm neighborhood is currently zoned Residential-1 (17,000 square foot minimum lot size). Through a rezoning process, the Council could choose to rezone the neighborhood to a zoning district which requires a larger minimum lot size such as Residential–Low Density 1 (R-LD1, 43,560 square foot minimum lot size). We believe that rezoning a portion of the neighborhood could address some of the concerns raised by the Neighborhood Association about subdividing properties.
Proposed Rezoning Area
There are a total of 46 lots in the Neighborhood Conservation District area proposed by the Mason Farm Neighborhood Association (please see the map provided as Attachment 2). We recommend excluding the four properties north of Mason Farm Road (two owned by the University of North Carolina) from a future Neighborhood Conservation District boundary as well as a possible neighborhood rezoning. Two of these properties are part of the adjacent University Master Land Use Plan area and development of properties in this area as student family housing is underway. Two properties are owned by private individuals.
We also recommend that the two properties fronting on Purefoy Road not be included in a rezoning area. One of these properties is developed as a place of worship and the other does not appear to be a part of the Mason Farm neighborhood.
We recommend consideration of a rezoning area that includes 40 lots. Alternately, the Council could choose to exclude the 26 properties west of Whitehead Road from the proposed rezoning area. As indicated on Map 1 (please see Attachment 2) only 1 of these 26 lots could potentially be subdivided. In addition, based on the current location of the existing structures, 17 of these properties do not have adequate street frontage to be subdivided.
Proposed Rezoning to Residential-Low Density 1
In response to the request by neighborhood representatives for immediate protection from subdivision of properties, the Council could change the zoning in the proposed area of the Mason Farm neighborhood from the current low density Residential-1 (R-1, minimum lot size of 17,000 square feet) zoning designation to Residential-Low Density 1(R-LD1, minimum lot size of 43,560 [1 unit/acre]).
“Gross land area” of a lot may include calculation of one-half of the right-of-way along the lot’s street frontage, among other factors, up to 10 percent of net land area.
We have examined a potential rezoning area (excluding the properties mentioned above), and determined that under the existing Residential-1 zoning designation, 10 of the total 40 properties have a lot size that is 34,000 square feet or more. Therefore, under the current zoning, these 10 properties could potentially be subdivided.
In the R-LD1 district, a single family house requires 43,560 square feet of gross land area. Of the total 40 lots in the remaining area, (excluding the properties mentioned above), eight meet the minimum gross land area of 43,560 square feet. There would not be any lots with enough gross land area to subdivide (minimum 87,120 square feet). Please see the map provided as Attachment 3 for an analysis.
Rezoning the properties in the proposed area to R-LD1 would create 32 nonconforming lots. Generally, the term “nonconforming” refers to lots, uses, or features that complied with regulations at the time the use or structure began, but which do not meet current regulations. In the case of a rezoning of the Mason Farm neighborhood, nonconforming lots would be created if a property does not meet the new minimum lot size. If the neighborhood is rezoned, an existing house can be rebuilt if it is destroyed. There is nothing in the current regulations that would prevent a destroyed house from being rebuilt as it was. Additions to existing houses would have to conform to the new regulations. Some lots may currently be too small to conform to the existing regulations; adoption of a new zoning district would not change this situation.
NEXT STEPS
We propose the following schedule for rezoning the proposed area from Residential-1 to Residential-Low Density 1:
Planning Board review – February 21, 2006
Council Public Hearing – March 20, 2006
Council consideration – April 24, 2006
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution to schedule a Public Hearing on March 20, 2006 to consider a rezoning of the Mason Farm neighborhood.
2. Map 1 - Map of Existing Area (p. 14).
3. Map 2 - Map of Proposed Rezoning Area (p. 15).
