AGENDA #4f
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Expedited Processing of a Zoning Atlas Amendment and Special Use Permit Modification Applications for the Wilson Assemblage Property
DATE: January 23, 2006
PURPOSE
On January 9, 2006, the Town Council received a petition from Mr. Scott Radway on behalf of Crosland. The petition was referred to the Town Manager for review and recommendation.
Adoption of the attached resolution would grant expedited processing. Given the uncertainty of the date of submittal of the applications, we recommend expedited processing of the two applications with no specific reference to a date for Council action.
BACKGROUND
March 7, 2005 The Town Council approved a Special Use Permit for Wilson Assemblage. The 20.81-acre mixed-use development included 149 dwelling units, 48,000 square feet of office/retail space, and 402 parking spaces.
April 25, 2005 The Town Council approved a Special Use Permit Modification for Dobbins Hills Phase II. The approval authorized the addition of 32 multi-family units to the existing 55 unit Dobbins Hill Apartment complex located on the north side of Dobbins Drive. The affordable housing associated with Dobbins Hill Phase II is a stipulated component of the Wilson Assemblage development.
July 13, 2005 Applicant submitted a letter addressed to Mayor and Council (Attachment 5) noting possible delay in Superstreet project and potential negative impact on acquiring tax-credit approval from the State Housing Finance Agency.
October 5, 2005 Applicant submitted Concept Plan Proposals for Dobbins Hill Phase II and Wilson Assemblage.
October 24, 2005 Council received petition from applicant (Attachment 6) and approved the request for Concept Plan expedited review and scheduled Concept Plan Proposal review for November 21, 2005.
October 26, 2005 Community Design Commission conducted Concept Plan Review of the Dobbins Hill Phase II and Wilson Assemblage projects.
November 21, 2005 Council conducted Concept Plan Review of the Dobbins Hill Phase II and Wilson Assemblage projects.
EXPEDITED PROCESSING
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 Zoning Atlas Amendment application or a Special Use Permit 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 four to five 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.
However, because of the other applications previously granted such status, there will likely not be much shortening of the review time for this project if expedited processing is granted.
DISCUSSION
Request: The petition requests expedited processing status of Zoning Atlas Amendment and Special Use Permit Modification applications with Council action by the end of June 2006. The applications propose to rezone the site and construct between 200-285 residential units, 32,000 square feet of office, and 26,750 square feet of general business. The applicant is proposing that 20 percent of the residential units within the Dobbins Hill Phase II project and this project will be affordable units. The site is located on Dobbins Drive between Sage Road and Erwin Road.
The applicant believes that approval of this project by the Council by the end of June 2006 will demonstrate to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) that the affordable housing can be built in 2006 and 2007, meeting the schedule of the NCHFA requirements.
Expedited Processing: We followed the Council-endorsed criteria listed below when making recommendations to Council on requests for expedited processing:
Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s Public Hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for the Wilson Assemblage property is that one less space would be available on the Council’s schedule for which other non-expedited applications are competing.
We believe that the proposal meets the objective for public purpose in the three criteria above for granting expedited processing status. The applicant has identified public objectives as the provision of affordable housing and the proposed development will be LEED certified. Projects that have been granted expedited processing are identified in Attachment 1.
Formal applications have not yet been submitted to the Town. We understand the Traffic Impact Analysis, an important component of the Special Use Permit application, may not be available until the end of February. Given the uncertainty of the date of submittal of the applications, we believe it would be inappropriate to commit to a date certain for Council action. We recommend expedited processing of the two applications with no specific reference to a date for Council action.
RECOMMENDATION
Manager’s Recommendation: We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution. Adoption of the resolution would grant expedited processing for the Wilson Assemblage property applications, if the Council chooses to grant this request. Given the uncertainty of the date of submittal of the applications, we recommend expedited processing of the two applications with no specific reference to a date for Council action.
ATTACHMENTS
