AGENDA #11 | Proposal to Work with the Planning Board to Develop a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District

AGENDA #11

MEMORANDUM

TO: Mayor and Town Council

FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT: Proposal to Work with the Planning Board to Develop a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District

DATE: June 26, 2006

PURPOSE

The purpose of this memorandum is to:

respond to a June 12, 2006, petition from the Planning Board regarding recommendations for the development of future Neighborhood Conservation Districts.
recommend a consultant to work with the Planning Board to develop a Neighborhood Conservation District for the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood.

Adoption of the attached Resolution A would accept the proposal from Clarion Associates for the preparation of a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District Plan and Guidelines and establish a consensus structure for citizen participation in the process, similar to that used by Clarion Associates in their recent Neighborhood Conservation District work. We recommend adoption of Resolution A.

Adoption of the attached Resolution C would endorse the Planning Board recommendations for the development of future Neighborhood Conservation Districts.

BACKGROUND

To date, the Town Council has authorized Neighborhood Conservation Districts for the Northside, Greenwood, Kings Mill/Morgan Creek and Pine Knolls neighborhoods. Development of the first Neighborhood Conservation District for the Northside Neighborhood began in August, 2002, and concluded in February 2004. Its development was undertaken by a Council-appointed committee of neighborhood residents and Planning Board members with the support of Town staff.

On June 15, 2005, the Council authorized the use of a consulting firm, Clarion Associates, to develop Neighborhood Conservation Districts for the Coker Hills, Greenwood, Kings Mill/Morgan Creek and Pine Knolls neighborhoods. Clarion Associates held neighborhood meetings for each of the neighborhoods and presented a final recommendation to the Council on May 15, 2006. The recommendation summarized points where the neighborhood residents were in consensus about the proposed Neighborhood Conservation District standards as well as dissenting opinions about the proposed standards. On June 12, 2006, the Council authorized Neighborhood Conservation District Plans for the Greenwood, Kings Mill/Morgan Creek, and Pine Knolls neighborhoods.

A Request for Proposals for the preparation of a Neighborhood Conservation District Plan and Guidelines for the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighborhood was issued June 1, 2006. Please refer to Attachment 1 for the Request for Proposals. The Request for Proposals was posted on the Town’s website and was sent to seventeen firms with experience in neighborhood planning, six of which are located in North Carolina. The Request for Proposals was closed on June 16, 2006. There was one response received and it was from Clarion Associates.

DISCUSSION OF PLANNING BOARD PROCESS PETITION

On June 12, 2006, the Chair of the Planning Board presented a petition from the Board outlining the Planning Board’s recommendations for development of future Neighborhood Conservation Districts. Please see Attachment 2 for the June 12, 2006 Petition. The recommendations are summarized below with staff comments for each.

1. Planning Board Proposal: Upon being petitioned for a Neighborhood Conservation District, the Council should consider the specific needs of the neighborhood before moving forward including the objective, the boundary, and the use of a consultant or staff to facilitate the process. The Council should define a committee structure based on the stated objectives and appoint committee members. This information should be sent to the Planning Board for review and recommendation on whether to proceed before the Town initiates the process.

Comment: We believe it would be preferable for the citizens of a neighborhood to determine community objectives through a neighborhood discussion process rather than for the Council to attempt to determine such objectives without the input of the neighbors. Regarding the boundary of a Neighborhood Conservation District, we believe it would be inappropriate for the Council to set the borders of a Neighborhood Conservation District without receiving citizen input into the decision.

We recommend that the Council decide on a case by case basis whether to follow a process similar to the recent work led by Clarion or, instead, to use a committee-led process depending on the history and characteristics of the neighborhood and the expressed preferences of the affected citizens.

For the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District, for example, we recommend a consensus structure for citizen involvement in the process, similar to the recent work led by Clarion Associates. We believe the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighborhood has many similarities to the Greenwood neighborhood. The Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighborhood has been rezoned to a one acre minimum lot size in response to developer activity occurring in the neighborhood, similar to the Greenwood neighborhood. We believe the consensus structure for citizen participation would be successful in the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighborhood.

2. Planning Board Proposal: The Council-appointed residents committee should play a key part in leading the development of a Neighborhood Conservation District and consist of a broad cross-section of neighborhood members as well as a non-neighborhood resident and a member of the Planning Board.

Comment: We believe the decision to use a Council-appointed committee for the process of developing a Neighborhood Conservation District should be made by the Council on a case by case basis, taking into account the preferences of a particular neighborhood. In cases when the Council decides to use a Council-appointed committee structure, we concur with the composition proposed by the Planning Board.

3. Planning Board Proposal: After the Council decides to initiate a Neighborhood Conservation District, an information packet should be sent to every resident of the area being considered.

Comment: We concur with this recommendation from the Planning Board. In the case of the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District, we included this recommendation in the Request for Proposals. As a result, Clarion Associates has included this recommendation as part of their proposed scope of work.

4. Planning Board Proposal: Neighborhood Conservation Districts should look at a broader range of solutions including design standards and view-sheds.

5. Planning Board Proposal: The Town should develop an interactive website with frequently asked questions, definitions, maps, printer-friendly information booklet, and a status page for each neighborhood with a Neighborhood Conservation District or possible Neighborhood Conservation District.

6. Planning Board Proposal: The Town should not start more than one Neighborhood Conservation District at a time, and should not develop more than two to three Neighborhood Conservation Districts at a time.

Comment: We do not know how much demand there will be for consideration of new Neighborhood Conservation Districts. We recommend that the Council base its decisions on authorizing new projects on the circumstances existing at the time of receiving requests.

We recommend that the Council consider the recommendations from the Planning Board when initiating new Neighborhood Conservation Districts, along with input from citizens and Town staff.

Alternatively, the Council may choose to endorse the recommendations of the Planning Board by adopting Resolution C.

EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS FOR THE MASON FARM/WHITEHEAD CIRCLE NEIGHBORHOOD

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. On November 21, 2005, the Council adopted a resolution authorizing the Manager to request proposals from consultants to develop a Neighborhood Conservation District for the Mason Farm Neighborhood.

On March 20, 2006, the Council held a public hearing to receive citizen, Planning Board and Council comments about a proposal to rezone the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighborhood from the Residential-1 zoning district to the Residential-Low Density 1 zoning district. On April 24, 2006, the Council voted to amend the Zoning Atlas to rezone the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighborhood to Residential-Low Density 1 zoning.

In response to the Request for Proposals issued on June 1, 2006, and mailed to 17 firms, we received only one proposal. The proposal was from Clarion Associates a cost of $25,000. Please see Attachment 3 for the consultant’s proposal.

The Request for Proposals indicated that proposals would be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Successful completion of similar planning projects (please include references).
Demonstrated ability to complete work within an established time frame.
Demonstrated ability to work with planning groups.
Demonstrated ability to engage the public in a planning process.
Demonstrated ability to capture and reflect in written form the ideas of the community.

We believe the proposal from Clarion Associates meets these criteria. We have had a positive experience with this firm as the consultant that developed the Neighborhood Conservation District plans for the Greenwood, Kings Mill/Morgan Creek, and Pine Knolls neighborhoods. The Clarion Associates proposal could be applied to work with either a process similar to the Clarion’s earlier work or a Council-appointed committee structure.

We recommend that the Council adopt Resolution A, accepting the proposal from Clarion Associates for the preparation of a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District Plan and Guidelines. We also recommend that the Council authorize a consensus process similar to that used in Clarion’s recent work, unless the Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle neighbors request the use of a committee-led process. If the neighbors prefer a committee-led process, then we recommend adopting Resolution B, accepting the proposal from Clarion Associates for the preparation of a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District Plan and Guidelines and authorizing the use of a Council-appointed committee for citizen participation in the process. If the Council adopts Resolution B, we will return to the Council on September 11, 2006 with a proposed composition for membership on the committee for the Council’s consideration.

RECOMMENDATION

Manager’s Recommendation: Regarding the development of a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District, we recommend that the Council adopt Resolution A, accepting the proposal from Clarion Associates for the preparation of a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District Plan and Guidelines, and establishing a consensus structure for citizen participation in the process, similar to that used by Clarion Associates in their recent Neighborhood Conservation District work.

Adoption of the attached Resolution B would accept the proposal from Clarion Associates for the preparation of a Mason Farm/Whitehead Circle Neighborhood Conservation District Plan and Guidelines and establish a Council-appointed committee structure for citizen participation in the process. If the Council adopts Resolution B, we will return to the Council on September 11, 2006, with a proposal for the composition of the committee membership for Council consideration.

Regarding the Planning Board recommendations for the development of future Neighborhood Conservation Districts, we recommend that the Council consider the recommendations from the Planning Board when initiating new Neighborhood Conservation Districts, along with input from citizens and Town staff. Alternatively, adoption of the attached Resolution C would endorse the Planning Board recommendations for the development of future Neighborhood Conservation Districts.

ATTACHMENTS