AGENDA #5b

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Response to Council Questions About Mixed Use Regulations

 

DATE:             April 14, 2003

 

 

This memorandum responds to questions from a Council member about mixed-use development regulations.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The Town Council recently considered and approved an application for a Planned Development-Mixed Use proposal for a site on Erwin Road.  That application proposed a mix of uses in the following proportions:

 

                                    Residential Use:             3,000 square feet

                                    Office Use:                     3,000 square feet

                                    Commercial Use:          73,000 square feet

 

The mix of uses prompted a question about what the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance requires in the way of proportions for mixed-use development.

 

DISCUSSION

 

A mix of uses on a zoning lot can be achieved in a number of ways, under the Land Use Management Ordinance:

 

Permitted Uses:  Several Chapel Hill zoning districts allow multiple uses.  For example, Office/Institutional districts list residential and office uses as permitted uses.  Town Center districts list residential, office, and commercial uses as permitted uses.  It would be possible to propose a small mixed-development of any combination and proportion of permitted uses (total under 20,000 square feet in floor area and under 40,000 square feet in land area), and have final action by the Planning Board as a permitted use.  For development that is 20,000 square feet or greater in floor area or 40,000 square feet or greater in land disturbance, the proportion of uses would be subject to Council approval as part of a Special Use Permit.

 

Special Use:  Planned Development-Mixed-Use:  Planned Developments are allowed in any zoning district, with a Special Use Permit.  Permitted intensity varies by zoning district (e.g., allowable floor area for a Planned Development in a low-density residential zone would be very low, and in a commercial zone would be substantially higher).  Uses allowed in a Planned Development depend on the type of Planned Development that is proposed (Housing, Shopping Center-Neighborhood, Shopping Center-Commercial, Office/Institutional, Mixed-use, or Industrial).  There are special requirements and standards for each type of Planned Development.  One type of Planned Development is Mixed-Use, which allows a wide variety of uses.  A requirement for this type of Planned Development is that there be “mutually supporting residential, commercial, and office uses” as part of the development.  There are no requirements about how much of the development must be devoted to each of these three types of uses, just that all three are present.

 

Mixed Use Zoning Districts:  Chapel Hill has three mixed-use zoning districts.  Required percentages of different types of uses vary by district.  The first two listed below existed in the now-superceded Development Ordinance, and were kept in the new Land Use Management Ordinance because of existing land that carries those zoning designations, most parcels with approved development located on those sites.  The third district listed below is new, and was created on January 27, 2003 with enactment of the new Land Use Management Ordinance.  No land is currently zoned with this new zoning designation.

 

• In the Mixed Use-Office/Institutional-1 (MU-OI-1) and Mixed Use-Residential-1 (MU-R-1) districts, low intensities apply unless a proposed development includes all of the following characteristics:

 

- Minimum lot size of 20 contiguous acres

- Office use required (must be at least 60%, no more than 85% of total)

- Non-office use can be either residential or commercial

 

If a proposed development meets all three of these threshold conditions, it qualifies for substantially higher allowable intensities and a wide range of permitted uses.  Approval of a Special Use Permit does not automatically assure that the proposed range of uses will all be constructed initially.

 

• In the new district created with the Land Use Management Ordinance, the Mixed-Use-Village (MU-V) district, all three uses are required (office, commercial, and residential).  At least 25% of the floor area in a MU-V development must be residential, and at least 25% must be devoted to office/commercial uses.

 

SUMMARY

 

Requirements for particular mix and percentage of different types of uses in a mixed-use development vary by circumstance.  Only in Mixed Use zoning districts are specific percentages mandated.