AGENDA #10

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:      Proposed Phasing Plan for Southern Community Park

 

DATE:                        April 11, 2005

 

 

The attached Resolution A would designate a first phase of development for the Southern Community Park.

 

Resolution B would authorize the Town Manager to amend the Southern Community Park’s Special Use Permit application to propose the construction of 60 additional parking spaces along the south side of Dogwood Acres Drive.

 

Resolution C would continue the Southern Community Park Special Use Permit review to May 9, 2005.

 

BACKGROUND

 

In 1986, and 1989, Chapel Hill voters approved Parks bonds, portions of which were used to purchase the Southern Community Park property.  In 1997, and 2001, Orange County voters approved Parks bonds that included funds designated for the Southern Community Park.

 

In July 2000, the Council appointed the Southern Community Park Conceptual Plan Committee.  On March 25, 2002, the Town Council adopted the Report of the Southern Community Park Conceptual Plan Committee and directed the Town Manager to prepare an implementation plan. The Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted the park Concept Plan on March 5, 2003.

 

Concept Plan reviews of the application were conducted by the Community Design Commission on June 16, 2004, and by the Town Council on June 21, 2004. 

 

A Public Hearing was opened on February 21, 2005, and comments were received at that time. The Board of Orange County Commissioners reviewed the plans on March 15, 2005, and provided comments and questions.

 

On March 24, 2005, the Council/County Commission Project Planning Committee met and recommended that the phasing plan discussed below be pursued. The Committee also recommended that the Town’s Special Use Permit be amended to show 60 additional parking spaces on the south side of Dogwood Acres Drive.

 

DISCUSSION

 

BUDGET

To date we have spent or committed $332,000 for design and other pre-construction expenses. This leaves a budget of $2,510,000 for construction of the first phase of the project. This is at least $900,000 less than required if the entire program were to be built at one time.

 

SOURCES OF REVENUE

1997 Orange County Parks Bond                                 $842,000

2002 Orange County Parks Bond                                 2,000,000

 

TOTAL REVENUE                                                   $2,842,000

 

 

PROPOSED EXPENDITURES

Pre-construction costs 1                                                  $332,000

Construction                                                                 2,168,000

Contingency 2                                                                  342,000

 

TOTAL EXPENDITURES                                        $2,842,000

 

1 This amount includes design, permitting costs, surveying, public art, OWASA tap fees, required studies, and soils exploration.

2 15% of construction budget.

 

PROPOSED PHASING PLAN

This project is likely to be completed in two or more phases. The first phase would consist of a portion of the program that could be accomplished within the existing construction budget of $2,168,000. A complete list of the facilities that are proposed in the current Special Use Permit application are listed in Attachment A. We believe that the following proposed first phase of park development would provide the best combination of facilities for the available funds.

 

Infrastructure Improvements: The proposed infrastructure improvements would ensure that all essential elements of the park development are brought to the site in the first phase. These include all utilities, pedestrian and bicycle trails and paths, stormwater facilities, and traffic calming needed to serve the site. A portion of the parking would be provided as would all landscaping adjacent to areas developed in phase one.

 

·         Parking lot (south) with 65 or 125 spaces depending on the Council’s decision to possibly add 60 spaces onto the Dogwood Acres Drive parking lot

·         All sewer and water extensions

·         Restrooms

·         Sidewalks

·         Extension of Fan Branch Greenway Trail to the dog park

·         Traffic calming

·         Extensive landscape buffers along US 15-501

·         Dry detention basins

·         Constructed wetland basins

·         Public art

 

Recreational Elements in Priority Order: The following list of recreation facilities would be provided in phase one. These are the facilities that we believe are most needed by the community based on input received during the public processes of the park development, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and day to day communications with the public. It is clear that the community’s greatest recreational need at this time is for additional athletic fields that can be used for soccer. Although the other facilities listed here, with exception of the disk golf course, can be found in other public parks in Chapel Hill there are currently no such public facilities south of Fordham Boulevard.

 

·         Athletic/soccer fields (3) (This option would not include athletic lights. Lights would be added in a future phase although we would provide all conduits in this phase to make future installation easier)

·         Children’s play area (1)

·         Picnic Shelters (1 large, 1 small)

·         Dog park

·         Meadow/grass play area

·         Disk golf course

 

Potential Benefits of this Proposed Phasing Plan

  1. We believe that this option would provide the most efficient grading plan for the site within the existing budget. The majority of the site would be rough graded and all areas to be developed in phase one would be fine graded. The only areas not graded would be the facilities, road, and parking lot in the northeast portion of the site and the greenway corridor to the southern tip.

 

  1. The plan would provide for those facilities that citizens have most requested including the athletic fields, dog park, picnic areas, play areas, and trails.

 

  1. Most of the infrastructure would be in place in the first phase including all but the most localized water, sewer, and electric extensions. There would be only minor disruptions to the site for future extensions of these services.

 

  1. Most of the buffers would be planted in the first phase allowing maximum maturity of plant materials along US 15-501 and Dogwood Acres Drive. The only buffers not proposed for planting in the first phase would be those adjacent to the recycling center, which would not be constructed in the first phase.

 

Potential Issues with this Proposed Phasing Plan

  1. Postponing construction of the northern parking lot might create parking problems during the soccer seasons from the hours of 4:00 – 6:00 pm. The park and ride lot does not begin to empty until around 5:00 pm. We believe that the 65 space southern parking lot would not be large enough to handle all the parking needs of three athletic fields plus other park venues. If the Council decides to expand the Dogwood Acres Drive parking lot by an additional 60 spaces the concerns would be lessened.

 

  1. The lack of lights at the athletic fields would mean that play would be limited to daylight hours.

 

  1. The lack of a maintenance building would make it more difficult for Public Works to maintain the site.

 

  1. Delaying the remaining recreation facilities to a later phase would impact individuals who were anticipating development in the first phase. The facility that was most requested but is not included in the recommended first phase is the in-line hockey court.

 

Elements that would not be included in this Proposed Phasing Plan: The following elements would not be constructed in the first phase:

·          New street to connect US 15-501 to park and ride lot

·          Parking lot (north) with 158 spaces

·          Maintenance building

·          Extension of Fan Branch Greenway Trail from the dog park to Merritt Drive

·          Basketball courts (2)

·          In line hockey court (1)

·          Children’s splash park (1)

·          Athletic/soccer field lights

·          Youth ballfield

 

PROPOSAL TO INCREASE PARKING ALONG DOGWOOD ACRES DRIVE

The 65 spaces in the Dogwood Acres Drive parking lot would not likely be enough to handle the number of park users that would be expected during the soccer season. We would expect that park patrons would have to use the Southern Park and Ride lot and the Scroggs School parking lot unless other parking is constructed. During the late afternoon hours the park and ride lot would likely not have enough spaces for soccer games and practices.

 

An option would be to increase the number of parking spaces off of Dogwood Acres Drive by up to 60 spaces. Please see the attached sketch showing the proposed layout of the parking lot.

 

Potential Benefits of the Proposal to Add Parking Spaces off of Dogwood Acres Drive

  1. We believe that this option would be the most cost efficient method of adding spaces. We could make the stormwater facility larger, extend pedestrian facilities that would be built to serve the original 65 spaces, and add to the existing landscaping for less expense than building the northern lot.

 

  1. It would be less likely that patrons would park illegally along US 15-501 or Dogwood Acres Drive if adequate parking is provided in the Dogwood Acres Drive lot.

 

  1. The amount of land disturbance in the first phase would be reduced. If we don’t build the northern parking lot and access road now, the entire area (except for the bicycle trail connection) can remain undisturbed until a future phase.

 

Potential Issues with the Proposal to Add Parking Spaces along Dogwood Acres Drive

  1. This would be considered a major change to the Special Use Permit application that would require submittal of detailed plans showing the new parking area, calculations for the stormwater detention facility, a new landscape plan, and new dimensions for the open play area. Preparation and review of these changes would delay the project by at least one month and possibly longer.

 

  1. We would have to notify the neighbors living adjacent to the park of the proposed change.

 

  1. We estimate that the expansion might cost as much as $100,000 ($1,700 per space). This would require a like reduction in the remaining park program. The most likely area to eliminate in order to balance the budget would be the park’s picnic facilities. We would bid the project with a number of add alternates so that we would have the flexibility to delete items to keep the project within budget.

 

  1. The expansion would intrude somewhat upon the area that we have tried to preserve as open space. The open space preservation area is generally that area along the western property line of the park.

 

SUMMARY

 

We believe that the recommended phasing option would allow us to build the park elements most needed by the community and most often mentioned by citizens and elected officials throughout the public process. The recommended phasing plan would likely create some parking and maintenance issues that would not be addressed until funds for a second phase would become available.

 

The proposal to add additional parking spaces along Dogwood Acres Drive could resolve many of the parking problems anticipated with the recommended first phase. However, the proposal would add cost to the project, delay the Special Use Permit process, and would intrude somewhat into the western open space area that we have tried to protect in the design.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

Project Planning Committee's Recommendation: The joint Town Council/County Commissioners Project Planning Committee unanimously recommended that the first phase of the Southern Community Park should include:

·         A parking lot on the south side of Dogwood Acres Drive with a total of 125 spaces. (This includes 60 spaces more than is currently reflected on the Town’s Special Use Permit.)

·         All sewer and water extensions, restrooms, sidewalks, traffic calming, landscape buffers along US 15-501, dry detention basins, and constructed wetland basins

·         Public art

·         Extension of Fan Branch Greenway Trail to the dog park

·         Picnic Shelters (1 large, 1 small)

·         Children’s play area (1)

·         Three athletic/soccer fields without lights.

·         Meadow/grass play area

·         Dog park

·         Disk golf course

 

This recommendation is the same as the Manager’s recommendation.

 

Manager's Recommendation: We recommend that the Council adopt the following resolutions:

 

ATTACHMENTS

 

  1. Attachment A – Current Southern Community Park Special Use Permit Program (p. 10).
  2. Attachment B – Map showing the proposed expansion of the Dogwood Acres Drive parking lot (p. 11).

 

RESOLUTION A

 

A RESOLUTION DESIGNATING A FIRST PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT FOR THE SOUTHERN COMMUNITY PARK (2005-04-11/R-9a)

 

WHEREAS, on February 21, 2005, the Council opened a public hearing to gather comments related to a Special Use Permit application for the Southern Community Park; and

 

WHEREAS, the estimated cost of the entire proposed park development is at least $900,000 more than budget;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the first phase of development of the Southern Community Park shall consist of:

 

 

This the 11th day of April, 2005.

 

RESOLUTION B

 

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER TO AMEND THE SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR THE SOUTHERN COMMUNITY PARK TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF DOGWOOD ACRES DRIVE (2005-04-11/R-9b)

 

WHEREAS, on February 21, 2005, the Council opened a public hearing to gather comments related to a Special Use Permit application for the Southern Community Park; and

 

WHEREAS, during the public hearing the number of parking spaces was identified as a concern; and

 

WHEREAS, on March 24, 2005, the Council/County Commission Project Planning Committee met and recommended that the Town’s Special Use Permit be amended to show 60 additional parking spaces on the south side of Dogwood Acres Drive; and

 

WHEREAS, there are insufficient funds to build the proposed northern parking lot along US 15-501; and

 

WHEREAS, insufficient parking would likely result in park users parking along Dogwood Acres Drive and US 15-501;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council authorizes the Town Manager to amend the Town’s Special Use Permit application to propose the construction of 60 additional parking spaces along the south side of Dogwood Acres Drive.

 

This the 11th day of April, 2005.

 

RESOLUTION C

 

A RESOLUTION CONTINUING THE SOUTHERN COMMUNITY PARK SPECIAL USE PERMIT HEARING (2005-04-11/R-9c)

 

WHEREAS, on February 21, 2005, the Council opened a public hearing to gather comments related to a Special Use Permit application for the Southern Community Park; and

 

WHEREAS, on April 11, 2005, the Council considered a phasing plan for the project; and

 

WHEREAS, the Manager has not yet had an opportunity to respond to all of the issues addressed at the February 21, 2005 public hearing;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Southern Community Park Special Use Permit Public Hearing shall be recessed to May 9, 2005.

 

This the 11th day of April, 2005.

 

ATTACHMENT A - CURRENT SPECIAL USE PERMIT PROGRAM

 

We have submitted a Special Use Permit application for a 70 acre park that, if completely built out, would contain the following infrastructure:

·         New street to connect US 15-501 to park and ride lot

·         Parking lot (north) with 158 spaces

·         Parking lot (south) with 65 spaces

·         Sewer and water extensions (including a 12” line to Dogwood Acres Drive; once the future Community Center is built OWASA would expect the 12” line to be continued to Merritt Drive.)

·         Restrooms

·         Maintenance building

·         Sidewalks

·         Extension of Fan Branch Greenway Trail to the southern tip of the park property

·         Traffic calming on Dogwood Acres Drive

·         Extensive landscape buffers along US 15-501

·         Dry detention basins

·         Constructed wetland basins

·         Public art

 

In addition the program includes the following recreational elements:

·         Basketball courts (2)

·         In line hockey court (1)

·         Picnic Shelters (1 large, 1 small)

·         Children’s play area (1)

·         Children’s splash park (1)

·         Athletic/soccer fields (3)

·         Meadow/grass play area

·         Youth ballfield

·         Dog park

·         Disk golf course