AGENDA #7
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Expedited Processing of Special Use Permit Application for the Village Plaza
DATE: April 8, 2002
On March 25 2002, the Town Council voted 4 to 4 on a motion to grant expedited processing for the Special Use Permit application for the Village Plaza, submitted by Mr. Bill Wilson of Eastern Federal Theaters, dated February 20, 2002. The motion to approve expedited processing for the Village Plaza Special Use Permit is before the Council for action tonight. The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application. Based on information that has been submitted to date, we do not recommend adoption of the resolution.
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 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 approval of detailed construction drawings and final plans, prior to obtaining 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.
General
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.
New Information from March 25 Public Hearing
The applicant offered new information at the March 25 Council Meeting regarding the willingness of adjacent property owners (Ginn & Company and Mark Realty Corporation) to cooperate with Eastern Federal Theaters to improve the larger “commercial neighborhood” along Elliott Road at the same time as the Special Use Permit for the Village Plaza. Mr. Gurlitz indicated at the meeting that expedited processing would provide the incentive needed to get the 3 property owners to work cooperatively for this area.
We note that 2 of the 3 property owners, Eastern Federal Theaters and Mark Realty Corporation, are part of the same zoning lot and are therefore required to cooperate in the joint submittal of any application. The third property owner, Ginn and Company (owner of the complex of buildings including Wellspring) is not party to the application. Please see Attachment 1 for clarification of property boundaries. Council members asked for clarification of the extent to which all these property owners would be working together. We understand that the applicant intends to submit written evidence detailing the three property owner’s intentions for cooperation on this Special Use Permit application prior to the April 8, 2002 Council meeting.
Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s Public Hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for the Village Plaza Special Use Permit application is that one less space would be available on the Council’s schedule for which other applications are competing.
Projects that have been granted expedited processing in the past are identified as part of Attachment 2.
Manager’s Recommendation: We have not received additional information from the applicant as this memorandum is being written, and therefore have not changed our March 25 recommendation that expedited processing not be granted. We expect more information to be presented at Monday’s meeting. Adoption of the attached resolution would grant expedited processing for the Village Plaza Special Use Permit application, if the Council chooses to grant this request.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Map indicating Special Use Permit application area, and respective property owners (p. 5).
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR VILLAGE PLAZA (2002-04-8/R-7)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from Mr. Bill Wilson of Eastern Federal Theaters, for expedited processing of a Special Use Permit application seeking approval of the Village Plaza; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that there is a significant public interest associated with development of the theater;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is directed to expedite processing of the Special Use Permit application for the Village Plaza in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.
This the 8th day of April, 2002.