to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director
Gene Poveromo,
Development Manager
John Richardson, Sustainability Officer
subject: Public Hearing: Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment – Sustainability Committee Liaison to Community Design Commission
date: October 20, 2008
Tonight’s public hearing has been called to consider a proposed Land Use Management Ordinance text amendment that would allow for the appointment of a liaison from the Sustainability Committee to the Community Design Commission. We recommend enactment of the proposed Land Use Management Ordinance text amendment (Attachment 1).
In May 2007, the Council adopted a resolution establishing a Town Sustainability Committee as a standing advisory board to address sustainability within the Town of Chapel Hill (Attachment 2). The following text is an excerpt from the resolution:
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Sustainability Committee be charged with maintaining a general overview of the sustainability of the Town, to specifically include the following responsibilities:
The text underlined for emphasis in item number four above indicates the Council’s desire to appoint a liaison from the Sustainability Committee to the Community Design Commission for the reasons stated. In order to formally create this liaison position, the Land Use Management Ordinance must be updated.
At the April 16, 2008 Community Design Commission meeting, the Commission received information about the establishment of the Sustainability Committee and its implications regarding the addition of an advisory board representative from that committee. In response, the Commission stated that it was supportive of the Council’s decision to allow for the designation of a representative from the Sustainability Committee.
At the September 24, 2008 meeting, the Community Design Commission was informed that the process had begun to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance as explained in April. The Committee reiterated its support for a representative from the Sustainability Committee.
The enabling legislation for the Community Design Commission is found within Article 8 (Administrative Mechanisms), Section 8.5 of the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance. The existing Ordinance language and proposed change are identified below:
Section 8.5.1 Establishment of Commission (current)
A community design commission, consisting of ten (10) members appointed by the Council, is hereby established. In addition to Council-appointed members, the planning board, parks and recreation commission, transportation board, greenways commission, and historic district commission shall designate one (1) representative from their respective boards to be members of the community design commission, each with full voting privileges.
Section 8.5.1 Establishment of Commission (proposed amendment)
A community design commission,
consisting of ten (10) members appointed by the Council, is hereby established.
In addition to Council-appointed members, the planning board, parks and
recreation commission, transportation board, greenways commission, and historic
district commission, and sustainability committee shall designate one
(1) representative from their respective boards to be members of the community
design commission, each with full voting privileges.
We recommend that Section 8.5.1 of the Town Land Use Management Ordinance be amended as proposed above in order to meet the applicable terms of the Council’s charge for the Sustainability Committee. We believe the justification of the proposed text amendment is to achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan found within the sustainability-related undercurrents of each theme. Section 8.5.2 (Qualifications) requires that that a majority of the Community Design Commission members shall have demonstrated special interest, experience, or training in a design field, such as architecture, landscape design, horticulture, city planning, or a closely related field. If the proposed text amendment is approved, we note that Section 8.5.2 will still apply.
Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board reviewed the proposed text amendment on September 16, 2008 and recommended that the Council enact the attached Ordinance. Please refer to the attached Summary of Planning Board Action.
Staff Preliminary Recommendation: We recommend that the Council enact the attached Ordinance to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance provision for the establishment of the Community Design Commission as described in this memorandum.