AGENDA #5d
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Response to Petition from Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board
DATE: April 28, 2003
On April 14, 2003, the Town Council received a petition from Ms. Valerie Foushee, Chair, Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board, regarding the Gary Buck property on Eubanks Road (copy attached). The petition was referred to the Town Manager for comments.
BACKGROUND
On May 8, 2000, the Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan for Chapel Hill. A component of that document is a Land Use Plan. Included on the Land Use Plan are designations of potential future school sites. One of the properties so designated as a potential school site is the Gary Buck property referred to in the petition. A copy of this portion of the Land Use Plan is included as an attachment.
On March 17, 2003, the Council reviewed a Concept Plan that had been prepared for this property, proposing multi-family development. The School Board petition requested that the Council consider the need for future school sites as the Council reviews the proposal for this apartment complex.
On April 14, 2003, the Council received and discussed the petition, and referred it to the Manager for comments.
DISCUSSION
In response to Council questions, we offer comments on the provision in Chapel Hill’s Land Use Management Ordinance that relate to reservation of school sites, and comment on the status of plans for the Gary Buck site.
School Site Reservation Provisions: The Land Use Management Ordinance, as did the Chapel Hill Development Ordinance that preceded it, contains the following language relating to applications for Major Subdivisions:
Whenever a subdivision application is submitted for approval which includes part or all of a school site designated to be reserved in the Comprehensive Plan, the Town Manager shall immediately notify the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Board of Education, and the Board shall promptly decide whether it wishes the site to be reserved. If the Board does not wish to reserve the site, it shall so notify the Town Manager and no site shall be reserved. If the Board does wish to reserve the site, the subdivision shall not be approved without such reservation. A note indicating such reservation shall be recorded on a final plat. The Board shall then have 18 months beginning on the date of final approval of the subdivision within which to acquire the site by purchase or by initiating condemnation proceedings. If the Board has not purchased or begun proceedings to condemn the site within 18 months, the owner may treat the land as freed of the reservation.
This language was placed in Chapel Hill’s Development Ordinance in June, 1987, pursuant to language in N.C. General Statutes authorizing delay in processing of subdivision applications under these circumstances. A copy of minutes from the 1987 Public Hearing on this proposal is attached.
This delay in processing of an application applies only to subdivision applications.
Gary Buck Site: As noted above, the Town Council reviewed a Concept Plan in March, 2003, for this property. The Concept Plan showed proposed development of multi-family housing, and stated intent to subsequently apply for rezoning and a Special Use Permit. There currently is no application for development that has been filed for this property. If an application were to be submitted pursuant to this Concept Plan, we would not expect it to be an application for a subdivision.
We note that the zoning and rezoning of land is a legislative act, and the Council is not required to rezone a property upon request. The Land Use Management Ordinance allows the Council to change the zoning of property based on one of the following justifications:
a. To correct a manifest error;
b. Because of changed or changing conditions; or
c. To achieve the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan
We offer one further procedural observation. We note that the property in question is outside Chapel Hill’s corporate limits, in the Joint Planning Area (where planning jurisdiction is shared with Orange County). Orange County has not yet adopted Chapel Hill’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan for application in this area. Until Orange County takes this action, we note that the operative Land Use Plan in place and applicable to this property is Chapel Hill’s 1989 Land Use Plan (which was adopted in 1989 by Orange County for application to transition areas). The 1989 Land Use Plan does not designate potential school sites.
CONCLUSION
Given the limitations described above, we believe that approaches to the owner of this property would be the most appropriate next step to consider possible acquisition.
ATTACHMENTS