AGENDA #4f

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Request for Expedited Processing of Special Use Permit Application for OWASA I-40 Water Booster Pump Station

DATE:             June 30, 2004

 

 

On June 14, 2004, the Town Council received the attached petition from Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) regarding expedited processing for the I-40 Water Booster Pump Station. The petition was referred to the Town Manager for review and recommendation. The petition requests expedited processing of a Special Use Permit application for the I-40 Water Booster Pump Station. We recommend adoption of the attached resolution, which would authorize expedited processing of this application.

 

BACKGROUND

 

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.

 

DISCUSSION

 

Request:  The petition requests expedited processing status of a Special Use Permit application. The application proposes to upgrade the capacity of existing pumps that transfer water from the City of Durham in the event of an emergency. The pump upgrade will increase the transfer rate from 3.7 million gallons per day to 9.6 million gallons per day, which is equivalent to current average daily demand. We have not received a formal Special Use Permit application.

 

Expedited Processing:  We have generally followed the criteria listed below in making recommendations to Council on requests for expedited processing.

 

  1. Recommend expedited processing only in cases where there is a public interest or public objective involved.

 

  1. Recommend expedited processing only when a project that involves public interest would be harmed by following normal rules of procedure.

 

  1. 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 OWASA I-40 Water Booster Pump Station 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 3.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

Manager’s Recommendation:  We believe that expedited review is justified in this case, because increasing the emergency water pumping capacity of the OWASA I-40 Booster Pump Station would improve the safety of the community in general. We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution directing the Town Manager to expedite processing of the OWASA I-40 Water Booster Pump Station.

 

ATTACHMENTS

 

  1. Petition requesting Expedited Processing (p. 4).
  2. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 7).

A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR THE OWASA I-40 WATER BOOSTER PUMP STATION (2004-06-30/R-5)

 

WHEREAS, the Town of Chapel Hill has received a petition for the OWASA I-40 Water Booster Pump Station requesting expedited processing of a Special Use Permit application seeking approval of a new water pumping station; 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 OWASA I-40 Water Booster Pump Station in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.

 

This the 30th day of June, 2004.