AGENDA #4e
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Expedited Processing of Special Use Permit Application for 229 North Graham Street
DATE: September 23, 2002
On September 9, 2002, the Town Council received a petition from EmPOWERment, Inc. regarding the property at 229 North Graham Street. The petition was referred to the Town Manager for review and recommendation. The petition requests expedited processing of a Rezoning and a Special Use Permit application for 229 North Graham Street. The attached resolution would authorize expedited processing of this application. We 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 rezoning and 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.
As an affordable housing proposal, we note that public interest or public objectives may be viewed as being addressed.
Several development applications are currently working toward being placed on the Council’s Public Hearing schedule. The impact of granting expedited processing for the 229 North Graham Street Rezoning and Special Use Permit applications 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 recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution. Adoption of the attached resolution would grant expedited processing for the EmPOWERment, Inc. rezoning and Special Use Permit applications, if the Council chooses to grant this request.
ATTACHMENT
1. List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing (p. 4).
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING EXPEDITED PROCESSING IN THE REVIEW OF REZONING AND SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR 229 NORTH GRAHAM STREET (2002-09-23/R-5)
WHEREAS, the Town Council has received a petition from EmPOWERment, Inc. for expedited processing of a Rezoning application and a Special Use Permit application seeking approval of development at 229 North Graham Street; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that there is a significant public interest associated with development of this affordable housing;
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 the Special Use Permit application for 229 North Graham Street in a manner that will speed review without sacrificing breadth or depth of analysis.
This the 23rd day of September, 2002.
List of Projects Granted Expedited Processing
September 23, 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
Ø Meadowmont Hilltop and Greenway Condominium
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.