AGENDA #4d
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Expedited Processing of Special Use Permit Modification Application for Meadowmont School/Park
DATE: February 26, 2001
The Town Council has received and referred a petition from William Mullin, Director of Facilities Management, with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, requesting expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application for the Meadowmont School/Park. 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 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 the school system indicates that the School District is moving forward with the Meadowmont school site for the district’s next elementary school.
The Town Council approved a Special Use Permit for a School/Park at this location in 1997. The approval included 70 acres of parkland and a 22-acre site for a school. Work has begun on the shared ball fields.
A formal application for Special Use Permit Modification has not been submitted. We note that on February 12, 2001, the Council authorized the Manager to participate, on behalf of the Town, in the application for Special Use Permit Modification.
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.
Projects that have been granted expedited processing are identified in Attachment 1.
Manager’s Recommendation: We believe that expedited review is justified in this case, because of the need for the new school and the intended opening in 2003. We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution directing the Town Manager to expedite processing of the Meadowmont School/Park Special Use Permit Modification for a new elementary school.
Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s public hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for the Meadowmont School/Park application is that one less space will be available on the Council’s schedule for which the other applications are competing.
ATTACHMENTS
1. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 4).
2. Letter from William Mullin, Requesting Expedited Processing (p. 6).
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF SPECIAL USE PERMIT MODIFICATION APPLICATION FOR MEADOWMONT SCHOOL/PARK (2001-02-26/R-3)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from William Mullin, with the Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools, for expedited processing of a Special Use Permit Modification application seeking approval of a new elementary school; and
WHEREAS, the proposal 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 the Meadowmont School/Park in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.
This the 26th day of February, 2001.
ATTACHMENT 1
List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing
February 20, 2001
After receiving staff recommendations based on these criteria, the Council has approved expedited processing for:
Ø Intimate Bookshop,
Ø Erwin Village Subdivision,
Ø Ruth Faison Shaw Museum,
Ø Chapel Hill Public Library,
Ø Chapel Hill Public Housing,
Ø Culbreth Park Subdivision,
Ø East Chapel Hill High School,
Ø Orange County Southern Human Services Center,
Ø Hargraves Gymnasium addition,
Ø Transitional Housing on Clark Road,
Ø Chapel Hill Day Care at Southern Village,
Ø Bolin Creek Greenway Phase II,
Ø Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Transportation Center,
Ø WUNC Tower request,
Ø Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center,
Ø Pavilion,
Ø Southern Village Elementary School,
Ø Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity,
Ø Neville Tract,
Ø McDade House relocation,
Ø Freedom House,
Ø Orange Community Housing Corporation Scarlette Housing,
Ø Kenan Stadium Expansion,
Ø UNC Co-generation Facility Boiler Replacement,
Ø Chapel Hill Internal Medicine,
Ø Midway Business Center,
Ø Carol Woods Retirement Community (for Village Charter School use),
Ø University Mall Redevelopment,
Ø Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity House,
Ø Greene Tract rezoning,
Ø Manley Estates Housing,
Ø University Fraternity and Sorority applications (sprinkler projects),
Ø Carol Woods Retirement Center (for day care addition, dining hall expansion and new units),
Ø Church of the Holy Family Expansion,
Ø Eastwood Lake Project,
Ø Chapel Hill Pediatrics, and
Ø UNC Airport Drive Office Building.
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.