AGENDA #5a

MEMORANDUM

TO: Mayor and Town Council

FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT: Response to Petition from First Church of Christ, Scientist

DATE: January 14, 2002

This memorandum responds to a petition brought to the Council on October 22, 2001, from the First Church of Christ, Scientist. The Church, located at 1300 Airport Road, seeks to replace a ground sign that was removed when NC Highway 86 was widened in 1999. We do not believe that the ground sign can be approved in the requested location, because this portion of the Church’s site is located in the Resource Conservation District (RCD). A copy of the petition is attached.

BACKGROUND

The First Church of Christ, Scientist is situated on 3.7 acres of land that is located southeast of the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane. Booker Creek flows underneath NC Highway 86 onto the Church site, where another perennial stream that flows underneath Dixie Lane merges with Booker Creek. Booker Creek then turns and flows southward, through the Church site. Consequently, approximately the westernmost one-third of the Church site (including the property’s NC Highway 86 frontage) is located in the Town’s Resource Conservation District (RCD).

On July 19, 1988, the Planning Board granted Site Plan Approval to convert an existing 1,260 square foot house from a single-family residence, to a place of worship. This approval also provided for the construction of 41 parking spaces on the 3.7 acre site. Subsequently, on November 14, 1989, the Planning Board granted Site Plan Approval for the construction of a 4,639 square foot church building on the site. We note that neither of these approvals proposed any construction or land disturbance on the portion of the Church’s site that is located in the Resource Conservation District.

In accordance with the Town’s Sign Ordinance, the Church is allowed one 16.0 square foot ground sign or wall sign on the site (the Church is located in the Residential-1 zoning district). On August 17, 1988, the Appearance Commission approved a ground sign to be located at the Church’s driveway on Dixie Lane. The sign was to be located outside of the Resource Conservation District (RCD). One week after the Appearance Commission’s approval in 1988, the Church approached the Town staff and requested permission to move the sign to the northwest corner of the site, at the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane. This relocation request was approved by Town staff.

In retrospect, we believe that this 1988 administrative approval to move the ground sign to the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane (and onto land that is within the Resource Conservation District) was granted in error. Per the 1988 administrative approval that was issued in error, however, we note that a ground sign was erected on the Church site at the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane in 1988.

In the mid- to late 1990s, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) began acquiring right-of-way from adjacent properties along NC Highway 86. The Church’s sign that was erected in 1988, was in a location that was subsequently acquired as right-of-way by NCDOT, and the sign was removed in 1999 as part of the road-widening project.

The Church then approached Town staff and sought to install a new sign along the Church’s NC Highway 86 frontage, at the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane. Town staff informed the Church that the desired new ground sign location at the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane is located within the Town’s Resource Conservation District (RCD), which prohibits the construction of structures and signs.

The Town’s Development Ordinance defines “Development” to be “any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate…” Accordingly, the installation of signage on a site is considered to be “development” on that site. The Town’s Ordinance includes a section that prescribes specifically what types and sizes of signage can be installed on a site. In this particular case, however, the proposed location for the Church’s ground sign is located in the Town’s Resource Conservation District. Development and land-disturbing activities are prohibited in the Town’s Resource Conservation District, unless (1) the use is exempted by Section 5.5 of the Town’s Development Ordinance, or (2) the use is allowed pursuant to a variance approved by the Board of Adjustment. We note that signage is not one of the uses exempted by Section 5.5 of the Ordinance (please see attachment). We do not believe that this particular situation would meet the necessary findings required in order for the Board of Adjustment to grant a variance (please see attachment – Section 5.7 of the Development Ordinance.)

After meeting with Town staff regarding the Church’s interest in installing a replacement sign, the Church then approached NCDOT and requested an encroachment agreement to place a new ground sign in the public right-of-way along NC Highway 86. NCDOT denied the Church’s request, noting that the additional right-of-way had been obtained in order to provide adequate sight distance and safety to the traveling public, and that the proposed sign would interfere with those purposes (letter from NCDOT is attached).

The Church then contacted the Town Manager’s Office and the Engineering Department, requesting assistance on the matter. Subsequently, arrangements were made to install a regulatory informational sign that identifies the location of the Church. The regulatory informational sign is located in the Dixie Lane right-of-way (which is maintained by the Town), at a location that is visible from NC Highway 86. These small, brown, publicly-installed and maintained information signs are exempt from sign regulations. We agreed to make arrangements for this sign because of the site constraints (RCD) and the Church’s loss of its previous ground sign.

The Church continues to make inquiries regarding the possibility of gaining Town approval for a new ground sign, out of the public right-of-way, at the intersection of NC Highway 86 and Dixie Lane. We have consistently responded that a ground sign cannot be placed within the Resource Conservation District, and that our maps indicate that the area in question is completely located within the Resource Conservation District. We have suggested that the Church may want to consider preparation of a new site survey to confirm the location of the Resource Conservation District, if the Church believes that the site survey submitted in 1988 may be in error.

RESPONSE TO PETITION

We continue to believe that a sign permit cannot be approved to locate a sign on land that is located within the Town’s Resource Conservation District, per the Town’s Development Ordinance. We believe that the existing information sign that has been installed, while not as large or as distinctive as a private sign, does accomplish the objective of informing the traveling public on NC Highway 86 of the existence and location of the Church on Dixie Lane.

We do not believe that there is a mechanism for the Town Council to authorize replacement of the old sign in a new location that is within the Resource Conservation District, other than by amending the Development Ordinance to permit signs to be installed within the District. We believe that such a change would consequently apply to all properties located within the Town’s Resource Conservation District.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Petition (p. 4).

2. Development Ordinance, Section 5.5, Permitted Uses Within Resource Conservation District (p. 5).

3. Development Ordinance, Section 5.7, Variance From Board of Adjustment (p. 6).

4. NCDOT Letter, March 2, 2000 (p. 9).