AGENDA #2
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Public Hearing: Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment–Modification to the Definition of a Residential Support Facility
DATE: October 19, 2005
PURPOSE
This Public Hearing has been called to consider an application for a text amendment to the Land Use Management Ordinance regarding the definition of a Residential Support Facility.
The attached Ordinance A would amend the definition by raising the occupancy level to 40 families.
Ordinance B reflects the text amendment requested by the applicant that would allow for an exception to the existing occupancy level given certain stipulations. Please see Attachment 3 for the application letter.
We recommend that the Town Council enact Ordinance A.
BACKGROUND
The Town has been asked to approve an application for a Special Use Permit to construct the Family House, a Residential Support Facility associated with the UNC Hospital System. This application will also be reviewed at tonight’s Public Hearing. The applicant proposes to construct a Residential Support Facility for 40 families who have family members undergoing treatment in the UNC Hospital System. The site is located on Old Mason Farm Road, adjacent to the Ronald McDonald House and south of the Highland Woods neighborhood.
Currently, the Land Use Management Ordinance defines a Residential Support Facility as:
“A building or group of buildings owned or operated by a nonprofit organization intended to be used solely for temporary occupancy by family members of patients being treated at a local hospital, with occupancy not to exceed 30 families.”
On May 10, 2005, the Town received a text amendment application from Mr. David H. Clinton, of MHAworks, to modify the Land Use Management Ordinance definition of a Residential Support Facility in order to allow the Family House to offer accommodations to 40 families instead of 30. Mr. Clinton states that, “based on the information the client has received from several departments at UNC Hospitals there is an immediate and pressing need that continues to grow, for providing space for the families of patients at the Hospitals who are undergoing long-term treatments and who do not have the financial resources to afford private accommodations elsewhere. The Hospitals anticipate an immediate need for at least three facilities of the size we are currently developing.”
The Ronald McDonald House is the only other Residential Support Facility in the area, but because the facility only allows lodging to families of children undergoing medical treatment, it can only address a portion of the demand for this type of facility. Mr. Clinton goes on to say that it is unlikely that any other facilities can be built, which means the Family House will be the only facility addressing this need.
DISCUSSION
Applicant’s Proposal
The Family House is proposed to be constructed on a 7.35-acre leased area owned by the University. Please refer to the accompanying memorandum for a review of the proposed Special Use Permit application.
In light of the high demand for a Residential Support Facility and the low Floor Area Ratio in the Family House proposal, the applicant has petitioned the Council to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance definition for a Residential Support Facility as follows, indicated by underscoring, and included in Ordinance B:
“A building or group of buildings owned or operated by a nonprofit organization intended to be used solely for temporary occupancy by family members of patients being treated at a local hospital, with occupancy not to exceed 30 families. The occupancy may be raised to 40 families when a facility abuts the property of another like facility and has a minimum of 50 percent more land than the minimum lot size allowed by the Maximum Floor Area Ratio for the designated Zoning District.”
The Family House Special Use Permit application indicates that the proposal meets or exceeds the buffer, setback and intensity standards outlined in the Dimensional Matrix (Table 3.8-1) of the Land Use Management Ordinance for the Office/Institutional-2 (OI-2) zoning district. The area of the intended property that will be encumbered by the proposed facility is more than twice the amount of area required for its size. For perspective, the Ronald McDonald House, located next door to the proposed Family House site, rests on 2.04 acres and accommodates 30 families.
In addition, the intended property is 320,166 square feet and the proposed floor area of the building is 33,000 square feet. This results in a Floor Area Ratio for the proposed Family House of 0.104. The Land Use Management Ordinance sets the Allowable Maximum Floor Area Ratio at 0.264, which is over 50 percent more than the proposed Family House.
Manager’s Proposal
Although we appreciate the aspects of the Family House Special Use Permit application that exceed setback and intensity standards, we believe adding the applicant’s stipulation regarding a property’s location, land area and Floor Area Ratio to the definition of Residential Support Facility may be unnecessarily complicated. We believe the existing Floor Area Ratios govern capacity and density issues for future Residential Support Facility proposals. Therefore, we recommend simply amending the Land Use Management Ordinance definition for a Residential Support Facility to allow an occupancy level not to exceed 40 families. This amendment is indicated by strikethroughs and underscoring and included in Ordinance A:
“A building or group
of buildings owned or operated by a nonprofit organization intended to be used
solely for temporary occupancy by family members of patients being treated at a
local hospital, with occupancy not to exceed thirty (30) forty (40) families.”
RECOMMENDATIONS
Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board will review the proposed Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendment on October 18, 2005. We will provide the Council with the Planning Board Recommendation when it becomes available.
Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation: We recommend that the Council enact Ordinance A to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance definition of a Residential Support Facility to allow for an occupancy level not to exceed 40 families, without stipulations.
Ordinance B would allow an exception to the occupancy level of 30 families with stipulations regarding a property’s location, land area and Floor Area Ratio.
ATTACHMENTS