AGENDA #4m
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Expedited Treatment for Special Use Permit Application for Southern Community Park
DATE: March 22, 2004
On January 7, 2004, the Town Council received a petition from the Town Manager regarding expedited processing for the Southern Community Park project. The petition was referred to the staff for review and recommendation. The petition requests expedited processing of a Special Use Permit. A copy of the petition is attached. The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application. 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 three to four 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.
Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s Public Hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for the Southern Community Park 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 are identified in Attachment 1.
Manager’s Recommendation: We believe that expedited review is justified in this case, because of the need for the new park and the voter authorization of bonds. We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution directing the Town Manager to expedite processing of the Southern Community Park project.
ATTACHMENTS
1. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 4).
2. Petition requesting Expedited Processing (p. 6).
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF THE SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR THE SOUTHERN COMMUNITY PARK PROJECT (2004-03-22/R-9)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from the Town Manager requesting expedited processing of a Special Use Permit application seeking approval of a new park on the south side of Town; and
WHEREAS, the proposal would satisfy a public purpose objective;
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 application for the Southern Community Park project in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.
This the 22nd day of March, 2004.
List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing
March 12, 2004
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,
Ø Town of Chapel Hill Operation Center,
Ø Eastgate Shopping Center gas station conversion,
Ø Orange Water and Sewer Authority Wastewater Treatment Facility, and
Ø Village Plaza Theaters.
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.