AGENDA #3
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Public Hearing: 229 N. Graham St. - Application for Zoning Atlas Amendment
DATE: January 19, 2005
INTRODUCTION
Attached for your consideration is an application for a Zoning Atlas Amendment to rezone approximately 0.27 acres of land at the intersection of Graham Street, Nunn Street, and Whitaker Street from Residential-3 (R-3) to the Residential-Special Standards-Conditional (R-SS-C) zoning district. The lot is located within the Northside Neighborhood Conservation District. The lot is located in Orange County and is identified as Chapel Hill Township Tax Map 93, Block B, Lot 41 (PIN 9788075336).
The rezoning to R-SS-C with approval of a Special Use Permit would allow the applicant to create two lots and provides flexibility in terms of minimum requirements for setbacks and other dimensional standards. Please see the Agenda #4 for information regarding the proposed Special Use Permit.
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This package of material has been prepared for the Town Council’s consideration, and is organized as follows: ¨ Cover Memorandum: Summarizes the application, reviews procedures for review and offers a preliminary recommendation for Council action.
¨ Attachments: Includes an ordinance approving and a resolution denying the rezoning, advisory board recommendation on the application, and associated materials.
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BACKGROUND
On April 12, 1999, the Town Council created a new zoning district called Residential-Special Standards-Conditional. This new zoning district allows a residential density of up to 12 units per acre, along with additional modifications to the land use intensity regulations. The Residential-Special Standards-Conditional zoning district requires that a Special Use Permit application accompany each application for rezoning to this district.
On September 23, 2002, the Town Council granted expedited processing for this application.
On February 23, 2004, the Town Council adopted the Northside Neighborhood Conservation District (CD-1). This project falls within the boundaries of the Conservation District.
ZONING ATLAS AMENDMENT
Zoning determines the type and intensity of uses and development which are allowed on a piece of land. A Zoning Atlas Amendment involves a change to the current zoning, and thus the permitted types and intensity of land uses. In Chapel Hill, a rezoning may be requested in two ways: general use and conditional use rezoning requests. A general use rezoning request is to change the zoning to a different zoning district in which specified uses and intensities area permitted. A conditional use rezoning request allows development and uses only with approval of a Special Use Permit. This rezoning application is a conditional use rezoning request.
The zoning designation of a property determines the range of land uses and development intensities permitted on the property. Article 4.4, of the Land Use Management Ordinance establishes the intent of Zoning Atlas Amendments by stating that, “In order to establish and maintain sound, stable, and desirable development within the planning jurisdiction of the Town it is intended that this chapter shall not be amended except:
“a to correct a manifest error in the chapter; or
b because of changed or changing conditions in a particular area or in the jurisdiction generally; or
c to achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan.”
Article 4.4 further indicates:
“It is further intended that, if amended, this chapter be amended only as reasonably necessary to the promotion of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.”
As related to conditional use zoning, Article 4.4 of the Land Use Management Ordinance stipulates that:
“An application for rezoning to a conditional use district may include a request, by the property owner, to limit the uses allowed with approval of a Special Use Permit. An application for rezoning to a conditional use district may be accompanied by an application for a Special Use Permit, as provided in Section 4.5, and may be reviewed concurrently with the Special Use Permit application.”
The Council has discretionary authority to approve or deny a rezoning request. As a conditional use rezoning request, the specific proposal in the accompanying Special Use Permit application is related to the rezoning request. Approval of a conditional use rezoning for a property would mean that no development could occur, other than that allowed under the previous Residential-3 zoning on that property, without Council approval of a Special Use Permit. We believe that it is appropriate for the Council to consider a specific Special Use Permit proposal in tandem with a conditional use zoning application. If the Council does not find the Special Use Permit proposal to be an acceptable use of the property, we would recommend that the Council not approve the rezoning request.
Protest Petition
By law, formal “Protest Petitions” may be filed to protest this rezoning. A formal Protest Petition meeting the legal requirements would increase the votes needed to enact this rezoning. If a protest petition is submitted and determined sufficient, a three-fourths vote by Council would be required to enact the new zoning. The deadline for filing protest petitions is 5 p.m. Thursday, January 13, 2005. We will report at tonight’s Public Hearing regarding any valid protest petitions that have been submitted.
If the Town Council approves an application for rezoning to a conditional use district, but denies the accompanying application for a Special Use Permit, or if an application for a Special Use Permit is not considered by the Town Council, the rezoning application shall be deemed to be conditionally approved, subject to submittal and Town Council approval of an application for a Special Use Permit.
Failure to submit a Special Use Permit application within one year of the conditional approval of rezoning to a conditional use district or, if submitted, the withdrawal of such application without prior Town Council approval, shall void the conditional approval.
If a Special Use Permit issued for a Conditional Use District is abandoned, revoked, or becomes void, under the provisions of this Chapter, the conditional use zoning shall be void and the property shall revert to its previous zoning classification.
ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION
Analysis of this application is organized around the requirement from Article 4 of the Land Use Management Ordinance, which indicates that there shall not be amendments except a) to correct a manifest error in the chapter; or b) because of changed or changing conditions in a particular area or in the jurisdiction generally; or c) to achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan.
A) A rezoning is necessary to correct a manifest error.
Staff Comment: We believe the information in the record to date can be summarized as follows:
Arguments in Support: We were unable to identify any arguments in support of a manifest error as of this writing.
Arguments in Opposition: The adjacent properties to this site are located within the Residential-3 zoning district. We do not believe that the current Residential-3 zoning of this site is a manifest error.
B) A rezoning is necessary because of changed or changing conditions in a particular area or in the jurisdiction generally.
Staff Comment: We believe the information in the record thus far can be summarized as follows:
Arguments in Support: We were unable to identify any arguments in support of changing conditions in the vicinity of the site as of this writing.
Arguments in Opposition: The area in the immediate vicinity of the site has retained its medium density development. We do not believe that conditions have changed in this area so as to warrant a rezoning to a higher intensity zoning district.
C) A rezoning is necessary to achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan.
Staff Comment: We believe the information in the record thus far can be summarized as follows:
Arguments in Support: The applicant’s Statement of Justification (attached) presents evidence in support of achieving the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan, noting that the project achieves the following Comprehensive Plan goals and objectives:
The applicant’s Statement of Justification states, in part:
“…Both homes developed at 229 & 231 N. Graham Street will be Land Trust homes and by default will be affordable. With both homes being owner occupied and available at affordable prices the potential owners will continue the tradition in Northside of family-owned and occupied homes available to the working class community of Chapel Hill. Lastly, by using the Special Zoning designation of Residential-Special Standards-Conditional (R-SS-C), we are creating an innovative way to provide more owner-occupied housing for Northside, affordable homeownership opportunities, and improvements in an area suffering from disrepair and abandonment.”
Also, we note that the Comprehensive Plan adopted by the Council on May 8, 2000, identifies this area as medium density residential.
Additional arguments presented by the applicant in support of this finding are offered in the attached Rezoning Statement of Justification.
Arguments in Opposition: No arguments in opposition have been submitted to date.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations are summarized below. Please see the attached summary of Planning Board action and recommendation.
Planning Board’s Recommendation: The Planning Board considered this application on December 7, 2004, and voted 9-0 to recommend approval of the Zoning Atlas Amendment application. Please see the attached Summary of Planning Board Action.
Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation: We believe that this rezoning could be justified based on the finding that a rezoning is necessary to achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan. Our preliminary recommendation is that the Council enact the attached ordinance, rezoning the property from Residential-3 (R-3) to Residential-Special Standards-Conditional (R-SS-C).
The attached Resolution would deny the rezoning request.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Ordinance – Approving the Rezoning Application (p. 6).
4. Applicant’s Statement of Justification (p. 9).
5. Area Map (p. 12).
6. Certification of Notice to Property Owners (p. 13).
ORDINANCE
(Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation)
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CHAPEL HILL ZONING ATLAS FOR 229 NORTH GRAHAM STREET
WHEREAS, the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill has considered the application of Empowerment, Inc. to amend the Zoning Atlas to rezone property described below from Residential-3 to Residential-Special Standards-Conditional zoning, and finds that the amendment is warranted in order to achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Chapel Hill Zoning Atlas be amended as follows:
Section 1. That the property identified as Chapel Hill Township Tax Map 93, Block B, Lot 41 (PIN 9788075336) located at the intersection of North Graham Street, Whitaker Street, and Nunn Street, be rezoned from Residential-3 to Residential-Special Standards-Conditional zoning.
Section 2. That all ordinances and portions of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
This the _____ day of _________, 2005.
(Denying R-SS-C Rezoning)
A RESOLUTION DENYING AN APPLICATION FOR A ZONING ATLAS AMENDMENT FOR 229 NORTH GRAHAM STREET
WHEREAS, the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill has considered the application of Empowerment, Inc. to amend the Zoning Atlas to rezone property described below from Residential-3 to Residential-Special Standards-Conditional zoning, and fails to find that the amendment:
a) corrects a manifest error in the chapter, or
b) is justified because of changed or changing conditions in the area of the rezoning site or the community in general, or
c) achieves the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan.
For the reasons that:
a) the Zoning Atlas is not in error;
b) there have not been changed conditions that would justify this rezoning; and
c) the Land Use Plan, a component of the Comprehensive Plan, identifies this parcel for low-density residential use.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby denies the application of Empowerment, Inc. to amend the Zoning Atlas to rezone the property identified as Chapel Hill Township Tax Map 93, Block B, Lot 41 (PIN 9788075336) located at the intersection of North Graham Street, Whitaker Street, and Nunn Street, from Residential-3 to Residential-Special Standards-Conditional zoning.
This the _____ day of _________, 2005.