AGENDA #5a

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Response to Petition Regarding Time Frames Specified in the Town’s OI-4 Zoning District

 

DATE:             September 22, 2003

 

 

On June 23, 2003, the Council received a petition from Ms. Sally Greene, Vice Chair of the Planning Board.  The Council referred the petition to the Town Manager for comment.  In this memorandum we suggest that, if the Council decides to revisit provisions of the OI-4 Zoning District, discussions with the University be initiated.

 

PETITION

 

Ms. Greene approached the Council on June 23 to ask that the Council initiate a process to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance, to adjust the time requirements that are specified in the Office/Institutional-4 zoning district (OI-4). 

 

The Ordinance currently states that, when an application for a Development Plan or Modification of a Development Plan in the OI-4 district is submitted, Council action on the application shall occur within 90 days of the date of submittal of a complete application.  Ms. Greene stated in her petition that it is difficult for the Planning Board to make a recommendation on a major Development Plan in one meeting, and suggested that 90 days is not enough time for a Council decision.  She asked Council members to consider appointing a Mayor’s Committee to look at lengthening the timetable.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The OI-4 zoning district was created by the Town Council, following an extensive dialogue between the Town and the University.  Levels of University development on UNC’s main campus had reached the ceilings permitted under a previous zoning designation (OI-3).  The University requested that the Council raise the limit, and the Council responded by suggesting creation of a new zoning district that would:

 

• Offer relief from the limit on additional new development; 
• Establish new, more rigorous standards for development;  and
• Establish a structured process for review and approval of new development.

 

University and Town officials began meeting to draft such a new zoning district, and the Town Council completed the task in July, 2001.  The end result was a carefully constructed set of regulations that balanced the University’s need for certainty, timeliness of consideration, and ability to pursue a development program with the Town’s need for community consideration of and mitigation of impacts of such development. 

 

Some of the procedures contained in the new OI-4 district are modeled after the Town’s typical procedures for consideration of Special Use Permit applications.  Examples of these similarities are:

 

• Extensive information required as part of application.
• Review of application by staff, Planning Board, and Town Council.
• Public Hearing required, in a quasi-judicial format, sworn testimony.
• Council required to make findings in order to approve an application.

 

Differences between OI-4 and a Special Use Permit in another district include the following characteristics of the OI-4 zone:

 

• More rigorous standards for mitigation of lighting and noise impacts.
• Designation of Perimeter Transition Areas with additional requirements.
• 90-day time frame for Council action.
• Requirement that Planning Board review application, but no requirement that Planning Board make a recommendation.

 

It is these last two points that are the subject of the petition.  The petitioner seeks a longer time frame for action than 90 days, and time for the Planning Board to have at least two meetings to review an application.

 

In discussions with the University during the spring and early summer of 2001, the concept of a certain and limited time frame for action on an application was a key University objective.  The 90-day time frame was an important part of the agreement that laid the foundation for the new zoning district.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

The Council reached agreement with the University on a 90-day time limit for action on applications for Development Plans and Modifications of Development Plans.  If the Council decides to re-open consideration of the provisions of this zoning district, we believe that the appropriate process to seek such a change would be through further discussion with the University.  A Mayor’s Committee might be a productive mechanism to engage University representatives in discussion about time frames for action on applications.