AGENDA #3
|
MEMORANDUM |
|
TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
|
FROM: |
J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director Gene Poveromo, Development Coordinator |
|
DATE: |
October 18, 2006 |
|
SUBJECT: |
Public Hearing: Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment Modifications to the Permitted Mix of Uses in the Mixed Use Office/Instiutional-1 Zoning District |
PURPOSE
This Public Hearing has been called to consider an application for a text amendment to the Land Use Management Ordinance regarding the permitted uses and ratios of uses in the Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 zoning district.
The attached Ordinance A would amend Section 3.5 of the Land Use Management Ordinance to allow clinic use, such as medical or dental offices, as well as modified ratio of the current permitted office, commercial, and residential uses.
Please see Attachment 2 for the text amendment request.
We recommend that the Town Council enact the attached ordinance (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND
The Town has been asked to approve an application for a Special Use Permit to allow the construction of a multi-family planned development that would consist of 123 dwelling units on a 13-acre site. The accompanying Residences at Chapel Hill North Phase II Special Use Permit application will also be reviewed at tonight’s Public Hearing. The site is located in the northeast portion of the Chapel Hill North development off of Perkins Drive.
The 40-acre Chapel Hill North development is encumbered by the 1990 Chapel Hill North Master Land Use Plan. The permitted mix of uses on the site are office and commercial in a ratio of approximately 60 percent and 40 percent respectively. Residential development was not included in the 1990 Master Plan. The applicant for the Residences at Chapel Hill North is proposing to change the mix of uses on the site by adding residential and clinic[1] uses as well as changing the relative ratios of office, commercial, residential, and clinic use. The applicant is requesting that this change to the mix of permitted uses be accomplished by proposing a text amendment to Section 3.5 of the Land Use Management Ordinance.
CURRENT ORDINANCE
Currently Section 3.5 “Special Districts” of the Land Use Management Ordinance requires that developments in the Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) zoning district choose one of the following combinations of uses:
Furthermore, the Ordinance requires that no less than 60 percent and no more than 85 percent of the floor area be dedicated to office-type business.
APPLICANT’S PROPOSAL
The application for the text amendment to Subsections 3.5.1(e)(2) and 3.5.1(e)(3)(A-E) of the Land Use Management Ordinance proposes to modify the uses and ratio of uses permitted in the Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 zoning district. We believe that the proposed changes will encourage a residential component in this type of mixed use development. The following changes to the regulations are requested, as indicated by underlines for additions and strikeouts for deletions, shown in bold type:
(2) If development of property in a Mixed Use-OI-1 zone is proposed, and the proposal meets all of the following thresholds, then the set of permitted use and intensity regulations described in subsection (3) shall apply. Those thresholds are:
A. Minimum lot size of 20 contiguous acres (may include parcels on both sides of a street).
B. Uses proposed in one of the following combinations:
C. At least 60% of floor area devoted to "business, office-type" uses, “clinic” uses and/or residential uses, as defined in this Land Use Management Ordinance.
D. No more than 85% of the floor area shall be devoted to "business, office-type" uses, “clinic” uses and residential uses, as defined in the Land Use Management Ordinance.
(3) If a development proposal in a Mixed Use-OI-1 District meets all of the thresholds listed in subsection (2), then the following use and intensity regulations shall apply:
A. For commercial floor area, permitted uses shall be those listed in Section 3.7 as permitted uses in the Community Commercial (CC) District, except as noted in paragraph D below.
B. For residential floor area, permitted uses shall be those listed in Section 3.7 as permitted uses in the R-5 District, except that in addition, multifamily development of more than 7 units shall be permitted.
C. For office floor area, permitted uses shall be those listed in Section 3.7 as permitted uses in the OI-1 District.
D. The following uses are not permitted in the Mixed Use-OI-1 Zone:
E. Dimensional Standards shall be those listed in Section 3.8,
3.7 for the Community Commercial (CC) Zone.”
The attached Ordinance A provides the applicant’s proposal.
DISCUSSION
We believe that the intent of the application to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance is to achieve a greater variety and mix of uses as well as more compatible ratios of uses on the Chapel Hill North site. We also believe that the currently permitted ratio of 60 percent office development and 40 percent commercial development on this site is not ideal for a true mixed-use development and the related benefits, such as trip reduction. If the text amendment were enacted it would permit an approximate ratio of 23 percent office development (102,713 s.f.), 33 percent retail development (147,807 s.f.), and 44 percent residential development (200,800 s.f.).
We believe that the proposed amendment to Section 3.5 the Land Use Management Ordinance will enhance the quality of mixed-use developments for this specific zoning district.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board reviewed the proposed Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment on October 3, 2006 and October 17, 2006. We will provide the Council with the Planning Board Recommendation when it becomes available.
Preliminary Staff Recommendation: We recommend that the Council enact Ordinance A to amend the text of Subsections 3.5.1(e)(2) and 3.5.1(e)(3)(A-E) of the Land Use Management Ordinance, changing the uses and ratios of uses permitted in the Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) zoning district.
The attached draft ordinance indicates recommended text changes by underlines for additions and strikeouts for deletions.
ATTACHMENTS
[1] Clinic use is defined as, “an establishment used for the care, diagnosis, therapy, or counseling of sick, ailing, infirmed, or injured persons or non-medical therapy and counseling on an outpatient basis.”