Attachment 1

 

Key Changes in Fourth Draft

Land Use Management Ordinance

 

November 25, 2002

Summary Compiled by Chapel Hill Planning Department,

Indicating Town Council direction given at 11/05/02 Work Session

 

(Note:  All references to “single-family” are intended to mean “single-family or

two-family/accessory apartment)

 

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We have received the Fourth Draft of a proposed new Land Use Management Ordinance.  This draft responds to issues raised at Public Hearings on September 18 and October 28, and makes changes as directed by the Town Council at a November 5 Work Session.

 

Following is a list of key changes, listed in the order that they were presented to and discussed by the Town Council on November 5.  For each item, the Council’s direction is noted, followed by the page numbers in the Fourth Draft where changes were made to implement the Council’s direction.

 

The Fourth Draft is available for review in the Chapel Hill Planning Department and the Town Clerk’s office, at the Chapel Hill Public Library, the Hargraves Community Center, and the Estes Drive Community Center.  Paper copies are available for purchase in the Chapel Hill Planning Department for the cost of reproduction ($30.00).  Compact disks containing the Fourth Draft as a WORD document are available at no charge in the Planning Department.  The Fourth Draft is also available for review and/or downloading on the Town’s website, www.townofchapelhill.org.

 

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1.      Neighborhood Conservation Districts

 

Council Direction:   No Change to 3rd Draft.  51% threshold for initiating a process, with final approval of a Neighborhood Conservation District by Town Council.  Note that the Council may itself initiate the process of developing a Neighborhood Conservation District. 

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 70

 

 


2.      Minor Subdivisions

 

 

Council Direction:  No Change to 3rd Draft.  Require approval by Planning Board.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 119

 

 

 

 


3.      Burial of 3-phase Electric Lines

 

Council Direction::  No Change to 3rd Draft. Require burial by developer if present legal tests are satisfied;  seek legislation to authorize broader requirement.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 215

 

 


4.      Height Limits

 

Council Direction:  Retain existing regulations, in current Development Ordinance, establishing a 29’ height limit at the setback line of a property in most residential zones.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 88

 

 


5.      Parking

 

Council Direction:  Retain existing regulations, in current Development Ordinance, which establish minimum parking requirements (no maximums).  Include language that would give flexibility to the reviewing body (Planning Board or Town Council) to be able to waive minimum requirements in specific circumstances, based on facts of each case.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 203

                                                     

 


6.      Front Yard Parking

 

Council Direction:  Same as 3rd Draft.  Parking limited to 40% of frontyard townwide.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 211

 

 


7.      Floor Area Ratio for Single-family, two-family dwellings

 

 

Council Direction:  Change to require Floor Area Ratios for new duplexes, but not for single-family dwellings;  change proposed ratio for duplex from .3 to .4;  add that existing duplex structures are NOT nonconforming.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 92, and 254

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


8.      Occupancy Restrictions

 

Council Direction:  Specify that, if there are more than 4 unrelated persons per dwelling unit, the use is treated as a rooming house.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Included in definitions of:

Dwelling, Single-Family; 

Dwelling, Two-Family;

Dwelling, Two-Family - - Including Accessory Apartment; and

Dwelling, Two-Family - - Duplex.  

Pages 285-286

 

 

9.      Tree Protection Regulations

 

 

Council Direction:  Extend regulation to single-family and two-family development, as shown in Third Draft, but raise threshold to 4,000 or 5,000 square feet of newly disturbed land area.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 182

 

 


10.  Resource Conservation District - Distance for Protected Area

 

 

Council Direction:    Protected corridor should be specified as 150’ from stream bank for perennial streams, with 3 zones:  50’ streamside, 50’ managed use, 50’ upland.  For intermittent streams, protected corridor shall be 50’ from stream bank.  Prohibit installation of stormwater management facilities within 50’ of any perennial or intermittent stream.    Eliminate limit on expansion of non-residential uses.  Existing lots (including those to be created pursuant to Preliminary Plats approved prior to enactment of new ordinance) and existing development are subject to the current 50’, 75’, and 100’ distance requirements from perennial streams in the current Development Ordinance, and are not subject to protection of intermittent streams.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 40, 41, 42, 43, 51, and 52

 

 


11.  Resource Conservation District - 2’ or 3’ Above Floodplain

 

 

Council Direction::  No Change to 3rd Draft.  Increase Resource Conservation District elevation from its present definition of 2’ above the regulatory floodplain, to 3’ above.  Upon receipt of new floodplain maps, RCD elevation would be set as the 100-year flood elevation.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 42

 

 

 

 


12.  Resource Conservation District  - Variance for Streets/Bridges

 

 

Council Direction:  Require Special Use Permit or Preliminary Plat approval from the Council, rather than a Variance from the Board of Adjustment, for streets and bridges within the RCD.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 43

 

 


13.  Resource Conservation District - What is Exempt from Regulation

 

 

Council Direction::  Include language that specifies that, for ANY zoning lot existing as of the date of enactment, or for which a Preliminary Plat or Site Plan Review has been approved, the RCD boundary shall be calculated based on Development Ordinance language that applied immediately prior to enactment of a new ordinance. Specify also that existing, non-residential development within an RCD (outside of a federally regulated floodplain) would be able to expand, just as an existing residence would be able to expand. 

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 40, 51, and 52

 

 


14.  Steep Slopes

 

Council Direction:  For portions of a site that have slopes 25% or greater, limit land disturbance in those areas to 50%;  apply to all development except single-family dwellings; apply only to newly disturbed land after the date of enactment of new ordinance.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 162-165

 

 


15.  Impervious Surface Limitations

 

Council Direction:  Limit new impervious surface on a lot to 24% (or 50%, if stormwater facilities are provided) of the currently pervious areas.  Consider possibilities for raising the maximum percentage, with stormwater facilities, to 70%.  Exempt from calculations all impervious surface as of the date of enactment, unless otherwise regulated as part of watershed rules.  Exempt single-family and two-family uses constructed or to be constructed on existing lots created prior to the date of enactment (or for which a Preliminary Plat has been approved by the Town Council prior to the date of enactment).

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 91-92

 

 

 

 


16. Stormwater Management

 

Council Direction:   Exempt single-family/two-family development on existing lots from volume requirements. Include a threshold of 4,000-5,000 square feet of disturbed land area, with the final proposed threshold based on a staff estimate of resource costs and estimates of benefits.  Specify a threshold for stormwater management requirements that is identical to the threshold for tree protection requirements (item 9, above). Make language clear that the exemption recommended above applies only to single family/two family development on existing lots or lots pursuant to a Preliminary Plat that was approved prior to the date of enactment; the exemption would not apply to future subdivision applications, not yet approved as of the date of enactment.  Such future subdivision applications must demonstrate compliance with stormwater management requirements. 

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 167-168

 

 


17. Nonconforming Status

 

Council Direction:   Incorporate all recommendations noted above, which will eliminate all nonconforming issues for single-family development (both for existing structures and for undeveloped single lots).

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 40, 50, 51, 52, 162, 214, 251, 252, 254

 

 


18.  Water/Sewer Requirement

 

Council Direction:   Add language to clarify that development that exists as of the date of enactment without public water and sewer is NOT nonconforming. Also add language to establish variance option if water and sewer cannot practically be extended to a site.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 214

 

 


19.  Setbacks in Planned Developments

 

Council Direction:   Delete required perimeter setbacks for a Planned Development (currently 50’ on exterior boundary, 25’ on interior boundary).

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Pages 242, 244, 246, 248

 

 

 

 

 

21.  Response to University Comments

 

Council Direction:  Add language to clarify the extent to which zoning regulations apply to development on State-owned property.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 2

 

 

 

22.     Remove Sentence in Watershed Regulations

 

 

Council Direction:  Remove the sentence in Section 3.6.4e of the Watershed Protection District, which refers to the Resource Conservation District.

 

Location in Fourth Draft:  Page 60