Chapel_Hill_SEAL



 

PLANNING
Town of Chapel Hill
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC  27514                                              

phone (919) 968-2728    fax (919) 969-2014
www.townofchapelhill.org

 

CONCEPT PLAN REVIEW SUMMARY MINUTES
COMMUNITY DESIGN COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, October 22, 2008, 7:00 P.M.

Chairperson George Cianciolo called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission members present were Mark Broadwell, Mary Margaret Carroll, Chris Culbreth, Kathryn James, Laura King Moore, Glenn Parks, and Jonathan Whitney. Staff members present were Senior Planner Kay Pearlstein, and Administrative Clerk Renee Moye.

THE FRALEY PROPERTY CONCEPT PLAN, 2214 AND 2312 HOMESTEAD ROAD
File No. 9870-91-4489

The Town has received a proposal from The Design Response for a Concept Plan Review for the Fraley Property, located at 2214 and 2312 Homestead Road. The Concept Plan proposes to demolish two existing single family homes and construct 49,000 square feet for office and retail use and 78,850 square feet for residential use, for a total of 123,650 square feet of floor area.  Two 2-story buildings (office/retail) and 32 townhouse units are proposed on the 9.2-acre site. Parking for 228 vehicles is also proposed. The proposed development is located on the north side of Homestead Road, adjacent to Weaver Dairy Road Extension on the west. Access to the site is proposed from Homestead Road and Weaver Dairy Road Extension. The site is located in the Residential-2 (R-2) zoning district and the Resource Conservation District. The site is identified as Orange County Parcel Identifier Numbers 9870-91-4489 and 9870-91-9528.

CONCEPT PLAN PRESENTATION

The applicant presented a proposal for a concept plan for a mixed-use development proposal. Mr. Smyre provided a series of four design options considered by the design team including the chosen final design. 

CITIZEN COMMENT

No citizens spoke on the application.

COMMUNITY DESIGN COMMISSION QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

1.     Commissioner Amy Ryan liked the design options presented to illustrate the thinking of the final design. She liked the scale of the project and the underground parking. She was concerned about the location of the ramps to the parking area. She wanted to see the plaza moved closer to the residential area of the site. She also wanted a Tree Survey as she believed there were some really nice, large trees on the site that should be preserved.

2.     Commissioner Augustus Cho expressed concerns with the traffic flow and the amount of parking. He recommended that the bicycle parking areas be indicated as well a s bus pull-off for east-bound traffic. He asked where a bus stop was on Weaver Dairy Road Extension.

3.     Commissioner Jonathan Whitney thought the entrances on Homestead Road were too close to the intersection with Weaver Dairy Road Extension. He thought that the proximity to the Senior Center made the residential portion attractive to senior citizens and asked for a cross walk across Homestead Road. The existing greenway on the west side of the property could make a good connection to the Senior Center. He liked the plaza at the corner of the site to draw people into the site and the mixed-use aspects of the project.

Commissioner Whitney likes the idea of Fearrington Village where the buildings are clustered around a public space. He recommended that buildings #28 and #32 be moved east in order to create better clustering of the buildings. He asked if the uses could be mixed together. The applicant replied that the site was too narrow and small to do that well.  Commissioner Whitney liked the concept of the plaza at the intersection.

4.    Commissioner Laura Moore liked the mixed-use aspects of the development and the entrance locations. She was concerned about the sufficiency of the buffers between the greenway and backyards of the residential units. She recommended that the design be “looser” to accommodate more blending of the uses.

5.     Commissioner Chris Culbreth recommended rearranging the site to create more internal green space. He wanted to see more 3-bedroom affordable units so kids can to the local schools. He felt that the 55+ citizens would like the Aquatics Center and Senior Center proximity. He further recommended that the residential units include first floor master bedrooms and some 1-level units. He also hoped that the large trees on the site would be preserved.

6.     Commissioner Kathryn James noted that the site has large trees and significant slopes and recommended that cross sections be used to illustrate these site features. She wondered if a lot of grading was proposed. She liked the greenway connection and wanted that to be better emphasized. She felt that there was too much of a sharp division between the office and residential portions. She also liked the mixed use development.

7.     Commissioner Mark Broadwell liked the presentation. He thought that from a community/village standpoint that the parking area was a centerpiece of the retail section. He was not certain that the plaza would be used as a congregation area and recommended that a café that looks out over the trees could be a gathering space. He did not see any places in the design that would be used to enjoy the natural area (like Café Driade). He suggested a design that would have buildings closer to the road along the frontage of the property.

Commissioner Broadwell asked if any LEED aspects were considered. The applicant replied that the residential townhouses were oriented to the southern exposure.

8.     Commissioner Scott Nilsen liked the plan. He had concerns about the space between the residential and office sections. He suggested that the plaza be moved to the interior as a meeting space but liked the concept for the site overall.

9.     Commissioner George Cianciolo did not like the starkness of the parking area, especially with the lights on the parking area. Unless a late-night restaurant is planned, he felt the site will be vacant after 5:00. He suggested that the plaza be located both exterior and interior to the site.

He asked where the recreation area was located and thought that after the Tree Survey was completed, the locations of the site components would be better known.

He asked if the internal streets were wide enough for on-street parking. The applicant replied that they were designed to be built to Town standard. He was concerned with the Weaver Dairy Road Extension entrance being too close to the Homestead Road intersection. He wondered about road widening on Weaver Dairy Road Extension especially with access to Carolina North. If that is so, then he thought that the plaza in the southeast corner would be in the right place. He likes the plan.

SUMMARY

The Commission’s comments are below. They generally supported the mixed use development with the following comments:

Prepared for:               George Cianciolo, Chair

Prepared by:                Kay Pearlstein, Staff