MEMORANDUM
|
TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
|
FROM: |
J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director Gene Poveromo, Development Coordinator |
|
SUBJECT: |
Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment – Modification to the Planned Development-Housing Minimum Land Area Requirement in Residential Districts |
|
DATE: |
March 17, 2008 |
INTRODUCTION
Enactment of the attached ordinance would change the Land Use Management Ordinance provisions to allow a reduction in the minimum land area requirements for a Planned Development-Housing to allow multi-family development to occur on a lot that is at least one acre in size, if located in a residential conditional use zoning district.
We recommend enactment of the proposed Land Use Management Ordinance text amendment.
BACKGROUND
On February 18, 2008, the Council held a Public Hearing to consider changes to the Planned Development-Housing land area requirement provisions to reduce the land area requirement to one acre if the development is located in a residential conditional use zoning district.
Today’s regulations allow multi-family development (3 - 7 dwelling units) in the R-4, R-5, and R-6 residential zoning districts, and allow multi-family (3 or more units) in non-residential zoning districts. The Planning Board currently has the authority to approve multi-family developments which propose 3-7 dwelling units. Multi-family developments which propose more than 7 dwelling units in a residential zoning district are authorized only with approval of a Planned Development-Housing by the Council as a Special Use Permit and only if the property is 5 acres or more in size.
PROPOSAL
The proposed text amendment would lower the Land Use Management Ordinance minimum land area requirements from five (5) to one (1) acre to allow approval of multi-family development (over 7 units) as a Planned Development-Housing Special Use Permit in a residential zoning district if the property is located in a residential conditional use zoning district. The minimum land area requirement in non-residential zoning districts is already at one (1) acre. We recommend the following adjustment to the minimum land area requirement provisions of the Ordinance for a Planned Development-Housing (proposed text shown underlined):
Except as provided for in Section 6.18.1(f), the minimum gross land area required for a zoning lot containing a PD-H shall be five (5) acres in residential districts, one (1) acre in non-residential district. If the zoning lot is located in a residential conditional use zoning district, the minimum gross land area required shall be reduced from five (5) acres to one (1) acre.
DISCUSSION
Several questions were raised at the February 18, 2008 Public Hearing. Each issue is discussed below:
Staff Comment: Section 4.5.6 of the Land Use Management Ordinance provides the Council with the authority to modify regulations in situations where actions, designs, or solutions are not literally in accord with the regulations if a public purpose finding can be made. As was mentioned at the hearing, we believe that this proposed adjustment to the land area for a PD-H would be a significant change associated with zoning authority so as to effectively constitute a zoning amendment and is, therefore, beyond the scope of what can be considered to be a modification of regulations authorized by Section 4.5.6.
Staff Comment: As part of the February 18 memorandum, we provided examples of three developments that were approved with more than 7 dwelling units on lots smaller than 5 acres:
The link for the February 18 memorandum and associated attachments is: http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2008/02/18/
We attach the following additional examples that are also near the proposed 1 acre minimum land area proposed with conditional use zoning:
Example 1: Oak Terrace Apartments
408 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Unit count: 12 units
Acres: 1.55 acres
Impervious surface estimate: 31%
Example 2: Bolin Heights Condos
716 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Unit Count: 7 units
Acres: .94 of an acre
Impervious surface estimate: 47.8 %
Oak Terrace Apartments, with the proposed language would require a conditional use rezoning in order to be approved (Attachment 2). Bolin Heights includes 7 units on .94 of an acre (Attachment 3). We provide Example 2, Bolin Heights, with 7 units because we had difficulty finding an example at one acre with more than 7 units.
Staff Comment: Impervious surface figures are provided for the two new examples. We believe it is possible to approve multi-family development on a lot as small as 1 acre in our current regulatory environment though more expensive parking and stormwater solutions may be necessary. The Bolin Heights example (above) provided 7 units on a lot with .94 of an acre at 48% impervious surface. As noted, we had difficulty finding examples of 7+ units on a one acre site because of our current regulatory provisions.
Staff Comment: We believe the proposed new sentence is clear and we do not recommend a change unless the Council desires to adjust the proposed acreage from 1-acre to something larger.
RECOMMENDATIONS
We introduce this recommendation of a reduced land area requirement paired with rezoning to a conditional use zoning district because of concerns we have about the appropriateness of multi-family development in some neighborhoods. For example, it seems unlikely that we would recommend lowering the land area requirement in residential areas that have been recognized as being particularly sensitive to change such as those adjacent to the University main campus, including Historic Districts and Neighborhood Conservation Districts. Making Council approval of a conditional use zoning district a prerequisite for approval of a multi-family PD-H affords the Council greater control and legislative flexibility when considering potentially inappropriate locations.
Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board reviewed the proposed text amendment on February 19, 2008 and recommended that the minimum land area be reduced from five acres to three acres. A copy of the Summary of Planning Board Action is attached.
Staff Recommendation: If enacted, the recommended provisions would continue to include a minimum land area requirement of five (5) acres for multi-family development in a Planned Development-Housing, but would offer an exception to allow reduction of the minimum land area requirement in conditional residential districts to one (1) acre. While one acre is the recommended minimum, we note that a different land area minimum could be selected for this text amendment, especially if the Council desires to introduce this change more gradually.
We recommend that the Council enact the attached Ordinance to change the Land Use Management Ordinance provisions to allow a reduction in the minimum land area requirements for a Planned Development-Housing to allow multi-family development to occur on a lot that is at least one acre in size, if located in a residential conditional use zoning district.
ATTACHMENTS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (March 17, 2008)
