ATTACHMENT 3
Responses to Issues Raised in
Discussions of Possible Habitat Development
on Sunrise Road
- Prepared by Chapel Hill Planning Department -
May 7, 2003
In the course of discussions sponsored by the Mayor’s Committee on proposed Habitat development on Sunrise Road, factual questions have been raised. This attachment offers comments in response to these questions.
1. City Limits/Urban Services Boundary: There have been questions about the status of this site with respect to Chapel Hill town limits, and the relationship of this site to the rural nature of some properties nearby. This site is not currently within town limits, but is within Chapel Hill’s Urban Services Area and in an area under consideration for annexation. It is part of Chapel Hill’s long range planning to annex this site, and other properties up to Interstate-40. Chapel Hill does not intend to annex land north of I-40. It is expected that this site will be developed to urban standards. We expect that the land across I-40 will continue to be designated as Rural Buffer.
2. Procedural Considerations: There have been multiple questions about process.
· Rezoning Process: This property is currently zoned Residential-2. It is not within Town limits, but within a Joint Planning Area where zoning jurisdiction is shared between the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Chapel Hill Town Council. A request for rezoning would need to be approved by both bodies in order to become effective. Designating zoning is a legislative act, and therefore wide discretion is afforded to a governing board in making zoning and rezoning decisions.
· Four Findings for Special Use Permits: The owner of this property may apply for a Special Use Permit. If such an application is submitted, review and final action is by the Chapel Hill Town Council. In order to approve a Special Use Permit, the Council must make four findings:
1. That the development would maintain or promote the public health, safety, and general welfare;
2. That the development complies with regulations;
3. That the development would maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property, or that the development is a public necessity; and
4. That the development conforms to the Comprehensive Plan.
Rezonings, subdivisions and site plan reviews do not involve addressing these four findings.
· Standards for Subdivisions (including cluster): An application for a Major Subdivision is reviewed by and acted upon by the Town Council. The criteria for evaluation of a subdivision application are more prescriptive than for a Special Use Permit. If stated standards are met, an applicant is generally entitled to an approval. The term “cluster,” when used in the context of the Land Use Management Ordinance, refers to a cluster subdivision. In this type of subdivision, minimum lot size may be reduced, with the sum of such lot reductions being set aside as open space.
· Extent of Council Flexibility and Discretion: The Council has the widest range of discretion in approving or denying an application in the context of a rezoning. In review of a Special Use Permit application, Council discretion is involved in making the required four findings. Also, for Special Use Permit applications, the Council may modify regulations for a particular application if the Council finds that public purposes are satisfied to a degree that would be equivalent to full compliance with the normal regulations. In the context of a cluster subdivision, the Council has discretion and “may” (but is not required to) approve a cluster option. For a conventional subdivision application, the level of possible Council discretion is reduced and the Council generally is limited to determining whether ordinance requirements are met. .
3. Townhouses: Habitat representatives have raised the idea of possibly proposing townhouses as a component of development of this site. Townhouses could be proposed as part of a Special Use Permit application. The limit on number of dwelling units prescribed by the Land Use Management Ordinance for the R-2 zoning district is four dwelling units per acre. A question was asked regarding the number of units and parcel size for Scarlette Drive Townhomes, developed by Orange Community Housing and Land Trust: that development includes 14 townhomes on a 1.4 acre parcel, pursuant to approval of rezoning and Special Use Permit applications.
4. How to Apply Density Limitations: Several neighbors have suggested that the four dwellings per acre limit of the Residential-2 zoning district should be applied only to buildable acres on the subject site, not to the entire 17-acre parcel. Such an approach is not consistent with the regulations of the Land Use Management Ordinance, nor could such an approach have been allowed under the superceded Development Ordinance. It is standard practice, and consistent with ordinances and law, to apply density limitations to the entire parcel.
5. Resource Conservation District/Bio-retention Areas: There is a significant portion of this site that is encumbered by restrictions of the Resource Conservation District. These regulations prohibit the location of buildings within the RCD, limit land disturbance, and provide extensive protections for land within 50 feet of a stream. Street and utility crossings of the RCD are permitted if no other options are feasible. Stormwater management facilities, including bio-retention basins to control stormwater runoff, are not permitted within 50 feet of a stream.
6. Recreation Requirements/Constraints: Questions have been raised about the extent to which required recreation facilities may be located within areas covered by the Resource Conservation District. The Land Use Management Ordinance calls for land set aside as part of a subdivision application to be located “outside of the Resource Conservation District and of a character, shape and location suitable for use as a playground, playfield, or for other active recreation purposes including greenway pedestrian and non-motorized vehicle easements.” The ordinance also goes on to provide for the following: “If the Town Council determines that assembling a piece of land to meet [suitability requirements] either would create undue hardships or is not necessary because the active recreational needs of the subdivision are already being met by dedicated land or by existing recreation areas, it may waive [suitability] requirements. In such cases, the required recreational area may be used for preserving woods, steep slopes, ponds, streams, glens, rock outcrops, native plant life, and wildlife cover. If the site abuts or includes areas designated as future greenways on the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, land area dedicated as a public pedestrian non-motorized vehicle easement or deeded to the Town along the greenway may be applied to requirements for dedication of recreation area and exempted from the land suitability requirements.”
A question has also been raised regarding whether or not active recreational amenities can be located within designated open spaces that may be created. The answer is yes. There are some restrictions that apply to land disturbance and placement of play structures near streams; but recreational amenities, in general, are permitted uses within designated open space.
7. Expedited Processing: The Town Council occasionally receives and considers requests for expedited review for specific development applications. In the past, the Council has approved such requests using the following criteria:
a. The proposal involves a public interest or public objective.
b. A public interest may be harmed by following normal rules of procedure.
c. Other applications that do not carry this special status would not be delayed.
In cases where expedited review has been granted, the Council routinely directs that the breadth and depth of review and analysis not be compromised. During discussions about a possible Habitat development proposal on Sunrise Road, several neighbors have asked that expedited review not be granted to an application when it is submitted. No request for expedited review has been submitted; however, in the past the Council has consistently, upon request, granted expedited processing for applications that would increase the supply of affordable housing in the community.
8. Acoustical Studies: There has been considerable discussion about noise generated by the portion of Interstate 40 that is near this site. Approximately 100 feet of this site abuts I-40. There are no Town ordinances that would require the construction of noise barriers as a component of this development or that would require a study of noise generated by I-40.