AGENDA #3

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT:       Public Hearing for Closure of a Section of Laurel Hill Road Right-of-Way

 

DATE:             October 18, 2004

 

 

The purpose of this hearing is to receive citizen comments on whether the Council should close a section of Laurel Hill Road between Coker Drive and Fordham Boulevard. Please see the attached map (Attachment 1).

 

The Manager’s preliminary recommendation is that the Council adopt a resolution that would close Laurel Hill Road between Coker Drive and Fordham Boulevard.

 

BACKGROUD

 

The University has requested that the Council consider closing a section of the Laurel Hill Road right-of-way within the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Please see Attachment 2.  The right-of-way is shown on Orange County Tax Map 7.66 and is located between Fordham Boulevard and Coker Drive. The Town maintains Laurel Hill Road except for a short section of the street within the Fordham Boulevard right-of-way that is maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

 

According to State law, G.S. 160A-299, a Public Hearing and prior notice to adjacent property owners are necessary before closing a public right-of-way.  Under the statute, the Council may close the right-of-way upon determining that:

 

“closing the street or alley is not contrary to the public interest, and that no individual owning property in the vicinity of the street or alley or subdivision in which it is located would thereby be deprived of reasonable means of ingress and egress to his property.”

 

In accordance with State law, notices of this public hearing were published in a local newspaper, posted along the right-of-way and mailed to residents in the vicinity. If the right-of-way is closed the ownership of the property would revert to the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Botanical Garden. G.S. 160A-299 is provided in Attachment 3.

 

On September 19, 1988, the Council held a public hearing to consider a request from the University to close this same section of street.  Seven residents spoke at the public hearing in opposition to the closure.  Four residents spoke in favor of the closure.  The University chose not to pursue the matter further.  Since the 1988 Public Hearing the proposed closure of Laurel Hill Road has not been brought to the Council for consideration until tonight. 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The University originally requested that the Council consider closing a 0.2 mile section of Laurel Hill Road within the North Carolina Botanical Garden. The request has been amended to include all of Laurel Hill Road that now bisects the Garden. Consideration of this entire section of the street would provide the Council flexibility regarding the length of street that may be closed. On September 13, 2004, the Council approved a resolution to expand the section of roadway to be considered for closure. Please see Attachment 4 for the September 13 Council item.

 

The University provided the following reasons for the requested closure of the street:

 

• Safety
• Unification of the Garden lands
• Teaching effectiveness and visitor experience

 

The closure of the street would eliminate vehicular traffic through the Garden and any existing pedestrian/vehicle conflicts that may be present. It would also provide an opportunity for the construction of a sound barrier across the right-of-way where the existing street now intersects with Fordham Boulevard.

 

Traffic Patterns

 

If the street is closed, all through traffic that now uses Laurel Hill Road would move to other locations.  Most of the traffic would be diverted to the Manning Drive intersection with Fordham Boulevard. All Botanical Garden visitors would continue to enter from the existing Mason Farm Road access to the site.  However, Botanical Garden employees and volunteers would likely drive to the Garden from the Coker Drive end of Laurel Hill Road which would then function as a service driveway for the Botanical Garden.  This section of the street is on a bus route for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System.  The Operations Manager for the School Transportation Department has indicated that closure of the street would not be problematic for the school system.

 

After the public hearing was called, Town staff collected 24-hour traffic counts in the vicinity of the requested road closure. Please see Attachment 5 for traffic counts. The highest number of vehicles using this section of Laurel Hill Road was 189 vehicles over a 24-hour period.  We also reviewed the AM peak and PM peak traffic periods at the Manning Drive/Fordham Boulevard intersection to determine the potential impact of the additional traffic.  The current Level of Service for the AM peak period is ‘C’ and the PM peak period is ‘D’.  A Level of Service ‘D’ is considered acceptable. If Laurel Hill Road is closed and traffic diverted to Manning Drive there would be a slight increase in intersection delay during the PM peak period.  There would be no measurable increase in intersection delay during the AM peak period.  Thus, the Levels of Service for this location would not change from the current levels if traffic from Laurel Hill Road is routed to this intersection.

 

 

 

Access and Circulation Installations

 

We have had discussions with staff from the North Carolina Botanical Garden concerning potential access and circulation considerations if Laurel Hill Road was closed through the Garden.  It is our understanding that the following improvements have been discussed with neighboring residents.  If the right-of-way closure is approved by the Council, the North Carolina Botanical Garden would fund and provide the following improvements, prior to the closure:

 

·        A bicycle/pedestrian corridor from the Coker Drive/Laurel Hill Road intersection to Mason Farm Road.

·        An exclusive right-turn lane on Manning Drive at the intersection of Manning Drive and Fordham Boulevard.

·        Reconstruction of the Laurel Hill Road and Coker Drive intersection to replace the existing T-intersection with a curve to improve access to and from the surrounding neighborhood during inclement weather. Please see the drawing provided in Attachment 6.

 

The Botanical Garden would provide a pedestrian and bicycle route through the existing right-of-way and connect the corridor to Mason Farm Road. At this time an exact route has not been determined. It is our understanding that the Botanical Garden would construct and maintain the corridor.

 

Even though the projected Level of Service at the Manning Drive/Fordham Boulevard intersection would not decrease as a result of the proposed right-of-way closure, the construction of an exclusive right-turn lane at this intersection would improve the efficiency of the intersection. The design and construction details of the right-turn lane at this location require approval from the Town and the NCDOT.

 

Local residents have expressed a concern about the elimination of the use of Laurel Hill Road during periods of inclement weather and icy pavement conditions. During inclement weather, many drivers prefer to drive down Laurel Hill Road to Fordham Boulevard instead of making a left turn on a significant down hill grade to drive toward Manning Drive.  The Botanical Garden has offered to reconstruct the street at this location.  The design and reconstruction of the intersection would be subject to the approval of the Town.

 

The closure of only 0.2 miles of the street as originally requested by the University would leave a section of the street that would function as a driveway to the Botanical Garden and not as a public street.  The Town would not typically maintain a driveway serving a University facility. If the Council decides to close the right-of-way, Town staff would recommend the closure of all of the right-of-way between Fordham Boulevard and Coker Drive. 

 

Citizen Input

 

After the Council called this public hearing, the Town staff mailed notices of the hearing to 87 neighboring residents. We have received three responses to our notices.  One resident called us to support the closure with the understanding that the proposed access and circulation improvements would be provided by the Botanical Garden. Two residents have indicated their opposition to the street closure.  One of the citizens opposed to the closure has indicated opposition in writing. Please see Attachment 7.

 

Utilities and the NCDOT

 

Notification of the proposed right-of-way closure was sent to all local utility companies and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).  Orange Water and Sewer Authority, Duke Power, PSNC Energy, and BellSouth have requested the reservation of utility easements. If the street is closed the NCDOT has requested the removal of pavement at the intersection of Laurel Hill Road and Fordham Boulevard, plus the removal of any conflicting pavement markings and signs.

 

Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation:  That the Council adopt the attached resolution which would close the Laurel Hill Road right-of-way between Coker Drive and Fordham Boulevard and reserve blanket utility, drainage, pedestrian and bicycle easements for existing and potential installations.

 

ATTACHMENTS

 

1.         Area map (p. 6).

2.         University Letter Dated August 3, 2004 (p. 7).

3.         G.S. 160A-299 (p. 11).

4.         September 13, 2004 Agenda #4b (p. 12).

5.         Traffic Counts (p. 18).

6.         Proposed Improvements to Laurel Hill Road and Coker Drive Intersection (p. 20).

7.         Barrett Letter Dated September 19, 2004 (p. 21).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AN ORDER CLOSING LAUREL HILL ROAD BETWEEN COKER DRIVE AND FORDHAM BOULEVARD (U.S. 15-501) AS A PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY

 

WHEREAS, the Council on September 13, 2004, adopted a resolution of intent to consider closing the Laurel Hill Road right-of-way between Coker Drive and Fordham Boulevard and a public hearing thereon was held on October 18, 2004; and

 

WHEREAS, the closing of the Laurel Hill Road right-of-way between Coker Drive and Fordham Boulevard would not be contrary to the public interest; and no individual owning property in the vicinity of the right-of-way would be deprived of reasonable means of ingress and egress to his or her property by the closing of said right-of-way;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby adopts this order pursuant to North Carolina G.S. 160A-299, permanently closing the Laurel Hill Road right-of-way between Coker Drive and Fordham Boulevard, subject to the reservation of a blanket easement for public utilities, public storm drainage facilities and a pedestrian and bicycle corridor, all of which shall be shown on a plat to be provided by the party requesting the right-of-way closure and approved by the Chapel Hill Engineering Department.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that said plat shall be recorded by the requesting party, with the Orange County registrar, upon approval by the Town.

 

This the ____ day of __________, 2004.