AGENDA #4i
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to: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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from: |
Dan Jones, Fire Chief Matt Lawrence, Deputy Chief Ralph Karpinos, Town Attorney |
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subject: |
Technical Correction to Fire Limits Code Provision |
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date: |
November 19, 2007 |
The attached ordinance would clarify that the current Fire Limits, requiring special consideration for types of construction, are to include all property that is currently zoned Town-Center as well as property which may in the future be zoned to a Town-Center zoning designation and that property that is now zoned Town-Center but may in the future be rezoned to another district would not be removed from the Fire Limits.
North Carolina General Statute Sec. 160A-435 and -436 (Attachment 1) authorize cities and towns to enact ordinances establishing fire districts and to prohibit frame and wooden buildings within those districts. Pursuant to that authority the Town has established such regulations in the Town Code.
Section 5-1 of the Code of Ordinances reads as follows:
Sec. 5-1. Fire limits designated by reference.
Pursuant to the laws of this state, the fire limits of the town shall be all Town Center (TC) zoning districts as established in the Town of Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance as adopted January 8, 2003, with the location and boundaries thereof as shown on the map accompanying amending said ordinance and which is designated the Town of Chapel Hill Zoning Atlas, as the same maybe amended from time to time.
The special construction standards within the fire limits of the Town are explained in Section 5-2 of the Town Code (Attachment 1).
In 2001, certain properties owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill along East Franklin Street were rezoned from Town Center-1 to OI-4 zoning. Because of the current wording of Section 5-1, as a result the properties were removed from the Fire Limits of the Town and therefore no longer subject to the restriction on wood frame construction.
Within the last few weeks a proposal for improving one of these structures was submitted by a private party (not the property owner) to the Town Staff and it was confirmed that, based on the current language in Sec. 5-1 of the Code, the proposal is not subject to the restrictions on wood frame construction. The staff is discussing the situation with the developers of the proposed project.
We believe that the intent of Section 5-1 of the Town Code is that all property in the downtown constructed in close proximity to other buildings and currently zoned in one of the Town Center Districts, as well as any properties added to the Town Center zoning districts, should be subject to the special construction considerations of the Fire Limits. The attached ordinance would amend Section 5-1 to make this change.
We recommend that the Council enact the attached ordinance amending Sec. 5-1 of the Town Code.
ATTACHMENT