AGENDA #4d
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Expedited Processing of Special Use Permit Modification Application for Eastgate Shopping Center
DATE: November 10 , 2003
On October 27, 2003, the Town Council received a petition from Federal Realty Investment Trust regarding a proposed change of use at the Eastgate Shopping Center. The petition was referred to the Town Manager for review and recommendation. The petition requests expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application. A copy of the petition is attached. The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application with conditions. We recommend adoption of the resolution.
Expedited processing grants priority status for review at every step of the process, and grants priority status in being scheduled on agendas of advisory boards and the Town Council. A Special Use Permit application would normally take nine months to a year to be reviewed by all the required boards and commissions and to be heard at a Public Hearing.
Following approval, an application normally takes four to five months to obtain approval of detailed construction drawings and final plans, prior to obtaining a Building Permit. The review process is often long because of the breadth and depth of review and analysis, and because many projects are usually being reviewed at any given time.
1. Recommend expedited processing only in cases where there is a public interest or public objective involved.
2. Recommend expedited processing only when a project that involves public interest would be harmed by following normal rules of procedure.
3. Avoid expedited processing in situations where other applications that do not carry this special status would be delayed.
The proposal would involve eliminating a fuel station from the Booker Creek floodway/floodplain and we believe that public interest or public objectives would be viewed as being addressed by this proposal.
We understand that North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) is requiring the BP/Amoco Fuel Station to submit a Corrective Action Plan by December 20, 2003. This plan must remediate soil/ground water contamination to the lowest of several allowable maximum contaminant concentrations. We recommend including a condition regarding clean up of the site as a condition of approval of the request for expedited processing.
Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s Public Hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for this Eastgate Shopping Center application is that one less space would be available on the Council’s schedule for which other applications are competing.
Projects that have been granted expedited processing in the past are listed in Attachment 1.
Manager’s Recommendation: We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution to grant expedited processing for an application for modification of the Eastgate Shopping Center Special Use Permit that would change the use at the BP/Amoco site next to East Franklin Street to a general business/convenience business type use. The resolution includes a condition that would require that the property owner be responsible for the following, prior to submitting a Concept Plan application:
The two statements must be provided to the Town Manager prior to initiation of the Concept Plan review process associated with the development application. If the statements are not provided, the authorization for expedited review would be void.
ATTACHMENTS
1. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 6).
2. October 27, 2003 petition (p. 8).
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT MODIFICATION APPLICATION FOR THE BP/AMOCO GAS STATION AT EASTGATE SHOPPING CENTER (2003-11-10/R-4)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from Federal Realty Investment Trust for expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application seeking approval of a change in use at the BP/Amoco gas station at Eastgate Shopping Center; and
WHEREAS, the petition indicates that a change in use to a general/convenience type business is proposed; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that there is a public interest associated with removing a fuel station from the Booker Creek floodway/floodplain;
WHEREAS, the property has soil/ground water contamination associated with the gas station use as documented with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is directed to expedite processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application at Eastgate Shopping Center that proposes the removal of the BP/Amoco gas station next to East Franklin Street in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis upon demonstration that the property owner has
The resolution includes a condition that would require that the property owner be responsible for the following, prior to submitting a Concept Plan application:
The two statements must be provided to the Town Manager prior to initiation of the Concept Plan review process for the development proposal. Failure to submit these statements in accordance with these terms shall void this approval of expedited processing.
This the 10th day of November, 2003.
List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing
November 10, 2003
After receiving staff recommendations based on these criteria, since 1993 the Council has approved expedited processing for:
Ø Intimate Bookshop,
Ø Erwin Village Subdivision,
Ø Ruth Faison Shaw Museum,
Ø Chapel Hill Public Library,
Ø Chapel Hill Public Housing,
Ø Culbreth Park Subdivision,
Ø East Chapel Hill High School,
Ø Orange County Southern Human Services Center,
Ø Hargraves Gymnasium addition,
Ø Transitional Housing on Clark Road,
Ø Chapel Hill Day Care at Southern Village,
Ø Bolin Creek Greenway Phase II,
Ø Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Transportation Center,
Ø WUNC Tower request,
Ø Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center,
Ø Pavilion,
Ø Southern Village Elementary School,
Ø Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity,
Ø Neville Tract,
Ø McDade House relocation,
Ø Freedom House,
Ø Orange Community Housing Corporation Scarlette Housing,
Ø Kenan Stadium Expansion,
Ø UNC Co-generation Facility Boiler Replacement,
Ø Chapel Hill Internal Medicine,
Ø Midway Business Center,
Ø Carol Woods Retirement Community (for Village Charter School use),
Ø University Mall Redevelopment,
Ø Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity House,
Ø Greene Tract rezoning,
Ø Manley Estates Housing,
Ø University Fraternity and Sorority applications (sprinkler projects),
Ø Carol Woods Retirement Center (for day care addition, dining hall expansion and new units),
Ø Church of the Holy Family Expansion,
Ø Eastwood Lake Project,
Ø Chapel Hill Pediatrics,
Ø UNC Airport Drive Office Building,
Ø Rams Plaza Renovations,
Ø Meadowmont School/Park,
Ø Meadowmont Wachovia Bank,
Ø Orange County Landfill,
Ø Rosemary Street Mixed Use Development,
Ø Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center,
Ø Rusch Road Habitat for Humanity Subdivision,
Ø Village Plaza Shopping Center,
Ø Meadowmont Hilltop and Greenway Condominium,
Ø Empowerment, 229 North Graham Street,
Ø Red, Hot and Blue Restaurant at Village Plaza,
Ø UNC Print Services, and
Ø Town of Chapel Hill Operation Center.
Requests for this special application processing by East Franklin Car Care, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, an application for parking and refuse facilities at 317 W. Rosemary Street, The Franklin Hotel, Eastowne 501 Office Building, and Avalon Park Subdivision were not approved by the Town Council.