Agend #9 | Northern Area Moratorium: Process for Conclusion of the Temporary Moratorium and Recommended Follow-up Actions

AGENDA #9

MEMORANDUM

TO:	Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
FROM:	J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director David Bonk, Long Range and Transportation Coordinator
SUBJECT:	Northern Area Moratorium: Process for Conclusion of the Temporary Moratorium and Recommended Follow-up Actions
DATE:	October 8, 2007

PURPOSE

This memorandum provides options that the Council may take for closure of the temporary moratorium in the Northern Area. The temporary moratorium will conclude on or before January 31, 2008.

For the conclusion of the temporary moratorium, we have identified the following options for Council consideration:

Take no action;
Amend the Comprehensive Plan: Receive comment from selected Advisory Boards and Commissions, the Town Manager and Attorney, and hold a Public Hearing to consider adoption of the Northern Area Task Force Report and the associated Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans as a component of the Comprehensive Plan. This action would also amend the Land Use Plan, a component of the Comprehensive Plan, to designate transit oriented development opportunity sites as identified in the Northern Area Task Force Report (Attachment 2);
Rezone Selected Properties: Hold a Public Hearing to consider rezoning specific lots in the Northern Area that currently have undesirable zoning based on the Report (Attachments 3 and 4).

These options are described in greater detail in this memorandum.

We recommend a sequence of initial options to conclude the moratorium within the Northern Area and begin implementation of the recommendations of the Northern Area Task Force. We anticipate that the Long Range Transit Plan (LRTP) results will provide further guidance for future development once it has been completed. This memorandum will also discuss how these recommended actions may inform town-wide consideration of higher density and transit oriented development along our major transportation corridors. As we explore higher density and transit oriented development along our major transportation corridors, we will be providing information to the Council regarding the service implications of more intense development. These reports will be provided to the Council upon completion of the work of the Town’s Higher Density Development Steering Committee.

BACKGROUND

On May 7, 2007, the Council created a Northern Area Task Force to provide advice on managing future development of the northern area, including establishment of a vision statement for the area and preparing recommendations for the implementation of transit-oriented development along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Weaver Dairy Road and Eubanks Road.

On May 21, 2007, the Council enacted a temporary moratorium on development within the Northern Study Area. The moratorium will conclude on January 31, 2008.

On September 24, 2007, the Council received and referred (to selected Advisory Boards and Commissions and the Town Manager and Attorney) the Final Report of the Chapel Hill Northern Area Task Force as well as the Chapel Hill Northern Area Workshop: Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans, thanking the Task Force for the work.

DISCUSSION

The Northern Area Task Force Report includes a vision statement, goals and objectives to shape the type of development envisioned for the Northern Area and includes recommendations for future development in four focus areas within the Northern Area. The focus area recommendations generally outline the preferred form and density of development and redevelopment.

As part of the work of the Task Force, the Town engaged consultants to prepare concepts for the development and redevelopment of the focus areas. The consultants worked with the Task Force in two work sessions to discuss and revise concepts for the future development in the area. The Task Force included the conceptual plans as an addendum to their report for illustrative purposes. Staff has prepared a separate report summarizing the development of those conceptual plans. Both reports are included as part of Attachment 1.

At the September 24 Council meeting, we indicated that we would return to the Council on October 8, 2007 with preliminary options for action, and a proposed schedule, including a recommended Public Hearing date.

We recommend two of the initial strategies outlined below as the appropriate actions to conclude the Northern Area moratorium and to begin implementation of the Northern Area Task Force recommendations, as well as the associated Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans. These steps will be used to inform the Comprehensive Plan Update and further town-wide transit oriented objectives. We note that the Long Range Transit Plan work is underway and is expected to be adopted as a component of the Comprehensive Plan. The work of the Northern Area Task Force was coordinated with the ongoing development of the Long Range Transit Plan. We believe that the Northern Area Task Force Report and Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans have and will continue to inform the development of the Long Range Transit Plan.

We recommend that Public Hearings be called to consider the changes proposed with two of these strategies. Information regarding the recommended strategies for the Northern Area follow:

Moratorium Closure Option One: Take No Action – The result would be that the moratorium in the Northern Area would end January 31, 2008.

With this option for no action, the Council would not adopt transit-oriented initiatives pending completion of the Long Range Transit Plan and consideration of Town-wide implementation.

Moratorium Closure Option Two: Amend the Comprehensive Plan - The Council could consider adopting the Final Report of the Chapel Hill Northern Area Task Force as well as the associated Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans, as components of the Comprehensive Plan. The vision and goals and objectives identified by the Northern Area Task Force would be used to inform land use decisions in the area, as components of the Comprehensive Plan. The concept plans provide more detailed conceptual examples of transit oriented design. The conceptual plans provide visual illustrations that incorporate the goals and objectives of the Task Force Report.

As part of this process the Council could consider amending the Land Use Plan as well, a component of the adopted Comprehensive Plan, to identify the transit oriented development (TOD) opportunity sites in the four focus areas in the Northern Area Task Force Report (Part of Attachment 1). This is a similar concept to the “D” Development Opportunity sites shown on the adopted Land Use Plan. Amending the Land Use Plan to include transit oriented development (TOD) opportunity sites corresponding to the four focus areas would provide guidance to developers as well as guide land development decisions and further Council objectives and the vision of the Task Force.

We recommend adoption of Resolution A to call a November 12 Public Hearing to consider Option 2: Amending the Comprehensive Plan.

Moratorium Closure Option Three: Rezone Selected Properties - The Council could consider rezoning specific lots from Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) to Mixed Use-Village (MU-V) as indicated on the attached map (Attachment 3) and indicated in the table provided as Attachment 4. We believe that the Mixed Use-Village (MU-V) zoning could further the mixed use and transit oriented objectives of the Council. The existing Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) zoning district has not been successful in ensuring integrated mixed use development and has resulted in suburban style development. The existing Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) zoning district would permit a mix of office and commercial development without residential for example, whereas the higher intensity, Mixed Use-Village (MU-V) zoning district promotes a vertical mix of office / commercial and residential. We therefore believe that rezoning undeveloped and underdeveloped properties from Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) to Mixed Use-Village (MU-V) could better ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the Northern Area Task Force Report and associated Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans. The Mixed Use-Village zoning incorporates many of the design and development principles needed to support transit oriented development. We have identified properties the Council may consider for rezoning and the corresponding map identifying the parcels (Attachment 3 and 4).

In order to rezone property to the MU-V zone without an application initiated by the owner(s), the MU-V zone must be a general use zoning district with some uses allowed by right. In order to consider rezoning property to the MU-V zoning district, it would be necessary to first change the language of the MU-V zone to allow some use by right. Presently any development in the MU-V zoning district requires a Special Use Permit. We recommend consideration of a text amendment to the MU-V provisions that would allow mixed use development as a right, with approval by the Planning Board for development with less than 20,000 square feet of floor area or 40,000 square feet of land disturbance. Furthermore, single-family homes would continue to be a use by right, with approval authorized by staff, as we currently have in the MU-OI-1 zoning district.

We recommend the adoption of Resolution B to call a November 12 Public Hearing to consider Option 3: Rezoning Selected Properties.

STEPS BEYOND THE CONCLUSION OF THE MORATORIUM

We have identified options to begin implementation of the Task Force Report prior to conclusion of the moratorium on January 31. We recommend that the Council consider one or more of the options described in this memorandum in order to conclude the temporary moratorium and begin implementation of the Task Force Report. This is just a beginning. We believe further actions may be desired once initial options identified in this memorandum are in place.

We have identified the following next steps for the northern area, and town-wide, for consideration:

Adopt the Long Range Transit Plan to be used as a guide to identify major transit corridors and inform potential future transit oriented development sites;
Adopt Transit Oriented Design Guidelines, to be prepared by a consultant, to guide the form of transit oriented development in the TOD designations of the Comprehensive Plan; and
Create new higher density residential zones consistent with the recommendations of the Northern Area Task Force and Long Range Transit Plan.

Further, we anticipate that the Update of the Comprehensive Plan which was put on hold during the temporary moratorium while we conducted the Northern Area study may further expand the mixed use and transit oriented concepts that have been explored in the Northern Area Report.

As we explore transit oriented development and higher density development along our major transportation corridors, we will be providing information to the Council regarding the service implications of more intense development. These reports will be provided to the Council upon completion of the work of the Town’s Higher Density Development Steering Committee.

RECOMMENDATION

We recommend that the Council call a Public Hearing for November 12, 2007 to consider the following actions:

Resolution A: Receive comment from selected Advisory Boards and Commissions, the Town Manager and Attorney, and to consider adopting the Northern Area Task Force Report and the associated Transit Oriented Development Concept Plans as a component of the Comprehensive Plan. As part of this process, we also recommend amending the Land Use Plan, a component of the Comprehensive Plan, to reflect the transit oriented development opportunity sites identified in the Northern Area Task Force Report; and
Resolution B: Zoning atlas amendments to particular undeveloped and underdeveloped lots in the Northern Area that currently have Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) zoning. In addition, zoning text amendments would be considered to introduce uses by right in the Mixed Use-Village (MU-V) zoning district

Following the November 12, 2007 Public Hearing, action could be taken by the Council in January, prior to the January 31 conclusion of the temporary moratorium.

Adoption of both attached Resolutions A and B would call Public Hearings for November 12 as recommended. The resolutions can be amended to further refine either of the options, if the Council desires.

ATTACHMENTS