MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: 2000 Comprehensive Plan
DATE: March 27, 2000
Tonight we transmit a revised draft of the 2000 Comprehensive Plan for Chapel Hill incorporating changes, in response to citizen and Council comments over the last six months since the last version was put before the Council. We also suggest a process for consideration of this draft that could lead to Council action on April 24.
We will start with a brief overview of the process to date, and then discuss substantive ideas contained in the Plan. We will respond to citizen petitions that recently came to the Council regarding the Plan, and close with a recommended set of Next Steps.
A copy of the draft 2000 Comprehensive Plan is available at Town Hall (in the Town Clerk’s Office and in the Planning Department), and also available for review at the Chapel Hill Public Library. We will also post it on the Town’s website at www.ci.chapel-hill.nc.us soon.
BACKGROUND
AND PROCESS TO DATE
In July 1998, the Council initiated a revision of the Town’s 1989 Comprehensive Plan and 1986 Land Use Plan. A Work Group was appointed in the fall of 1998 with a charge to develop a draft plan to present to the Town Council in September 1999. The preliminary target was to have a new Comprehensive Plan adopted by the end of November 1999. A consultant was selected to help with the project. A component of this work was to be consideration of a previously prepared draft Downtown Small Area Plan.
The 31-member Work Group conducted its work through a combination of public symposiums, public meetings, direction to staff and consultant, review, discussion, and editing of materials prepared by staff and consultant, and a final vote to send the draft plan on to the Town Council for consideration. The time schedule was met.
The Council received the report at the end of September 1999. The Council has held two Public Hearings and conducted three work sessions at which it discussed the draft materials and heard public comment. The Council also discussed a revised timeline for consideration of the draft plans at its January 14, 2000 Planning Session. At that time, the Council set target goals of adopting the Downtown Small Area Plan by April 1, 2000, and adopting the full Comprehensive Plan (which includes a new Land Use Plan) by May 1, 2000.
At the end of the Council’s last work session (February 7, 2000), the Council directed the staff and consultant to make adjustments to the draft plan in response to the public comments and Council statements. The Council asked that this revised plan come to the Council at its March 27 meeting, at which time adoption could be a possibility. The Council also decided that, following adoption, an effort would be initiated to present the new plan at meetings around the community to acquaint citizens with the plan.
KEY IDEAS IN PLAN
The Plan is organized around nine major themes, each growing out of the community values that have been identified and which, taken together, form a strategy for Chapel Hill’s future. These themes are:
· Maintain the Urban Services Area / Rural Buffer Concept
· Conserve and protect existing neighborhoods
· Identify areas where there are creative development opportunities
· Create and preserve affordable housing opportunities
· Cooperatively work with the University of North Carolina
· Work toward a balanced transportation system
· Complete the bikeway/greenway/sidewalk systems
· Develop strategies to address fiscal issues
There are some significant new ideas being proposed in the Plan, along with re-affirmation of ongoing values. Examples of some of these ideas:
Growth Management Protocol: The Plan proposes that the Town initiate a process or “protocol” to manage the growth of the community in tandem with provision of adequate public facilities. A key component of this protocol will be an annual Growth Management Report submitted to the Town Council in the spring of every year.
Downtown: The Plan envisions Downtown Chapel Hill as continuing to be the heart of the community, and suggests strategies to maintain/enhance the viability of downtown. A separate but integrally related Downtown Small Area Plan is on the Council’s agenda tonight, with a recommendation for adoption tonight.
Funding for Bikeways, Greenways, and Sidewalks: This Plan concludes that the efforts to date have not fully addressed the need for completion of these networks, and suggests a shift in the community’s transportation focus.
The full set of recommendations in the Plan is summarized in an Action Plan that appears in the back, noting specific tasks and setting goals for accomplishment.
DESCRIPTION OF ADJUSTMENTS SINCE LAST
VERSION (9/99)
The text of the draft Comprehensive Plan includes revisions that respond to Council and citizen comments from the fall, 1999 public hearings and the three Council work sessions. In addition, Council members submitted individual comments after the conclusion of the work sessions (please see Attachment 1). The text changes are illustrated with strike-throughs for deletions, and underlining for additions.
Major categories of changes include:
· Changes made as the result of comments made by the Council after the work sessions are reviewed in Attachment 2.
· All comments in the November 23, 1999, memorandum to Council listing citizen comments from the public hearings for which the Manager recommended making a change to the plan have been made (please see Attachment 3). These changes are noted by a check mark next to each comment number in Attachment 3.
· Work session revisions made by the Council by consensus are incorporated concerning the Eubanks Road Corridor, removal of the Legion Road School site, the southern area urban services area, and affordable housing.
The Council in its work sessions authorized a series of changes to the draft Land Use Plan, a component of the Comprehensive Plan. We illustrate these changes by including maps which compare the Plan as heard at public hearings in the fall with the revised draft under consideration now. These changes include:
· Eubanks Road Corridor: As discussed by the Council, the draft plan shows a larger mixed use area north to the creeks, and changes an area which had been shown as “green” to mixed use and low-density residential. The plan also notes with a “PW” symbol a potential location north of Eubanks Road for a new Public Works facility site (see Attachment 4).
· Legion Road School Site: The plan removes the school site designation from the American Legion site on Legion Road; in addition, we propose that the land use be changed from institutional to open space/parkland.
· Southern Area: The plan shows a revision to the Town’s urban services area, and a sewer-free area, as well as potential affordable housing sites along U.S. 15-501, as requested by the Council in work sessions on the Comprehensive Plan (see Attachment 5). The revision of the Town’s urban services boundary would preclude future annexation by the Town of these areas. Urban services required for annexation would not be provided outside the urban services boundary.
In addition, the Council discussed Downtown issues as part of its Comprehensive Plan review, and asked the Manager to provide a visualization of what future development on West Rosemary Street might look like. In Attachment 6, we provide a set of materials showing visualizations of projects made by Mr. Donald McDonald, a San Francisco architect who spoke in Chapel Hill previously. We have selected examples which might be appropriate for settings in downtown Chapel Hill.
RECENT PETITIONS
On January 10, the Town Council received a petition from Mr. Steven Dobbins asking for consideration of a mixed-use designation (residential and office) on the Land Use Plan map for property on the southwest corner of Cameron Avenue and Wilson Street (please see Attachment 7).
Staff Comment: The draft revised Land Use Plan which is part of the Comprehensive Plan has not been revised to reflect this potential change. We propose to report on Planning Board and Historic District Commission review of this petition at the time the Council considers adopting the Comprehensive Plan.
On March 6, the Council heard two citizen petitions related to the draft Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Daniel Rose addressed the topics of rental licensing and neighborhood preservation. Mr. Rose spoke against the idea of a rental licensing program that would be applied to large, professionally-managed apartment complexes, but in favor of measures that would seek to protect existing neighborhoods such as Northside.
Staff Comment: The draft Comprehensive Plan speaks to both of these issues. Regarding rental licensing, the plan continues to suggest that this idea might prove to be valuable for Chapel Hill, and that this idea should continue to be explored. The plan has been adjusted since September to acknowledge the fact that discussions about a possible rental licensing program have already begun and are ongoing. (We note that there is a separate item on tonight’s agenda proposing a process for continuing this exploration.) Regarding neighborhood preservation: The plan continues to suggest that existing neighborhoods surrounding downtown and the UNC campus (such as Northside), be designated “Residential Conservation Areas.” As described above, this designation is intended to establish community intent and offer an additional layer of protection to the neighborhood.
The second petition came from Mr. Phillip Goodman, who presented a statement signed by a number of citizens. The statement called on the Council not to adopt the draft Comprehensive Plan tonight, but instead initiate a series of new Public Hearings and community meetings. (Please see Attachment 8).
Staff Comment: We agree that more time is needed for the Town Council and the community to review this final draft. We believe that there is nothing new in this draft - - that the adjustments that have been made have all been in response to comments by Council members and citizens during Public Hearings and Work Sessions. But the adjustments are large in number, due to the extensive participation of citizens and the careful review by Council members. Accordingly, we are recommending that the Council not act on the draft Comprehensive Plan tonight, but instead put in place a one-month comment period, as we describe below.
Given the extent of adjustments that went into this final draft of a 2000 Comprehensive Plan, we believe it would be reasonable to allow all interested parties additional time to be able to go through the revisions in as much detail as one desires. The only changes that have been made are in response to comments that have been offered by Council members, advisory boards, and citizens; still, it is reasonable to allow time for careful consideration of this final draft as a whole.
Therefore, we recommend the following process for final review of this draft Comprehensive Plan:
March 27: Council to receive the revised draft and adopt schedule for consideration.
March 28: Copies of maps and drafts placed at Town Hall and Library for public review, with copies of draft materials available upon request from the Town Clerk. Advertisement placed with newspaper announcing Public Information Meeting (see next bullet). Mailing sent to those who have expressed interest in the Comprehensive Plan, describing this schedule.
Week of April 10: Public Information Meeting scheduled to allow citizens to ask questions about the proposed revisions. Format will be 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Council Chamber, with maps and copies of the draft available. Two identical staff presentations will be offered at 5:00 and again at 6:30. Index cards will be handed out to invite written comments.
April 24: Resubmittal of March 27 version of the final draft Comprehensive Plan (including Land Use Plan). Memorandum will include a summary of citizen comments. Recommendation will likely be to adopt the plan, with any changes desired by the Council, on April 24.
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution, which would initiate a one-month review-and-comment period, with the expectation that the draft plan would be back on the Council’s agenda for consideration and possibly adoption on April 24.
1. Council Member comments on the Draft Comprehensive Plan of September 27, 1999
2. Responses to Council Member comments on the Draft Comprehensive Plan
3. Excerpt from November 23, 1999 Council memorandum with changes recommended by the Manager to the September 27, 1999 Draft Comprehensive Plan
4. Comparison Map with Revised Land Use Plan for Northern Area
5. Comparison Map with Revised Land Use Plan for the Southern Area
6. Potential Visualizations of Downtown Area
7. Petition from Mr. Steven Dobbins
8. Petition from Citizens Requesting Community Discussion for Zoning Map (presented by Mr. Phillip Goodman)
9. Revised Draft Comprehensive Plan, March 27, 2000 (Provided to Council Members in a separate notebook)
A RESOLUTION CONCERNING ADDITIONAL PUBLIC REVIEW PROCESS FOR THE DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (2000-03-27/R-21)
WHEREAS, the Town Council is considering adoption of a new Comprehensive Plan for Chapel Hill; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received petitions requesting additional time for public review;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council initiates an additional public review and comment period for considering the draft Comprehensive Plan, as revised March 27, 2000, to consist of the following:
· Placement of copies at Town Hall and Library and on Town web site;
· Public Information Meeting the week of April 10, 2000, with advertising and mailings for this event; and
· Re-submittal to the Council on April 24, 2000 of Draft Comprehensive Plan of March 27, 2000, with summary of citizen comments.
This the 27th day of March, 2000