A PDF version is available.

Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force

 

Interim Report

 

June 21, 2007

 

 

 

Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force:

Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom

Council Member Mark Kleinschmidt

Bonnie Norwood

Robert Dowling

Susan Levy

James Stroud

Tom Tucker

Ruby Sinreich

Laura Wenzel

Delores Bailey

Neloa Barbee Jones

Barbara Hopkins

Robert Campbell

Timothy Peppers

 

Background

 

The Rogers Road study area is located in Orange County to the north west of the existing town limits of the Town of Chapel Hill; it also adjoins the Town limits of Carrboro to the west. The study area is located in the Chapel Hill Transition Area, an area which is planned to become part of the Town of Chapel Hill. The future growth of the Town of Chapel Hill and the Town of Carrboro was established with Orange County, through a Joint Planning Agreement in 1987.

 

The Town of Chapel Hill Comprehensive Plan, a long range plan for future development of the Town, reflects the Joint Planning Agreement and identifies an Urban Services Boundary which defines the future town limits in which it is intended that the Town will grow and provide typical urban services. The Rogers Road study area is located within the Urban Services Boundary.

 

The study area is approximately 330 acres. It is bounded by the Norfolk and Southern Railroad to the east, the existing residential neighborhood of Billabong Road and Homestead Place to the south, Rogers Road to the west and the Orange County Land fill to the north.

 

Draw an imaginary vertical line through the middle of the study area. East of the line almost half of the study area (164 acres) consists of the Greene Tract. Approximately 60 acres of the Greene Tract is owned by Orange County and 104 acres is jointly owned by Orange County, the Town of Chapel Hill and the Town of Carrboro. The Greene Tract was originally purchased in 1984 as a potential future landfill. It is located south east of the existing Orange County landfill. A concept plan prepared by a Greene Tract Workgroup was approved by the joint owners in late 2002. The concept plan identifies that 18.1 acres of the jointly owned portion will be developed for housing and the remaining acres of the jointly owned portion will be preserved and managed as open space.

 

West of the imaginary line the study area consists of approximately 80 lots and tracts of the Rogers Road Neighborhood. The properties are mostly accessed via Purefoy Drive off Rogers Road.

 

Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force  

 

Following a community open house in December 2006, the Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force was formed and began meeting in February 2007. The Task Force has met six times holding a meeting on the second Thursday in the month. 

 

The charge of the Task Force is to take a more detailed look at the impacts of providing public services in the study area, especially the extension of sanitary sewer, and the impacts of developing an affordable housing site on the Greene Tract.

 

The Task Force has been reviewing background information about existing conditions and infrastructure of the study area in order to establish a vision for the future. To date the Task Force has focused on how to improve facilities for existing residents in association with planning for future development of the study area.

 

Interim Findings

 

This interim report includes a potential sanitary sewer plan to serve existing property in the study area. The plan was developed with the assistance of OWASA staff. The report also includes potential options for a road network to open up and connect the neighborhood.

 

Keeping the neighborhood affordable is the key issue from the work so far. How to get sanitary sewer and additional road access to the neighborhood without causing financial hardship to existing residents? Who should pay for these facilities and how should they be paid for?

 

The Task Force believes that the development of housing on the Greene Tract ought not proceed without providing current residents of the neighborhood the opportunity to be served by sanitary sewer.

 

The Task Force recommends:

 

Guiding Principles

 

The Task Force has developed the following principles to guide the development of the small area plan:

 

 

Sanitary Sewer Plan

 

Most of the Rogers Road study area is served with water from OWASA. Water lines extend eastward from Rogers Road. OWASA sanitary sewer has been extended into the southwestern part of the study area. OWASA policy is that to work best sewers need to run downhill so that wastewater will flow using gravity rather than being pumped mechanically. Pumps are not desirable because they may fail during storms and they involve operating costs for electricity and maintenance.

 

In March OWASA staff presented a conceptual layout of a sanitary sewer network that could provide service to existing lots within the Rogers Road study area.  The conceptual layout identifies new lines that would need to be constructed and an existing line extended to provide a gravity sanitary sewer service to existing lots. Topography in the study area indicates that portions of the study area would best be served with gravity sewer falling in different directions from the study area. This includes extending the existing line from the south west, a new line to Eubanks Road in the north east and a new line to the west which could be provided in cooperation with the Town of Carrboro.

 

Appendix 1 is maps showing a conceptual sewer network plan to serve most of the existing lots in the study area. There is one concept for the study area with two versions; Concept A serves the Neville Tract and the adjoining 24 acre Harris property via a new line to the north. Concept A has greater potential to facilitate subdivision of the Harris property. Construction is estimated to cost $ 2.9 million. Concept B serves the same properties via a new line to the west. Construction is estimated to cost $ 2.5 million. Neither Concept A or B serve properties off Sandberg Lane or 3 lots off Merin Road.  Concept C shows how gravity sewer could be provided to those lots not served by A or B via a new line along Billabong Lane. Billabong Lane is beyond the study area. Construction of the lines in Concept C would add $1.3 million to the construction cost of Concepts A or B.

 

Appendix 2 provides more detail from the OWASA on the conceptual sewer network plan and a breakdown of the cost to construct the lines. It also sets out indicative non-construction costs to hook up existing homes to the lines.

 

The Task Force reviewed the OWASA water and sewer extension policies. In accordance with the OWASA policies, benefiting properties would bear the cost of extending water and sewer lines.  The Task Force also reviewed the assessment process for neighborhoods pursuing water and sewer service.

 

Members expressed great concern over the ability of existing homeowners to bear the cost of installing main lines, hooking up to services and paying utility bills, thereby decreasing the affordability of low-cost housing that currently exists in the study area.  

 

 The Task Force believes that the development of housing on the Greene Tract ought not proceed without providing current residents of the neighborhood the opportunity to be served by sanitary sewer.

 

Appendix 3 outlines the cost per lot to provide sewer with an assessment project. It also shows how that cost could be reduced by additional development in the neighborhood, increasing the number of lots. In other words how the assessment cost could be reduced by splitting it between 200 lots as opposed to 100 lots.

 

The Task Force recommends that an action plan is made to address sanitary sewer provision. The Task Force requests that the Town Council of the Town of Chapel Hill, the Board of County Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen work with OWASA to develop an action plan for the provision of sanitary sewer.

 

Additional Road Access

 

Properties in the study area are mostly accessed via Purefoy Drive off Rogers Road. Rogers Road is currently classified as a collector street by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).  Rogers Road carries approximately 5,000 vehicles per day, a rise from 3,000 vehicles per day in 1990.  In general traffic on Rogers Road increases by 4 to 6 percent per year.  We would anticipate continued growth in vehicle traffic along Rogers Road linked to continued development along both Homestead Road and Eubanks Road in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.  Purefoy Drive as it exists currently is sufficient to accommodate 500 trips per day and will accommodate the projected trips from the future Habitat for Humanity development proposed at Purefoy Drive.

 

The Task Force understands that new development in the study area may require expansion or upgrade of existing streets.  The Task Force identified the need for additional access to the neighborhood and internal road connections. In particular it identified the need to have a north-south roadway connection through the study area to connect to Eubanks Road. 

 

As Orange County owns approximately 70 percent of the property with frontage on Eubanks Road including the landfill site, the future operations center and the future animal shelter, the Task Force identified that Orange County needs to be an active partner in the small are planning process and in its implementation. The Task Force recommends that the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County act cooperatively to secure a roadway corridor through the Orange County property to Eubanks Road.

 

Appendix 4 is a conceptual road network providing potential access to and internal connections in the study area. The Task Force

 

The Task Force considered options to provide an east to west road connection to the neighborhood through the Greene Tract. It identified that this would be constrained by the permanent preservation of the Greene Tract and the difficulty in securing a vehicular crossing of the railroad. The Task Force considers that a greenway connection should be explored through the Greene Tract.

 

Greene Tract

 

The Task Force received information from Dave Stancil Director of the Environment and Resource Conservation Department at Orange County concerning the environmental sensitivity and importance of the Greene Tract. The Greene Tract lies at the headwaters of three watersheds. Excepting the 18.1 acres of the Greene Tract which is identified by for housing development by the 2002 Greene Tract Concept Plan, the Task Force supports the placement of Conservation Easements on the Greene Tract.

 

The Task Force believes that the development of housing on the Greene Tract ought not proceed without providing current residents of the neighborhood the opportunity to be served by sanitary sewer.

 

Land Uses

 

In March the Task Force took part in a land use visioning exercise, members expressed a preliminary preference for low-density residential, recreational, and small commercial land uses in the Rogers Road study area.  Further exercises will be scheduled to identify preferred locations for uses within the study area.

 

Landfill and Establishment of Waste Transfer Center

 

The Task Force has not actively discussed the operation of the County Landfill. This is because this matter is being addressed separately by the Orange County Historic Rogers Road Community Task Force. Members of the Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force have raised concerns about potential contamination of water from the landfill site and how contamination might affect future development. Members have also raised concerns about the proposed relocation of the Convenience Center.

 

Conclusion

 

A small area plan for the Rogers Road Area is essential to coordinate the provision of infrastructure and services to the neighborhood. Additional transportation access and the provision sanitary sewer are needed to improve the infrastructure of existing residents and for the orderly development of housing on the Greene Tract.

 

The Task Force is greatly concerned about the cost of providing sanitary sewer to existing residents of the study area and recommends that the Town Council of the Town of Chapel Hill, the Board of County Commissioners, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the OWASA Board of Directors work together to provide sanitary sewer to the study area.

 

The Task Force believes that the development of housing on the Greene Tract ought not proceed without providing current residents of the neighborhood the opportunity to be served by sanitary sewer.

 

The Task Force also recommends that the Town Council of the Town of Chapel Hill and  the Board of County Commissioners, work together to secure a roadway corridor through the Orange County property to Eubanks Road.