AGENDA #8
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Expedited Processing of Rezoning and Special Use Permit Applications for Marriott Hotel
DATE: May 29, 2002
On May 13, 2002, the Town Council received the attached letter from Mr. Scott Radway, and referred it to the Town Manager for review and recommendation. The petition requests expedited processing of rezoning and Special Use Permit applications for a Marriott Hotel at the corner of Erwin Road and Dobbins Drive. Mr. Radway requested expedited processing with a June 17, 2002 Public Hearing stating that his client was willing to donate right-of-way and donate funds to pay for road improvements on Dobbins Drive. We recommend adoption of the attached resolution, which would accept the offer to donate right-of-way and fund the improvements, and authorize expedited processing of this application with a November Public Hearing.
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. Rezoning and Special Use Permit applications 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.
Marriott Hotel has requested rezoning from Residential-3 to Community Commercial-Conditional at the corner of Dobbins Drive and Erwin Road. The applicant’s request for expedited processing of the rezoning application and the Special Use Permit application indicated an offer to donate right-of-way and fund improvements to the service road, Dobbins Drive on the western side of Erwin Road. The improvements would provide bike lanes, curb, gutter and sidewalk on Erwin Road and a portion of Dobbins Drive, as were required as part of the now expired Special Use Permit for an assisted living facility at this location.
The letter from Mr. Radway requests that the Town:
· accept the $82,550 payment from the applicant,
· formally request that the North Carolina Department of Transportation move forward with the improvements,
· establish a municipal agreement with the State department, and
· hold the Marriott Hotel $82,550 payment until it is requested by NCDOT.
The letter also requests expedited processing for the hotel proposal with a June 17 Public Hearing.
We believe it is advantageous to all concerned parties (property owner, neighbors, Town, State Department of Transportation, travelers) to reach closure on the issues of right-of-way acquisition and funding for this needed road improvement. We also believe that there is a public purpose that would be achieved by timely construction of this Dobbins Drive/Erwin Road improvement, constructed in a manner that it can be coordinated with construction of the adjacent Superstreet improvements at the 15-501/Erwin Road intersection. Accordingly, we believe that there is a public purpose that would be achieved by placing the rezoning and Special Use Permit applications on the earliest feasible Public Hearing date.
We note that the rezoning and Special Use Permit applications for the new hotel were originally submitted in April of 2001. Following staff review, the applicant has been preparing revisions to the applications. The applications were resubmitted for advisory board review in May of 2002. The applications are tentatively scheduled for review by the Planning Board, Transportation Board, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, and Community Design Commission in August and September.
We believe that the earliest feasible date for Public Hearings on these two applications, in the context of Council policy and procedure, is November 18. Following is a summary of the situation:
1. Rosemary Mixed Use Rezoning and Special Use Permit applications
2. UNC Paul Rizzo Conference Center Special Use Permit Modification application
3. Delta Upsilon Fraternity Special Use Permit Modification application
4. Development Ordinance Text Amendment regarding signage
5. Road closure in Morgan Creek Hills
1. Rezoning of parcel at S. Columbia Street and Old Pittsboro Road
2. Colonial Heights and Pinebrook Estates Neighborhood rezonings
3. Rusch Road/Habitat for Humanity Preliminary Plat application
4. Village Plaza Special Use Permit application
Therefore, if the Council grants expedited status to these applications and selects a specific date for public hearings, we believe that November 18 is the first available time. We suggest scheduling the applications to be heard then.
Projects that have been granted expedited processing in the past are identified in Attachment 1.
Manager’s Recommendation: We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution accepting the applicants offer to fund road improvements and directing the Town Manager to expedite processing of the Marriott Hotel rezoning and Special Use Permit applications with November 18, 2002 Public Hearings.
ATTACHMENTS
1. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 5).
2. Letter from Mr. Scott Radway, Requesting Expedited Processing (p. 7).
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF REZONING AND SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR MARRIOTT HOTEL (2002-05-29/R-10)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from Mr. Scott Radway, offering to fund roadway improvements in exchange for expedited processing of rezoning and Special Use Permit applications seeking approval of a Marriott Hotel; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that there is public interest associated with accepting the proposal to donate right-of-way and fund Dobbins Drive improvements in advance of review of the applications; and
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 rezoning and Special Use Permit applications for Marriott Hotel in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis with November 18, 2002 Public Hearings.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is directed: to formally request that the North Carolina Department of Transportation move forward with the improvements, to establish a municipal agreement with the State department, and to hold the Marriott Hotel $82,550 payment until it is requested by NCDOT.
This the 29th day of May, 2002.
ATTACHMENT 1
List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing
April 9, 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,
Ø Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center,
Ø Rusch Road Habitat for Humanity Subdivision, and
Ø Village Plaza Shopping 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, Eastowne 501 Office Building, and Avalon Park Subdivision were not approved by the Town Council.