(For Discussion 1/14/2009
Council and Trustees)
1. Housing
Policy statements in past reports: The HWCC recommended that planning for Carolina North address community needs for housing, schools, and other facilities. The LAC discussion of housing was complex with Carrboro proposing set percentages of housing relative to new employees and the University proposing housing relative to market demand and program feasibility.
University proposal: The University has included housing in the program of uses at Carolina North, with an emphasis on graduate student and employee housing. The initial program for Carolina North estimates 200,000 GSF of housing in the early stage (1.5 M total SF) and 650,000 GSF of housing in the mid stage (3 M total SF).
The consultants working with the on-going fiscal impact analysis have produced employment figures for Carolina North that can be adapted to provide a general estimate of the number of employees estimated for the project. For a project of 3 million sq. ft. as is being currently discussed, these figures indicate an estimate of about 6,300 total employees on site, with about 4,400 being new positions and 1,900 being existing positions being relocated to this site.
As for the location of housing, the 50-year plan includes areas where housing could be integrated with other uses (along the retail corridor) or in neighborhoods adjacent to academic or other programs.
As for the timing of provision of housing, the University states that it will provide housing in each phase of development of Carolina North, making a best effort to include some housing that would be attainable for employees in the University’s lowest pay grades. The time-frame for building housing at Carolina North must be guided by the financial viability of those projects, fund sources, demand and impacts on the local community. The University has requested flexibility in timing the construction of housing so that the financial viability of the construction is not at odds with a pre-established or arbitrary schedule for housing.
Key Questions on Housing:
2. Preservation of Natural Areas, Undeveloped Areas, and Open Space
Policy statements in past reports: The HWCC recommended that the University preserve in perpetuity the maximum amount of open space possible with a goal of preserving 75% of the Horace Williams Property. Trustee representatives on the LAC indicated that the University would not agree to preserve areas not covered by these two topics (250 acre development area plus required regulatory buffers) in perpetuity because such a step is in conflict with the University’s mission to the state and responsibility to future trustees.
University proposal: The University committed to limit development over the next 50 years to no more that 25% (approximately 250 acres) of the site and to make good faith efforts to meet its needs beyond 50 years within that limitation.
The University has planned to include approximately 250 acres of the total Carolina North property in development for the first 50 year as reflected in this current plan.
During the regulatory review and approval of Carolina North, the US Army Corps of Engineers permit will inform the University’s understanding of the amount and type of open space to be protected in buffers or other mechanisms to fulfill state and federal requirements.
The Town requested that the University comply with the adopted Resource Conservation District buffers, which do not currently apply to State property. The University indicated that required regulatory buffers protecting streams would be implemented.
Key Questions on Open Space:
3. Stormwater
Policy statements in past reports: The HWCC recommended that the Town ensure that development of Carolina North results in no net increase in stormwater discharge. The HWCC also recommended establishing the stormwater requirements that were adopted for the main campus by the Town Council on July 2, 2001 as the minimum standards for the development of Carolina North.
In the LAC process, the University agreed that the stormwater requirements for the main campus adopted by the Town Council on July 2, 2001, will be adopted as the minimum standards for the development of Carolina North. The University has also suggested that development at Carolina North meet the most stringent of the Jordan Lake TMDL’s, the LUMO OI-4 Stormwater regulations, or any applicable NPDS permit.
University proposal: With regard to stormwater management UNC-Chapel Hill is different from other land owners in Chapel Hill in that the University is required by Federal and State law to have its own stormwater management permit. The University owns, operates, and maintains an extensive stormwater system, and has a program in place to achieve compliance with the requirements of that permit which applies to all University-owned property.
Joining the Town’s stormwater utility would not relieve the University of the requirements of its own permit. Maintaining compliance with that permit should meet the Town’s interest in the management of stormwater on University property. Since we are doing that without participation in the Town’s utility, it is difficult to see a performance gain that would follow from joining the utility.
University faculty conducts research on stormwater management using the University’s facilities – flexibility to pursue this research while maintaining the required level of compliance is necessary.
While the North Carolina Attorney General has taken the position that municipalities cannot require State agencies to join local stormwater utilities, that opinion also provides that State agencies should pay for services provided by a city or county. To the extent that both the University and the Town depend upon each other’s infrastructure for their respective stormwater management activities, the net burden could be evaluated and an appropriate accommodation negotiated. The University’s recurring costs for stormwater management in 2008-09 will total nearly $450,000 and accumulated one-time expenditures for compliance are in the tens of millions.
Key Questions on Stormwater: