AGENDA #5d
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Annual Report – Resource Conservation District Activity
DATE: August 28, 2000
This is an annual report regarding development activity in the Town’s Resource Conservation District (RCD).
In 1985, the Council adopted a Resource Conservation District Ordinance, designed to control development activity in and around floodplains and perennial streams. The new regulations became Article 5 of the Chapel Hill Development Ordinance, and replaced Chapel Hill’s previous Flood Damage Prevention Regulations. The goals of the new ordinance were as follows:
· Preserve water quality;
· Minimize danger to life and property due to flooding;
· Preserve the water-carrying capacity of watercourses;
· Retain open spaces;
· Protect sensitive natural environments; and
· Provide air and noise buffers.
The ordinance was amended in 1987, 1994, 1995, and 1997. The 1987 amendment corrected several technical problems that had been identified. The 1994 and 1995 amendments resulted from requests to adjust language that allows the rebuilding of damaged structures within the Resource Conservation District.
At the time the Town Council amended the Ordinance in 1995, the Council requested that the Town Manager annually prepare a report describing development activity related to the 1995 amendment. This is the sixth report, covering the program year July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000.
Over the last 12 months, the Board of Adjustment received no requests for variances for development pursuant to the Council’s 1995 amendment. Furthermore, no Resource Conservation District variances of any kind were authorized during the 12 month period. One variance modification application was denied by the Board of Adjustment for the addition of a limited amount of fill on a residential lot in the floodplain.
When the 1995 amendment was approved, we understood that the Council requested these annual reports because of a concern about the number of variance requests that might be triggered by this change. Since the 1995 amendment, no requests for variance pursuant to the amendment have been submitted. We note that several mechanisms exist for the Council to follow Board of Adjustment activity such as quarterly reports as well as "quick reports" from the Board's staff liaison.
We believe that if the Council does not wish to continue receiving this report, it could so direct the Town Manager, given that there has been no activity pursuant to the amendment and given that mechanisms exist to follow Board of Adjustment activity.
If the Council wishes to continue receiving this kind of annual statement, our next status report to the Council would be in August, 2001.