AGENDA #6
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Randy Kabrick, P.E.
Chair, Horace Williams Citizens’ Committee
SUBJECT: Revised Horace Williams Citizens’ Committee Report on Principles
DATE: January 26, 2004
On behalf of the Horace Williams Citizens’ Committee (Committee), I am pleased to transmit our revised draft report, Recommended Principles, Goals and Strategies for Guiding the Development of the Horace Williams Property (Carolina North).
On November 24, 2003, the Council requested that the Committee consider the Town Council’s comments and recommendations made during its November work sessions, and to provide additional comments on the then-upcoming presentations by the University of North Carolina (UNC) on Carolina North. The Committee met on December 18, 2003 and on January 15, 2004 to review the report again and make additional recommendations to the Town Council.
The attached report in redline/strike-through format contains the recommended changes from the Committee (please see Attachment 1). I will present a brief overview of the revised report at the January 26, 2004 Council meeting.
Please note one change in the General Principles section of the report. During our December 18, 2003 meeting, we discovered that the sense of the wording of Principle 3 had inadvertently been changed during editing from that voted on by the Committee, and transmitted to Council on October 8, 2003. This revised report reflects the original intent of the Committee as reflected in our voting.
All of the Committee’s subcommittees met in December 2003 to discuss UNC’s draft plans for Carolina North, which UNC presented in several public meetings in December 2003. The notes from three of the Subcommittee meetings are attached to this memorandum for the Council’s reference (please see Attachment 2). The Water and Sewer/Stormwater Management/Air Quality Subcommittee has not prepared meeting notes or a response to the UNC plans. There have not been formal discussions of the University’s plans by the full Committee as of this date.
For your reference, we attach the minutes of the Council’s work sessions on November 10 and 24, 2003 and its regular meeting on November 24, 2003 relating to Council’s review of the report (please see Attachment 3).
KEY POINTS
I would like to highlight several key points in the revised report:
· Neighborhood/Community Interface Principles Goal 1B: This goal has been modified to reflect the “goal of one bed for every head.” The Committee was not unanimous on this change with the vote being 13 to 3.
· Natural Areas/Parks and Recreation Facilities Principles: The Committee wants to re-emphasize the need for preserving the maximum of open space with a goal of 75% of the Horace Williams property as open space. We have added language (see Goal 1B under Natural Areas) to emphasize that open space should be contiguous and “non-fractured” as possible. In addition, roads should be located so as not to subdivide the large environmentally sensitive tracts.
· Transportation and Land Principles: In Principle 1, we have emphasized the need for a Transportation Plan that “will be developed around a transit system including the use of Chapel Hill Transit rather than single occupancy motor vehicles.” We have changed Principle 3 on zoning from creating a new zoning district for the Horace Williams tract to retaining the existing OI-2 zoning and re-zoning the balance of the tract to OI-2. The Committee was not unanimous on this change with the vote being 11 to 5.
NEXT STEPS
We understand that the Council intends to call a public hearing on the report to receive citizen comment before final consideration and adoption by the Town Council.
As I noted in my previous memorandum of October 1, 2003, the Council charge to the Committee outlines these additional tasks requiring continued involvement of the Committee:
· 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.
· Propose a process for Council consideration identifying points in the process where Public Hearings and Forums would be appropriate, to be able to bring information to the attention of the community and provide opportunity for citizen comment.
· Prepare recommendations for the Council's consideration regarding the University's plan for the Horace Williams property once a proposal is developed.
· Provide advice to the Council about ways to incorporate these Principles into the Council's ultimate zoning and ordinances for the Horace Williams property.
The Committee respectfully requests guidance from the Town Council in terms of the process for the Committee going forward in carrying out its charge from Council.
APPOINTMENTS
At its January 15, 2004 meeting, the Committee also discussed and agreed to ask the Council to make appointments to the Committee in accordance with the original charge. In September 2003, Kathleen Kearns resigned as a “neighborhood representative” to the Committee. More recently, Cam Hill, originally appointed as a “citizen with special expertise,” has filled one of the three Council member seats, thus creating an opening in this category. If the Council intends for the Committee to continue its work, we ask that the Council consider making new appointments to fill these two positions.
ATTACHMENTS
2. Horace William Citizen Committee, Subcommittee notes on UNC’s Carolina North Plans. (p. 16).