SUMMARY MINUTES OF A WORK SESSION
OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2002, AT 5:30 P.M.
Mayor Kevin Foy called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Council members present were Flicka Bateman, Pat Evans, Ed Harrison, Mark Kleinschmidt, Bill Strom, Dorothy Verkerk, Jim Ward, and Edith Wiggins.
Staff members present were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Assistant to the Manager Bill Stockard, Transportation Planner David Bonk, and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.
Item 1 - Work Session on the Northeast Area of Chapel Hill
Planning Director Roger Waldon explained that various individuals and petitions had asked the Town Council to look closely at proposals for new development in this area and to consider whether or not this area could accommodate new development. He said that this work session was the Council's response to that, adding that Council members had instructed the Manager not to calendar any zoning applications for public hearing until they have had a chance to look at this information.
Mr. Waldon then noted two key questions:
Mr. Waldon listed five infrastructure components that the staff had examined for tonight's work session: Transportation, Schools, Water and Sewer, Stormwater Management, and Parks and Recreation. He noted that summaries of information in all five components had been distributed to Council members.
Mr. Waldon pointed out that the study area encompasses all of the land included in each of three petitions previously brought to the Council. He said that the Council had recently approved an office building in Eastowne and that a number of other proposals were pending. These include, he said, an office building at the Europa Center, a proposed Marriott Hotel at the corner of 15/501 and Erwin Road, an application for a proposed Jefferson Commons on the north side of 15/501, and a proposed residential development called Notting Hill.
Regarding the infrastructure components, Mr. Waldon explained that the main issues were traffic volumes and intersection operation along US 15/501. He noted the current overcrowding of elementary schools and said that the high schools were beginning to reach capacity. He explained, though, that adequate capacity is being projected at all three levels by the fall of 2003. Mr. Waldon stated that OWASA had reported that there was capacity to accommodate additional development in the area. He pointed out that each development must address stormwater issues, adding that nothing presently indicated that any new development in this area could not adequately address the Council's stormwater management objectives. No capacity constraints from the Parks and Recreation Department would preclude additional development in this area, he said.
Mr. Waldon concluded that there was either existing or planned capacity available to accommodate four of the components, but not Transportation, which is the focus of the staff's report. He said that the two capacity constraints were traffic volume and bad intersections, three of which already operate below the Council's stated acceptable level of service. The 15/501/Erwin Road intersection was the worst of the three, Mr. Waldon said, adding that the Council would hold hearings in the spring on building a "superstreet" in that area.
In conclusion, Mr. Waldon stated that:
· All infrastructures except intersections can accommodate additional development with existing or planned capacity.
· Traffic volumes and intersections along US Highway 15/501 present capacity constraints.
He noted that the Council has planned discussions on what road improvements might be made, adding that a suggestion to turn 15/501 into a freeway had met with a negative reaction by every segment of the community, including the Town Council.
Mayor Foy confirmed with Mr. Horton that all public hearings on proposals for rezoning in this area had been deferred until after this work session. He asked what that meant with regard to what action the Council might need to take tonight. Mr. Horton replied that the critical instruction from the Council would be whether or not the staff should begin scheduling applications as they ordinarily would occur.
Council Member Strom noted that the Town had been working on revising the Development Ordinance. He suggested giving consideration to a Town-wide moratorium on development while the Town continues to receive comment on the Development Ordinance. Council Member Strom added that he could not separate this issue from the Development Ordinance project. He also pointed out that significant questions remain regarding a "superstreet."
Mayor Foy asked Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos if the compilation of memos regarding the moratorium that he planned to bring to the Council would be broader than the information in tonight's packet. Mr. Karpinos replied that it would be slightly broader and would include other memos discussing the issue in general.
Council Member Bateman asked Council Member Strom what he saw in the upcoming Development Ordinance that would help alleviate the transportation problem in this specific area. Council Member Strom replied that citizens might want a higher performance level than the Level D that is being accepted now.
Council Member Bateman asked Mr. Karpinos if the Town Council could deny an application for development in this area based on the performance levels of E and F that exist. Mr. Karpinos declined to answer without looking at a specific application. He stated that it would be difficult to deny an applicant who finds a way to balance off its own impacts.
Mayor Foy noted that three of the four projects listed on the agenda required rezoning. He recommended that the Council give the staff some indication of its receptivity to that. Mr. Karpinos said that at some point the Council should make a decision one way or the other, adding that there is a broad time frame in which the Council can act. He pointed out that the discretion of the Council in a rezoning is much broader than with a specific development application where there is no need for rezoning.
Council Member Evans asked Mr. Waldon to determine whether or not Cedar Terrace Bottoms was within the city limits. She suggested that the Town ask Orange County to purchase environmentally sensitive land closer to Chapel Hill to help preserve the Town's rural buffer. Mr. Horton noted that the Chapel Hill limits indicated on page 22 of the memorandum run parallel to I-40, but agreed to check on the accuracy of that.
Council Member Evans wondered whether the signals on 15/501 were integrated into a system or not. She also asked if there was a legal responsibility to provide infrastructure within a reasonable length of time to allow for the development of land. Mr. Waldon replied that the general concept of the moratorium is that there is a specifically identified infrastructure capacity and further development is halted while infrastructure deficiency is corrected.
Council Member Evans asked if the deficiency in infrastructure had to be completed before development could begin. Mr. Waldon recalled how the Bolin Creek sewer line had been over capacity and there had been a moratorium on hook-ups until that was upgraded. When the sewer line was upgraded and the moratorium was lifted, he explained, hook-ups were allowed to continue. Mr. Waldon explained that this is the classic moratorium structure, but noted that it can work differently depending on how it is structured.
Council Member Ward recommended pursuing a Town-wide moratorium until the new Development Ordinance is available. He stated that current stormwater management was not working adequately. He noted that the new Parks and Recreation requirements will be in the new Ordinance and RCD protection should be improved as well. Council Member Ward asked what the Town's options would be within the umbrella of a moratorium.
Mayor Foy asked Mr. Karpinos to clarify whether or not it would be possible to have a Town-wide moratorium with the interim goal of adopting the Development Ordinance before a specific date. Mr. Karpinos replied that a moratorium would be one stopgap approach. Whether or not it would be legally defensible, he said, would be revealed while going through the process. Mr. Karpinos noted that the Town would have to do the best job it could to explained the reasons and the need for it. He noted that the Town Council might not know until the end of the process whether there was significant justification for a moratorium. Mr. Karpinos described a Town-wide moratorium as a legitimate possibility, and a possible mechanism to address these issues. He said that a possible direction would be to take it off the Monday agenda and direct the staff as to how they should pursue it.
Council Member Harrison, speaking in reference to the "superstreet," wondered if the Department of Transportation had addressed whether it really would improve levels of service in this area. Mr. Waldon replied that traffic engineers had predicted a significant increase in the level of service. Explaining that this had been modeled, he agreed to bring the information to the Council. Council Member Harrison noted that levels of service were much worse in the evening, adding that the DOT information might play into how the Town thinks about the kinds of developments that go in there.
Council Member Verkerk concurred with what Council Members Bateman, Strom, and Ward had said about the issue seeming symptomatic of a much larger picture. She suggested that the impact of the Schools' Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance on these developments be considered as well. Council Member Verkerk doubted that the area could absorb 551 more dwellings. Mayor Foy replied that he understood that the Schools' Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance would require developments to demonstrate that there would be sufficient school capacity. He agreed that it was reasonable to take that into account too.
Mayor Foy urged Council members to give the staff some guidance about what to do next with applications. He added that the Council should also give a sense of what its sentiment is on rezoning for higher densities in the area. Mayor Foy recommended being more specific than just saying that the Town was moving toward a moratorium. Mr. Horton added that it would be useful to know whether or not the Council is ready to resume processing applications.
Council Member Wiggins noted that there were two issues, the applications that had not yet been submitted and the applications that were in the pipeline. She remarked that she was leaning toward not accepting any new applications until the Development Ordinance was finished, but wondered what should be done with those already in the pipeline. Mr. Karpinos replied that if the Council decided to enact some type of moratorium then it would decide where the moratorium would apply. Mr. Horton offered to bring a hearing schedule to the Council so that Council members would have a sense of what resuming ordinary processing of applications would mean.
Council Member Wiggins asked if the staff could suggest various scenarios for applications depending on where they are in the pipeline. Mr. Horton agreed to outline it in that way.
Council Member Bateman asked if the Marriott, Jefferson Commons, and Notting Hill were in the pipeline. Mr. Waldon replied that Marriott was ready to come forward for a hearing and that Jefferson Commons and Notting Hill applications have not yet been accepted. Council Member Bateman urged the staff to bring back a scenario that looks at whether some exemption could be made for projects that include affordable housing.
Council Member Evans noted that proposals are time sensitive and that holding things up would mean the Town would be unable to look at a development holistically. She expressed concerns about a moratorium for that reason. Council Member Wiggins clarified that Council Member Evans meant that a developer might have acquired different parcels and put them together for a project. She then asked why that should be binding on the Town Council, noting that the applicant could always get an extension. Council Member Evans replied that applicants might have to pay more if the project is held up and they might not be willing or able to do that.
Council Member Kleinschmidt asked if the Marriott and the Europa Office Building were at the "point of no return." Mr. Horton replied that the Council had great discretion with any application that involves rezoning and could refuse them for a number of reasons. He remarked that it was difficult to say what the point of no return might be, adding that the Council had never reached that point until after voting on an application that had been perfected and submitted for its consideration. The landowner's point of no return, Mr. Horton said, would depend on his individual situation. He noted that a landowner could even receive a permit and then not carry out the project. Council Member Kleinschmidt recommended discounting the speculative interests of landowners when looking at the impact of traffic on so many people who travel through that intersection everyday.
Mayor Foy, stating that the Council seemed to have decided to discuss a moratorium at next Monday’s meeting, recommended pulling that information report and making it an agenda item. He noted that the Council would also discuss the Development Ordinance review process on that evening, and suggested merging those two discussions. Mayor Foy then asked Mr. Horton what the Council might do to help at this juncture. Mr. Horton suggested waiting until Monday, noting that a few more days would not make any difference.
In response to a question by Council Member Wiggins, Mr. Horton explained that Monday's agenda would include an OWASA report, the Weaver Dairy Road citizens group's safety issues report, and a report from Rachel Willis, Chapel Hill’s Triangle Transit Authority Board representative.
Council Member Evans asked if the Council would hear the Manager's and Attorney's insights on a Town-wide moratorium versus a moratorium in this area. Mr. Karpinos replied that all they had put together were copies of old memos, but added that he would supply more information if the Council requests something specific.
Mr. Horton agreed to answer Council Member Bateman's specific question about exemptions. He said that he would comment on the status of all applications, and would show a probable schedule if the Council does not take any action.
Council Member Ward asked for information regarding University construction and the impact of the schools. He also asked for a sense of what had been passed and what would be subject to a moratorium, including the legal ramifications, and a response regarding the point at which applications would be covered by any changed ordinances. Mr. Karpinos pointed out that legal ramifications would be discussed in the abstract because it is not known what the justifications are and whether they can be defended.
Council Member Harrison stated that he would not oppose a moratorium until he had satisfactory answers to the questions he had raised about how the area would function with a "superstreet", and how it would function with a "superstreet" together with all of the development that is being considered.
Mr. Horton pointed out that the staff would have only one day to work on this, noting that the response might not be as elaborate as the Council would like. Mayor Foy suggested that the Manager and Attorney be prepared to answer questions in addition to submitting written reports.
Council Member Strom asked that the schedule also include how public hearings regarding the moratorium would interplay with the Development Ordinance work. Council Member Bateman noted that one objective tonight had been to give developers a sense of the Council's direction on this. She asked if this was no longer an objective. Mayor Foy replied that if the Council decides not to have a moratorium then these applications would come before it for a public hearing. At that point, he said, the Council would have to give a sense of its position before applicants do a lot of work to come before the Council, only to face rejection.
Council Member Ward pointed out that knowing the legally defendable justifications is at the crux of the matter. He requested information on this even though he understands the time pressure that the Mr. Karpinos is under.
Council Member Bateman asked for information on what the Comprehensive Plan called for in this particular area.
The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.