AGENDA #5e
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 Theaters
DATE: March 25, 2002
On February 25, the Town Council received the attached petition from Mr. Bill Wilson of Eastern Federal Theaters and referred it to the Town Manager for review and recommendation. The petition requests expedited processing of a Special Use Permit application for the Village Plaza Theaters. The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application. 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.
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.
We did not find justification for granting expedited processing for the Village Plaza Theaters Special Use Permit application because we do not believe that any of the three criteria can be met. We do not believe that there are public purposes that distinguish this application from other private applications for development.
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 Theaters 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 are identified in Attachment 1.
Manager’s Recommendation: We do not recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution. Adoption of the attached resolution would grant expedited processing for the Village Plaza Theaters Special Use Permit application, if the Council chooses to grant this request.
ATTACHMENTS
1. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 4).
2. Letter from Mr. Bill Wilson of Eastern Federal Theaters, Requesting Expedited Processing (p. 6).
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR VILLAGE PLAZA THEATERS (2002-03-25/R-12)
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 Theaters; 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 Theaters in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.
This the 25th day of March, 2002.
ATTACHMENT 1
List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing
February 26, 2002
After receiving staff recommendations based on these criteria, since 1993 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,
Ø UNC Airport Drive Office Building,
Ø Rams Plaza Renovations,
Ø Meadowmont School/Park,
Ø Meadowmont Wachovia Bank,
Ø Orange County Landfill,
Ø Rosemary Street Mixed Use Development, and
Ø Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center.
Requests for this special application processing by East Franklin Car Care, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, an application for parking and refuse facilities at 317 W. Rosemary Street, The Franklin Hotel, and Eastowne 501 Office Building were not approved by the Town Council.