ATTACHMENT 1

Horace Williams Citizens’ Committee

PROGRESS Report NUMBER 2

August 25, 2003

The Horace Williams Citizens’ Committee is pleased to present this second progress report to the Chapel Hill Town Council.

When the Committee presented its first progress report at the June 9, 2003 Council meeting, Council requested a full report from the Committee by September 22. Subsequent to that Council meeting, the University of North Carolina expressed its intention to present Council with a conceptual plan for development of the Horace Williams property in October. In light of the University’s schedule, the Committee has accelerated its work.

This progress report contains all the recommendations that the Committee has approved to date. A broad brush document, it includes all of the principles and goals that the Committee will recommend. On September 22, the Committee plans to deliver a final report to Council that will include recommendations about specific strategies to address the principles and goals listed here. The Committee hopes that Council will transmit the recommendations in this report to the University in time for the University to take them into consideration as it prepares its conceptual plan.

PURPOSE OF REPORT

This report responds to the Town Council’s charge to:

· Develop a set of Principles, including community interests and goals and objectives, to guide the Council’s deliberations with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill regarding the development of the Horace Williams property (Carolina North), including the following topic areas:

o Water/sewer

o Hazardous waste

o Stormwater

o Transportation modes, including transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and auto

o Housing

o Schools

o Natural area protection

o Fiscal equity

o Neighborhood interface

o Parks and Recreation space/facilities

· Provide advice to the Council concerning Town input to the University related to those Principles that should be considered as the University’s plan is prepared.

· Keep the Council informed about work in progress on a regular basis, beginning with a preliminary report 90 days after the first Committee meeting.

ORGANIZATION OF REPORT

The report is divided into the following topic areas: Development Management; Neighborhood and Community Interface; Water and Sewer/Stormwater Management/Air Quality; Natural Areas/Park and Recreation Facilities; and Transportation and Land Use.

In each topic area, recommendations consist of broad principles followed by goals. The final report will include specific strategies for achieving those goals. This report also includes general principles and working assumptions that apply to every topic area.

APPROVAL OF RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GOALS

On Thursday, August 21, 2003 the Committee approved all of the principles and goals listed on the following pages. A vote of at least two thirds of the Committee members in attendance was required for adoption. In most cases the Committee reached full consensus on the wording of the principles and goals; footnotes show votes where there was not unanimous support. Dissenting Committee members were given the opportunity to provide comments in the form of footnotes to clarify their position on any issue. These comments are listed on Page 11.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Principle 1: Carolina North shall adhere to the following basic sustainability principles as defined by the Sustainable Development Task Force in its October 1998 Report to the Chapel Hill Town Council: Create healthy living environments; protect, restore and maintain ecological integrity; conserve energy and natural resources, and use them efficiently; balance social, economic and environmental concerns in decision-making; promote equity, human dignity and social justice.

Principle 2: Development on the Horace Williams property shall benefit the University, the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, Orange County, and the surrounding areas, as well as the state of North Carolina. The planning and execution of Carolina North shall be a model of cooperation for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders.

WORKING ASSUMPTIONS

Assumption 1: The remediation of all waste sites on the Horace Williams property shall be adequately addressed in accordance with the end use.[i]

Assumption 2: The Horace Williams Airport will be closed by January 1, 2005.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Principle 1: Manage development of Carolina North to minimize impacts on neighborhoods and the environment.

Goal 1: Phase the development of Carolina North to ensure that transportation infrastructure, retail, recreation and civic facilities and housing will be provided concurrently with and in proportion to academic and research uses to minimize disruption to the surrounding neighborhoods and ensure the sustainability of the mixed-use area.

Goal 2: Adopt a master plan and establish a review system for Carolina North to ensure that development over the long term conforms with the Town’s objectives.

Goal 3: Minimize environmental and community impacts of construction.

NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY INTERFACE PRINCIPLES

Principle 1: Planning for Carolina North shall address community needs for housing, schools, and other facilities.

Goal 1A: Create a diversity of housing levels, types and values that reflect the salaries of those using the site. Provide a minimum of 25% of housing for the number of jobs and students at Carolina North.

Goal 1B: Provide adequate residential parking.

Goal 1C: Produce housing in an environmentally sound manner with respect to design, siting, materials, and resource use.

Goal 1D: Include civic uses in the built environment.

Principle 2: Create a campus facility that is open, welcoming and part of the community fabric while at the same time respecting the privacy and integrity of adjoining neighborhoods.

Goal 2A: Integrate community concerns in the design of Carolina North.

Goal 2B: Create a built environment with a sense of place and a feeling of permanence.

FISCAL EQUITY PRINCIPLE

Principle 1: The University or State or Carolina North tenants shall bear the cost of Town services required by Carolina North so that Town residents do not subsidize those uses through their local taxes. The Carolina North development shall be either revenue positive or revenue neutral for the Town.[ii]

Goal 1: The Town shall establish a process to identify the costs and the revenues associated with Carolina North and receive appropriate support from the University for Town services and resources.

WATER AND SEWER / STORMWATER MANAGEMENT /

AIR QUALITY PRINCIPLES

Principle 1: Assume a leadership position in sustainable water management and wastewater treatment and reuse.

Goal 1: Seek innovative solutions to minimize water demand and ensure adequate supply for the greater community as well as Carolina North.

Principle 2: Ensure that development of Carolina North results in no net increase in stormwater discharge.

Goal 2: Follow University Campus Master Plan Best Management Practices for stormwater.

Principle 3: Ensure that Carolina North has no negative impact on the air quality of Chapel Hill.

Goal 3: Ensure there is no net increase in greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides.

NATURAL AREAS / PARKS AND RECREATION FACILITIES PRINCIPLES

Principle 1: Preserve in perpetuity the maximum amount of open space possible with a goal of preserving 75% of the Horace Williams property as stated by the University.[iii]

Goal 1A: Protect water features and large areas of land.

Goal 1B: Designate and protect areas that serve as passive recreation opportunities, as wildlife habitat, and as buffers along Bolin Creek and Crow Branch.

Goal 1C: Build active recreation facilities within the developable area (25% of the Horace Williams property).[iv]

Principle 2: Develop and maintain a network of trails and greenways at Carolina North. [v]

Goal 2A: Partner with Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County and community groups to develop trails and greenways along the rail line, Bolin Creek and Crow Branch.

Goal 2B: Develop trails along the creeks in a sensitive manner to protect the fragile ecology of the corridor.

Principle 3: Conduct and maintain an inventory of natural resources and use it as a guide for planning and development.

Goal 3A: Implement the recommendation of the Carolina North Infrastructure Report (May 2003) to permanently protect designated environmental assets as follows:vi

“Identify and delineate Carolina North’s most valuable environmental assets that merit permanent protection. These assets include critical habitat, hardwood forests, steep slopes, streams, perennial and intermittent tributaries, stream buffers … and other riparian buffers. Preserve these assets by inviolable means, such as conservation easements or land trusts.

“Identify other environmental assets that merit protection. These assets include green space, open space, tree stands and a specified protected acreage or percent. Preserve these assets by means that are durable and allow the best future environmental decisions (e.g., Board of Trustees policy).” (Page 20)

Principle 4: Follow sustainable site design principles and goals.

Goal 4A: Endorse the following environmental principles and goals for conserving land and water resources specified in the 2/5/01 Town-Gown Committee Report:

a) Minimize disturbance.

· Disturb as little of the proposed site as possible.

· Work with the natural contours; avoid excessive earthmoving.

· Limit removal of existing natural vegetation.

· Avoid placing structures in floodplains and sensitive areas.

· Keep building and parking envelope as compact as possible.

· Maintain [or re-establish if needed] riparian buffer along stream [with additional allowance for wildlife corridors]

b) Maintain natural hydrologic cycle.

· Prevent net increase in volume runoff.

· Avoid unnecessary impervious surfaces—make pervious if possible.

· Maintain recharge of rainfall to groundwater.

· Provide retention beds to mitigate stormwater.

· Maintain infiltration for existing vegetation.

· Use “best management practices” such as porous pavement.

· Collect rainwater for plant and garden watering.

c) Maintain water quality.

· Use native species and omit future chemical site maintenance. [Landscape to minimize need for pesticides and fertilizers.]

· Limit artificial areas such as maintained lawns.

· Avoid discharge of wastewater to creeks and ponds.

· Avoid earthwork which creates erosion and sediment problems.

· Maintain native vegetation.

· Use low maintenance, water quality Best Management Practices (BMP).

TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE PRINCIPLES

Principle 1: Carolina North will create minimal impact on traffic and will promote commuter safety.

Goal 1A: Carolina North will be designed and built as a pedestrian-, bicycle-, and transit-oriented development from the outset.

Goal 1B: Carolina North will be a mixed-use development.

Principle 2: Carolina North will comply with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.

Goal 2A: Conserve and protect the Town’s existing natural setting.

Goal 2B: Protect the surrounding neighborhoods.

Principle 3: Create a new zoning district that would apply to Carolina North.

Goal 3: Ensure that the development of Carolina North abides by the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

John Boyer, Buck Branson, Joyce Brown, Margaret Brown, Al Burk, Joe Capowski, James Coley, Linda Convissor, Barbara Driscoll, Pat Evans, Cam Hill, Randy Kabrick, Kathleen Kearns, Mark Kleinschmidt, Julie McClintock, Margaret Morse, David Otto, Blair Pollock, Ruby Sinreich, Del Snow, Bill Strom, and Diane VandenBroek.

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