AGENDA #5k
AMENDED
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Consideration of a Voluntary Annexation Petition for 32.79 acres at Eubanks Road from Chapel Watch Village Developer
DATE: August 25, 2003
The purpose of this report is to present our evaluation of whether the Council should accept a voluntary annexation petition received for the site of the proposed Chapel Watch Village development, and call a public hearing to consider the proposal.
We recommend the Council take no action on this petition.
The attached resolution would accept the petition and proceed with the requested annexation.
BACKGROUND
The Town received a petition to annex 32.79 acres of land on the south side of Eubanks Road from Campus Estates, LLC, dated March 28, 2003 (please see Attachment 1). The petition was received as part of a submittal dated May 16, 2003 containing an application for a zoning map amendment and a special use permit for 268 apartment units on the property. The project is called Chapel Watch Village.
Location and Description
The petition area is located on the south side of Eubanks Road between the Norfolk and Southern railroad spur and Northwood Drive (please see Maps 1 & 2). To the north are the UPS building and the Town’s Park and Ride Lot, to the west the Northwood subdivision and to the south the Larkspur subdivision. The land is made up of 2 tracts with single family dwellings and a vacant tract.
Annexation Strategy
Annexation is the process by which towns and cities expand their corporate limits to provide for the orderly extension of municipal services to areas that are becoming urbanized. The required municipal services include police protection, fire protection, garbage and trash collection, maintenance and lighting of public streets (excluding State roads), and all other services provided by the municipality, on the same basis as provided within the existing municipal boundaries.
The Town's general policy, as reflected in annexation decisions in the last 20 years, has been to annex areas within the Town’s Urban Services Boundary when they qualify under State law and when the Town can practically extend and finance municipal services to the qualifying areas.
The Town’s long range strategy includes a preference for town initiated annexations because they allow the Town to have greater control over the timing of growth and the shaping of the Town’s corporate limits.
Town-initiated annexations promote the efficient extension of Town services. The Town's Comprehensive Plan includes an objective that development moves outward from existing developed areas at the same time as public facilities and services are extended.
Under State Law the Town may use three methods to annex land, these are: “Town-initiated” (involuntary), “Contiguous Petition” (voluntary) and “Non-Contiguous Satellite Petition” (voluntary). A summary of each method together with a list of annexations the Town has completed since 1992 are set out in Attachment 2 to this report.
Comprehensive Plan Context
The petition area is currently located outside of the city limits in the Joint Planning Transition Area.
Orange County has to date not adopted the 2000 Chapel Hill Land Use Plan as an amendment to the original Joint Planning Land Use Plan.
For the consideration of a zoning map amendment the Joint Planning Land Use Plan applies to this petition area. If the petition area was annexed into the Town, the 2000 Chapel Hill Land Use Plan would apply.
DISCUSSION
The petition has been investigated and we find that it has been signed by all the owners of real property lying in the area. A Certificate of Sufficiency is included as Attachment 3 to this report.
In accordance with State statutes this area meets the tests for a voluntary satellite annexation. It is no more than 3 miles from the primary limits of the Town, no point is closer to the primary limits of Carrboro, and the area will be able to be provided the same services as within the primary Town limits. And together with other existing satellite Town limits, the total land area would not exceed 10% of the total primary Town limits.
We have carried out a small area analysis of the potential for the Town to initiate annexations in this area either with or without the subject property. We also have consulted with the Orange Water and Sewer Authority concerning projections for water and sewer infrastructure to the area.
The petition area lies inside the Town’s urban services area. In order for the town to initiate annexations, the areas under consideration need to satisfy several tests under State Law. The tests relate to the existing population density and intensity of development at the time of annexation and whether services are available or can be extended to the area within two years of annexation. The Town’s policy has been to initiate annexations of property within the urban services area when areas are developed to urban density and when it can practically do so.
A significant factor in the consideration is the provision of a new pump station near I- 40 and a water line along Eubanks Road that would be required as part of the development of the Town’s Public Works facility. That is slated for completion December 2006.
Our analysis indicates that if the Town Council does not accept the petition and waits until the petition area is developed at the densities allowed for in either the current Joint Planning Land Use Plan or the Town of Chapel Hill 2000 Comprehensive Plan, this would increase the wider area that could be annexed giving the Town greater control over the timing of growth and the shaping of its Town limits. The proposed density of the project (if approved and built) would enable the Town Council to consider at a later time annexing a larger portion of the northwest area within the Town’s urban services area. Accepting the annexation petition now could make it more difficult to annex other nearby areas in the future.
The drawback of not accepting this voluntary annexation petition would be that the petition area may develop at urban densities outside of the Town limits. Thereafter until a Town initiated annexation, the properties would not receive Town Police and Fire protection services. In addition, the Town would not receive property tax revenue.
RECOMMENDATION
We believe that accepting this voluntary annexation petition now would be detrimental to the Town’s longer term annexation strategy.
We recommend that the Council take no action on this petition.
The attached resolution would accept the petition and call a public hearing for October 20, 2003. Council consideration of the petition would be tentatively scheduled for November 10, 2003.
MAPS
Map 1. “Annexation Petition Area” (p. 14).
Map 2. “Chapel Hill’s Northwest Joint Planning Agreement Transition Area” (p. 15).
A RESOLUTION CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING ON A PETITION TO ANNEX LANDS PURSUANT TO G.S.160A-58.2 (2003-08-25/R-16)
WHEREAS, a petition requesting annexation of the non-contiguous area described herein has been received; and
WHEREAS, the sufficiency of the petition has been investigated; and
WHEREAS, certification by the Town Clerk as to the sufficiency of the petition has been made;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Town Council of the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina that:
Section 1. A public hearing on the question of annexation of the non-contiguous area described herein be held at The Town Hall 306 South Columbia Street, Chapel Hill at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 20, 2003.
Section 2. The area proposed for annexation is described as follows:
Lots 1, 2 and 3, identified as Tax Map and Pin Number (respectively); 7.18..16A/9870-87-1493; 7.18..16/9870-87-5224; 7.18..15/9870-97-1299, situated in Chapel Hill Township, Orange County, N.C., and more particularly described as follows;
Beginning at a new iron rod, on the southern right-of-way line of Eubanks Road (SR 1727), thence with said right-of-way the following courses and distances:
Thence leaving the right-of-way and with the Everette line, S 00°22’22” W, 828.68 feet to an EIP. Thence with Larkspur Subdivision, Marvin MacPherson and Elizabeth Balden the following courses:
N 89°01’49” W, 965.67 feet to a point,
N 89°01’49” W, 133.01 feet to a point,
N 88°34’32” W, 560.53 feet to a point,
Thence with Jacqueline Upperman, N 04°11’37” E, 968.20 feet to a new iron rod on the southern right-of-way line of Eubanks Road, the point and place of beginning, and containing 33.757 acres more of less.
Section 3. That the Town Manager shall cause notice of the public hearing to be published, in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipality, at least 10 days before the date of the public hearing.
This the 25th day of August, 2003.
