SUMMARY MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING
OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2003, AT 7:00 P.M.
Mayor Kevin Foy called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Council members present were Flicka Bateman, Pat Evans, Ed Harrison, Mark Kleinschmidt, Bill Strom, Dorothy Verkerk, and Jim Ward.
Council Member Edith Wiggins was absent, excused.
Staff members present were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Stormwater Engineer Fred Royal, Planning Director Roger Waldon, Principal Planner Gene Poveromo, Engineering Director George Small, Senior Development Coordinator J. B. Culpepper, Principal Planner Gordon Sutherland, and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
Item 4 - Concept Plan Review: Chancellors View
Mr. Poveromo noted the location of the proposed 24-lot residential development on 27 acres in Orange County. He displayed a map of the plan that had been presented to the Community Design Commission (CDC) in August 2003 and explained how tonight's plan was slightly different. Mr. Poveromo recommended that Council members hear comments from the CDC, receive public comment, offer suggestions, and adopt the resolution forwarding comments to the applicant.
Phil Post, representing the applicant, Capkov Ventures, Inc., explained that the plan had been modified in response to comments from the CDC. The applicant had increased open space from 50% to 52%, making it a true cluster subdivision, he said. Mr. Post indicated a road stub-out that would likely eventually connect to Highway 15-501. He commented on a proposed connectivity program with public sidewalks and a trail system. Mr. Post showed where three affordable houses would be located along Old Lystra Road. He also indicted where the applicant had added open space along Zapata Lane so that the subdivision would blend in more with the Zapata neighborhood.
Council Member Harrison asked Mr. Post to restate the changes that the applicant had made in response to CDC comments. Mr. Post replied that they had responded to the concern about frontage on Zapata Lane by dedicating more open space. And they had reconfigured the lots, he said. Council Member Harrison verified that this was a schematic idea and that there would be flexibility with regard to the location of roads. Mr. Post noted the advantages of having the smallest number of curb cuts on Old Lystra Road.
Mayor pro tem Evans ascertained that Zapata Lane had been publicly dedicated on the plat and built to public street standards. But, she pointed out, it is a NCDOT road, which means having to go through a process to get NCDOT to accept if for maintenance. Mr. Post replied that he had offered to help the neighbors obtain NCDOT maintenance. He had also assumed that the Town would annex the area, he said, noting that it would then become a Town-maintained road. Mayor pro tem Evan verified that the road had been built to Town standards.
Council Member Verkerk agreed with the CDC's stated concerns about the affordable housing units being isolated from the rest of the community. She suggested trying to incorporate affordable housing into the development, as the Larkspur developer had done. Mr. Post agreed to take the suggestion seriously. He pointed out, however, that the style and color of the affordable houses would fit well with the homes on Old Lystra Road.
Council Member Ward noted that trails were sometimes referred to as "private" in the written materials. He asked for assurances that they would be accessible to the public, and suggested that homeowners be made aware of that from the start. Council Member Ward expressed agreement with Council Member Verkerk's concerns about integrating affordable housing into the community. Also, he noted that fractions should be rounded up and proposed having four affordable units rather than three. Council Member Ward also asked for current information on the Zapata Lane residents' views, especially with regard to treatment of the road and sidewalks. Mr. Post replied that some neighbors had expressed concerns and the applicant had held conversations and scheduled meetings with them.
Mayor Foy congratulated the developer, Scott Kovens, for his excellent work integrating affordable units into the houses on Milton Road. Noting that the affordable units appear to be segregated in this project, he pointed out that this was not what the Council wanted. Mr. Kovens replied that he was attempting to build a continuum of affordable housing stocks so that, at some point, it would not be a penalty but something that he wanted to accomplish. One of the ingredients for that, he said, was to make it affordable to the builder. Mr. Kovens explained that locating the affordable units on Old Lystra Road would allow common use of materials, drainage and driveways. Different land presents different issues, he said, and it seemed like an organic solution to put the affordable houses on Old Lystra Road rather than with the larger ones where even the driveways would dwarf them.
Mayor Foy asked Mr. Post for a response to the stormwater question that the CDC had raised. Mr. Post indicated three sites in the common area.
Council Member Ward suggested trying to put the houses closer to the street rather than on the steeper part of the property.
COUNCIL MEMBER WARD MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER EVANS, TO ADOPT R-2 FORWARDING COUNCIL COMMENTS TO THE APPLICANT. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY (8-0).