AGENDA #6c
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request
for Expedited Processing of Special Use Permit Modification Application for
Carol Woods
DATE: April 24, 2000
The Town Council has received and referred a petition from Robert Sotolongo, Architect representing Carol Woods Retirement Community, requesting expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application for expansion at Carol Woods (please see attached letter). The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application.
Expedited
processing grants priority status for review at every step of the process, and
grants priority status in being scheduled on agendas of advisory boards and the
Town Council. A Special Use Permit or a
Special Use Permit Modification application would normally take nine months to
a year to be reviewed by all the required boards and commissions and to be
heard at a Public Hearing. Following
approval, an application normally takes three to four months to obtain final
approval of detailed construction drawings and final plans in order to then
obtain a Building Permit. The review
process is often long because of the breadth and depth of review and analysis,
and because many projects are usually being reviewed at any given time.
The petition
from Mr. Sotolongo indicates that Carol Woods Retirement Community is in the
beginning stages of a building expansion project. The Concept Plan for the expansion, which includes additional
cluster homes, additional garden apartments, a dining hall addition and a
daycare center, was reviewed by the
Design Commission in March. A
formal application for Special Use Permit Modification has not yet been
submitted.
We have
generally followed the criteria listed below in making our recommendations to
the Council on requests for expedited processing:
1. Recommend expedited processing only in cases where there is a public interest or public objective involved.
2. Recommend expedited processing only when a project that involves public interest would be harmed by following normal rules of procedure.
3. Avoid expedited processing in situations where other applications that do not carry this special status would be delayed.
Following staff recommendations based on these criteria, the Council has approved expedited processing for the Intimate Bookshop, Erwin Village Subdivision, Ruth Faison Shaw Museum, Chapel Hill Public Library, Chapel Hill Public Housing, Culbreth Park Subdivision, East Chapel Hill High School, Orange County Southern Human Services Center, the Hargraves Gymnasium addition, Transitional Housing on Clark Road, Chapel Hill Day Care at Southern Village, Bolin Creek Greenway Phase II, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Transportation center, WUNC Tower request, Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center, the Pavilion, the Southern Village Elementary School, Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, the Neville Tract, McDade House relocation, Freedom House, Orange Community Housing Corporation Scarlette Housing, Kenan Stadium Expansion, UNC Co-generation Facility Boiler Replacement, Chapel Hill Internal Medicine, Midway Business Center, Carol Woods Retirement Community (for Village Charter School use), the University Mall Redevelopment, and Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity House, the Greene Tract rezoning, Manley Estates Housing, and University Fraternity and Sorority applications which propose to comply with the Town sprinklering requirement.
Requests for
this special application processing by East Franklin Car Care, Kappa Alpha
Theta sorority, and an application for parking and refuse facilities at 317 W.
Rosemary Street were not approved by the Town Council.
Manager’s Recommendation: We did not find
justification for granting expedited processing as we reviewed the petition
submitted by Mr. Sotolongo. Although we
are pleased to see the proposal to expand the Carol Woods facilities and the
proposal for a daycare center at Carol Woods, we did not find a public purpose
or public objective stated in the petition.
In addition, the Council criteria indicates that we should recommend
expedited processing only when a project that involves public interest would be
harmed by following normal rules of procedure. We found no evidence in the petition that
public interest would be harmed if the Special Use Permit Modification
application went through the normal process.
Adoption of
the attached resolution would grant expedited processing to the Carol Woods
application.
ATTACHMENT
1. Letter from Mr. Robert Sotolongo,Requesting Expedited Processing (p. 4)
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF SPECIAL
USE PERMIT MODIFICATION APPLICATION FOR CAROL WOODS RETIREMENT COMMUNITY IN
CHAPEL HILL (2000-04-24/R-10)
WHEREAS, the
Town Council has received petitions from Mr. Robert Sotolongo for expedited
processing of a Special Use Permit application seeking to expand Carol Woods
Retirement Community; and
WHEREAS, the
proposal includes the provision of addition homes, structures for 24 hour
supportive care, dining hall renovations and additions, and a child daycare center; and
WHEREAS, the
projects would satisfy a public purpose objective;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is directed to expedite processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application for Carol Woods Retirement Community, in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.
This the 24th day of April, 2000.