ATTACHMENT 1
SUBJECT: Public Hearing: Freedom House – Application for Special Use Permit Modification (File No. 9880-22-3617)
DATE: April 16, 2007
We have received a request for approval of a Special Use Permit Modification proposing expansion to the Freedom House group care facility located at 104 New Stateside Drive. Proposed improvements include three new buildings with 18,300 square feet of floor area and 30 parking spaces. The 5.19-acres site is located between Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd and New Stateside Drive. Services are proposed to increase but no increase in the authorized number of residents is proposed.
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August 1984 |
Orange County approved a request to expand a group care facility (aka Orange-Person-Chatham Halfway House) on a 3.6 acre site. |
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June 30, 1989 |
Area annexed into the Chapel Hill Town Limits. |
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October 13, 1997 |
The Town Council approved a Zoning Atlas Amendment to rezone 3.6 acres from Residential-2 to Residential-3-Conditional and approved a Special Use Permit to expand the group care facility, including 14,602 square feet of floor area and 33 parking spaces. |
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June 22, 2005 |
Community Design Commission reviewed a Concept Plan Proposal for Freedom House. |
Town staff has reviewed this application for comparison with the standards of the Land Use Management Ordinance and the Design Manual and offers the following evaluation:
Location: The 5.16 acre site is located between Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd and New Stateside Drive. The site is in the Residential-2 (R-2) and Residential-3-Conditional (R-3-C) zoning districts. The majority of the site is zoned Residential-3-Conditional.
The site is bounded to the north, south and west by the Residential-2 (R-2) zoning district. The site is bounded on the east by the Residential-1 (R-1) zoning district. Across New Stateside Drive on the south and west is the Homestead Community Park and the Rainbow Heights neighborhood. Two multi-family buildings (Mitchell apartments) are adjacent on the southeast. The Parkside neighborhood is located to the north. The property is located in Orange County, within the Town limits, and the Town Urban Service Area.
Existing Structures: The site presently contains five buildings consisting of 12,170 square feet of floor area including a clinic, men’s and women’s dormitories (44 beds), dining, administration, and meeting areas.
Access and Circulation: Vehicular access to the site is from a driveway on New Stateside Drive. Parking spaces for 24 vehicles are provided. A sidewalk exists along the property frontage on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The portion of the site adjacent to New Stateside Drive does not include a sidewalk.
Bus Stops: Bus stops close to the site include one at Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and Stateside Drive and one on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. at Riggsbee Trailer Park.
Topography, Drainage, and Vegetative Cover: The site slopes gently from Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. to the west. The site is drained by a series of catch basins that convey stormwater from the site to a pipe under New Stateside Drive. Approximately 18 percent of the site is covered by impervious surface area. In addition to areas of established landscaping, the site includes 17 specimen trees (over 18” diameter) mostly in the perimeter buffer areas. A 28-inch oak, located in the northwest corner of the site, and a 24-inch poplar adjacent to the parking area are the largest trees on the property.
This development is for a modification to the 1997 Special Use Permit to allow expansion to the existing Freedom House group care facility. The proposed modification includes construction of two new buildings and demolition and replacement of an existing building. A total of 18,300 square feet of new floor area (in three buildings A, B, C) and 30 new parking spaces are proposed. The buildings are all proposed to be one story. This proposal will not increase the number of residents though services are proposed to expand.
The proposed floor area for Building A is approximately 7,700 square feet and includes dining, kitchen, offices, and meeting rooms. Building B, approximately 6,400 square feet is proposed to include a clinic. Building C will replace an existing clinic building and includes meeting area for program expansion including community outpatient programs. The proposed floor area for Building C is approximately 4,200 square feet.
Vehicular access is from an existing driveway on New Stateside Drive. Public sidewalk improvements are proposed along a portion of New Stateside Drive on the opposite side of the street. Pedestrian and refuse area improvements are also proposed within the development.
A Special Use Permit to expand Freedom House was approved by the Town Council on October 13, 1997 (Attachment 15). The 1997 permit authorized an expansion to include 24 additional residents, 7,614 square feet of new floor area, and 14 parking spaces.
The Community Design Commission reviewed a Concept Plan proposal for the proposed expansion on June 22, 2005 (Attachment 8). The table below compares some of the differences between the 1997 Special Use Permit, the 2005 Concept Plan and the current Special Use Permit Modification proposal.
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Pre 1997 |
1997 Special Use Permit |
2005 Concept Plan Proposal |
2007 Special Use Permit Proposal |
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Net Land Area |
3.6.3 |
3.63 acres |
4.69 acres |
4.69 acres |
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Total Sq Ft |
6,899 sq ft |
14,602 sq. ft. |
32,970 sq. ft. |
30,470 sq. ft. |
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Total No. of Parking Spaces |
19 |
33 |
69 |
54 |
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Total No. Residents |
20 |
44 |
44 |
44 |
Prepared by the Chapel Hill Planning Department
Zoning: A group care facility is allowed in a residential zoning district with approval of a Special Use Permit. The existing number of residential bed (44 beds) is not proposed to increase with this application.
Dimensional Standards: The proposed total floor area, 30,470 square feet, is within the maximum permitted floor area of 34,502 square feet.
In the Residential-3-Conditional zoning district, 24-foot setbacks apply along the street, 8-foot setbacks for interior and 11-foot for solar setbacks. For the Residential-2 zoning district, 26-foot setback standards apply along the street, 10-foot setbacks for interior and 13-foot for solar setbacks. The proposal complies with the required setback limits.
The maximum primary height limit in the Residential-3-Conditional and Residential-2 zoning districts are 29 feet (at the setback line). Secondary height limit in the R-2 district is 50 feet and in the R-3 district 60 feet. All buildings are proposed to be less than 25 feet high and therefore comply with the maximum height limits.
Traffic Impact: A Traffic Impact Analysis Exemption (Attachment 8) was approved for this proposal. The proposed project was estimated to produce an additional 86 daily vehicle trips.
Access and Circulation: Vehicular access is proposed from the access on New Stateside Drive. We recommend that vehicular access be improved with reconstruction of the driveway apron on to New Stateside Drive prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. We have included this as a stipulation in Resolution A.
Pedestrian circulation and access are proposed to be improved with additional internal and public sidewalks. New internal sidewalks are proposed to connect the new and existing buildings and parking areas. A sidewalk segment is also proposed to connect to the public sidewalk along Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. We have included a stipulation in Resolution A that the internal sidewalks be constructed to Town standard. We have also included a stipulation that the applicant obtain an Engineering Construction Permit and a permit from NC DOT prior to constructing the sidewalk segment connection to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Public Sidewalk Improvements: The applicant is proposing to construct a 225-foot public sidewalk segment across the street, along a portion of New Stateside Drive. The proposed sidewalk will complete a missing sidewalk link along street frontage adjacent to the Homestead Community Park. We recommend that the applicant install 5-foot wide concrete sidewalks to Town standards prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. We have included a stipulation in Resolution A to this effect.
Bus Transit: No new bus stops are proposed. The site is served by two existing bus stops on each side of the site along Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Vehicular Parking: Currently, the Land Use Management Ordinance requires a minimum of 1 vehicular parking space for every two beds. Based on the number of existing beds (44) the minimum parking requirement is 22 spaces. The applicant is proposing to increase the number of parking spaces from the existing 24 spaces to 54 spaces. This proposal would exceed the minimum required number of spaces by 32. The Town Council has adopted a policy that the maximum number of parking spaces should not exceed 110 percent of the minimum parking space requirements. Based on this policy the maximum number of spaces for this proposed development would be 25.
We believe that the applicant’s proposal to increase the number of parking spaces from 24 to 54 is reasonable based on the information contained in the applicant’s Parking Summary regarding the expansion of services (attachment 13). We have included a stipulation in Resolution A for a total of 54 parking spaces.
The Town Council is currently considering an amendment which would remove minimum parking requirement from the Ordinance. As currently proposed, the amendment to the parking regulations for a group care facility would specify a minimum of 11 parking spaces (1 per 4 beds) for this proposed development, or a maximum of 22 parking spaces (1 per 2 beds). The applicant’s proposal to provide 54 on-site parking spaces exceeds the proposed Ordinance requirements. If the proposed Ordinance is adopted prior to the applicant obtaining Council approval of the Special Use Permit Modification, it will be necessary for the applicant to either comply with the new parking standards or request a modification to the parking regulations.
Bicycle Parking: The Land Use Management Ordinance requires bicycle parking at 10 percent of the auto parking spaces for a group care facility. We have included a stipulation in Resolution A for 6 bicycle parking spaces to be shown on the Final Plans and comply with the Class I and Class II bicycle parking standards in the Design Manual.
Landscape Buffers: The Land Use Management Ordinance requires landscape bufferyards around the perimeter of the site. Required buffers are shown in the following table:
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Bufferyards |
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Location and property line |
Required |
Proposed |
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. (east) Parkside Subdivision (north) NCDOT detention basin, (north) G. Mitchell apartments (south) |
Type “D” / 30’ wide (Alternative buffers authorized in 1997 Special Use Permit) |
Alternative Buffers authorized by 1997 SUP (some buffers to be supplemented with additional plant materials) |
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New Stateside Drive (south and west) |
Type “C “ / 20’ wide |
Type “C”/20’wide (to be supplemented with additional plant materials) |
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NCDOT detention basin (west) |
Type “C” / 20’ wide |
Type “C’”/ 20’ wide |
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Mitchell apartments (east) |
Type “C” / 20’ wide |
Type “C”/ 20’ wide |
The northern landscape buffer is adjacent to a Parkside Homeowners landscape buffer. A solid board fence exists along a portion of the Parkside Subdivision property line. The applicant is proposing to add supplemental plantings to this buffer area with a mix of trees and shrubs both evergreen and deciduous varying in width from 10 to 30 feet.
Because some of the buffer areas do not include adequate landscape material, the applicant is proposing to augment existing landscape buffers in the follow areas: 1) along the eastern property line adjacent to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.; 2) the southern property line adjacent to Mitchell apartments; and 3) the New Stateside Drive frontage. We recommend that for any previously approved alternate bufferyards, where the applicant is proposing additional planting materials different from the plantings approved by the Community Design Commission, that the applicant obtain alternate bufferyard approval from the Community Design Commission.
Landscape Screening and Shading: New parking areas will need to meet the buffer ordinance landscaping standards from the following sections of the Land Use Management Ordinance:
We have included these stipulations requiring compliance with the landscape screening and shading requirements in Resolution A.
Landscape Protection and Planting Plan: We recommend that tree protection fencing be shown along the entire limits of land disturbance associated with the campus expansion and be approved by the Town Manager prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit. We also recommend that detailed landscape planting and maintenance plans be reviewed and approved by the Town Manager prior to the issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit. We recommend that the Final Plans include a complete plant list including quantities of all proposed plant varieties and that all proposed canopy trees be a minimum of 2 ½ inch caliper at installation. We also recommend that plant list not include exotic/invasive plant species as identified in the Town’s Design Manual. We have included stipulations to this effect in Resolution A.
Community Design Commission Approval: The Land Use Management Ordinance requires that detailed building elevations, Lighting Plans, and Alternative Buffers, be approved by the Community Design Commission, prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
Watershed Protection and Resource Conservation District: This site is not located in the Watershed Protection or the Resource Conservation District.
Stormwater Management: There is currently no provision for mitigating stormwater runoff from is site. Anticipated stormwater runoff from the 33,653 square feet of proposed impervious surface is proposed to be collected with several catch basins and a 15-inch pipe located adjacent to the south side of a proposed parking area. The pipe is proposed to collect the stormwater runoff and direct it to an extended, dry detention pond located south of the driveway entrance along New Stateside Drive. Another 15-inch pipe is proposed to drain the detention pond to an existing curb inlet on New Stateside Drive.
We recommend that prior to the issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit the applicant shall submit a Stormwater Management Plan for review and approval by the Town Manager. The plan should include low-impact stormwater management solutions and best management practices, such as bio-retention, pervious pavements, underground storage, infiltration trenches, vegetative swales and similar techniques. We have included a stipulation in Resolution A for a Stormwater Management Plan to be approved by the Town Manager prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit.
Erosion Control: We recommend that an Erosion Control Plan be approved prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
Refuse Management and Recycling: The applicant proposes to relocate the current dumpster facility and construct a new refuse collection area including two refuse containers and recycling bins at the end of a turn-around on the north side of the driveway. We recommend that the existing concrete dumpster pad be removed and that the applicant construct a new curb in this area. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
The Land Use Management Ordinance requires that a Solid Waste Management Plan be approved by the Town Manager prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
Utilities: There is an existing overhead utility line that runs from a pole on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. to a utility pole in the site. This electrical line is proposed to be placed underground. The ordinance requires that all new and relocated utility lines, other than 3-phase electric power distribution lines, be placed underground. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
An existing 30-foot OWASA easement runs northward from New Stateside Drive to the rear of the women’s dormitory. An extension of this easement is proposed to contain a new sewer line from the end of the easement northwest to the driveway in front of the new clinic building. An existing sewer line currently serving the administration building is proposed to be abandoned. A stipulation for recordation of an OWASA easement is included in Resolution A.
A new water line is proposed around the administration building and an additional water line is proposed under New Stateside Drive to connect to an existing water line in the street. A new 4-inch fire line is proposed from the new clinic building connecting to the existing water line.
We recommend that prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit that the applicant submit detailed construction plans for approval by the Town Manager. We have included this stipulation in Resolution A.
Fire: No new fire hydrants are proposed. An existing fire hydrant is on-site and two are within the New Stateside Drive right-of-way adjacent to the site. No changes are recommended.
Construction Management Plan: We recommend that a Construction Management Plan, be approved by the Town Manager prior to issuance of a Zoning Compliance Permit. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
Traffic and Pedestrian Control Plan: We recommend that the applicant provide a Work Zone Traffic Control Plan for movement of motorized and non-motorized vehicles on any public street that will be disrupted during construction and a pedestrian management plan. We also recommend that the Traffic Control Plan include added traffic control and safety measures in order to separate construction traffic from vehicular and pedestrian traffic entering/exiting Homestead Park. We have included a stipulation to this effect in Resolution A.
Comprehensive Plan: The Land Use Plan, an element of the Comprehensive Plan, identifies this site as Institutional.
For approval of a Special Use Permit Modification, the Council must make the following findings, as set forth in Article 4.5.2 of the Land Use Management Ordinance:
(a) That the use or development is located, designed, and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or promote the public health, safety, and general welfare;
(b) That the use or development complies with all required regulations and standards of this Chapter, including all applicable provisions of the Land Use Management Ordinance;
(c) That the use or development is located, designed, and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property, or that the use or development is a public necessity; and
(d) That the use or development conforms with the general plans for the physical development of the Town as embodied in the Land Use Management Ordinance and in the Comprehensive Plan.
Upon review of the application and information that has been submitted to date, our preliminary recommendation is that these findings can be made.
Based on information available at this stage of the application review process, we believe that the proposed Special Use Permit Modification with conditions in Resolution A complies with the requirements of the Land Use Management Ordinance, the Design Manual, and that the proposal conforms to the Comprehensive Plan.
Resolution A would approve the application with conditions.
Resolution B would deny the application.